Rangers chairman Dave King says his club is to once again close to being regarded as the "dominant force in Scottish football".
In a letter to Rangers supporters announcing the availability of season tickets for renewal - and that there will be a five per cent increase in price - King thanked them for their commitment during the club's rebuilding phase.
"We are now within tangible reach of Rangers becoming the dominant force in Scottish football again," writes King.
The club are currently second in the Scottish Premiership, 11 points behind Celtic with five games remaining. They have also gone without silverware in either of the domestic cups this season.
King believes that progress has been made on the pitch by Steven Gerrard and his management team.
Steven’s passion, professionalism and winning mentality has been inculcated throughout the football activities at all levels and we have seen strong benefits from this. Of significance was our first, strong European campaign for many years.
The team was heroic at times in battling through four very tough qualifiers and went on to narrowly miss making the knock-out stages. However, the inconsistency that inevitably comes with another new management team and a new group of players was also evident. We saw periods where we were rightly regarded as title contenders, followed by periods of varying quality.
However, despite these periods of inconsistency it is clear that the playing squad is significantly stronger than in recent seasons and, importantly for future transfer activity, the overall value of the squad has greatly increased.
He adds that the club will back Gerrard in the transfer market this summer as he attempts to upgrade his side.
"Rangers has always been a leader on and off the pitch. Apart from the aim of amassing titles and trophies, being part of Rangers as a fan, player, manager or director means we conduct ourselves in a specific manner. Our Club often comes under unfair attack and we are relentless in working hard behind the scenes, and up front when necessary, to make sure we are given the respect our Club and our massive support deserves. But we will not engage in unseemly debates through the media.
"Conducting ourselves with dignity is a part of who we are and it is up to us to set standards. However, in doing this, we will not allow ourselves to be treated differently or held to a different set of rules.
"The institution that is Rangers Football Club is special and has a unique place in football history as having won – by quite some distance – more trophies than any other club in the world. We must now start adding to this record but can only achieve this by remaining together and being stronger in our unity than other clubs."
Picture credit: Shutterstock.com
