FORMER Rangers chairman Malcolm Murray is one of three candidates standing for election to the board of supporters organisation Club 1872.

The election process will see two new directors appointed to the Club 1872 top table and the polls will open on Thursday, June 10 as members get a chance to cast their vote.

The fan ownership model currently hold a 5.10 per cent stake in RIFC plc and the new directors will work alongside Laura Fawkes, Euan MacFarlane and Joanne Percival.

George Hoggan, a retired production manager and current Club 1872 working groups volunteer, will stand for election alongside Murray and James Irvine in the coming days.

Hoggan said: "We all remember what happened to the Rangers Football Club in 2012 and we, as a Rangers Supporters Club, contributed to the fighting fund.

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"In 2014 our RSC decided that we had to do what we could to counteract the gross mismanagement that our football club was subjected to. I was very vocal at this time and led a move to stop both our RSC and our members from renewing their season tickets.

"Denny and District RSC also joined the RST at this time. We renewed our individual and club season tickets as soon as Dave King ousted the dysfunctional board .

"I think we all feel the hurt when we listen to opposing fans sing “You let your club die”. It hurts because it was almost true. We must never again be caught in this position where we as supporters could only stand and watch as our club that we love was pillaged.

"Our present board may be acceptable to most of us but who is to say this will always be the case and history will not repeat itself?

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"The only way we can prevent this from happening is to ensure that we, as supporters have a say in the crucial decisions that our football club makes.

"Success on the field should not mean a complacent support. In my opinion, the only way to avoid this is to build up our shareholding through Club 1872. We owe this to our children and grandchildren.

"I see Club 1872 as the way forward. We have a voice which no can longer be ignored."

Club 1872 have agreed a £13million deal with former chairman Dave King that will see them purchase his major shareholding in RIFC plc.

The arrangement is designed to enable Club 1872 to move towards the 25 per cent plus one share threshold that would give supporters a key voice in the running of Rangers and potentially a seat at the Ibrox top table.

The second candidate for election is solicitor Irvine. He specialises in Intellectual Property litigation and now operates a consultancy business after from private practise in four years ago.

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Irvine said: "From a Rangers supporting family. My great uncle, Neil McKinnon, played for the club in the post war years and was I believe understudy to Willie Waddell.

"I have supported the club since a boy and first attended a match at Ibrox in 1967 against Hearts when Alex Ferguson was on the scoresheet.

"Played at Ibrox in 1976 for Queen of the South reserves in a 7-1 defeat and was lucky enough to score their only goal.

"My oldest school friend from my time at Irvine Royal Academy is Dr Paul Jackson who was for many years the club doctor and still retains an association with the club.

"In a more professional capacity, in recent times I had the privilege to advise, pro bono, the Rangers Supporters Trust in relation to its legal fight to prevent Ibrox Stadium being used as a security in return for loans from Mike Ashley.

"Also I advised the RST generally in relation to other matters arising out of the administration of the club and am a life member of Club 1872. During this time I met and worked with Dave King and Walter Smith.

"Having been part of the efforts to protect the club at that time, I am convinced of the need for supporters to retain a major shareholding in Rangers.

"It is essential for the long-term stability and prosperity of Rangers that supporters are never again in a position where they have no meaningful say in the key decisions affecting the club.

"Club 1872 has a wonderful opportunity to secure the club for generations to come and I believe I can assist the current board in making that a reality."

The nomination of Murray comes eight years after he was forced out of Ibrox and removed from the board during the ill-fated Charles Green era.

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Murray claimed he had been stitched up after footage of him drunk in a London restaurant was leaked online during some of the most controversial days of the Ibrox power struggle.

And he was involved in a war of words with the club over salary and bonus payments made to Green and former finance director Brian Stockbridge.

Murray is now seeking to earn a spot on the board of Club 1872 and said: "I believe I can help grow the membership, cashflow and install high levels of corporate governance and transparency, which will be a beacon for other clubs to follow and for FAs to admire.

"I have spent a lot of the last nine years trying to bring the people that hurt Rangers to justice. This has been both costly and dangerous.

"I have the highest level of referees available and influential contacts in finance, football, media and politics- which will be used to Club 72’s advantage."