DAVE KING gave Rangers fans back their voice. Now he wants it to be heard at Ibrox.

In March 2016, King was the driving force that saved the club. Five years on, he is just as determined to preserve it for the next generation of supporters.

King has never sought the limelight or the credit for the role that he played in rescuing or rebuilding Rangers but his place in the history of the club is forever enshrined.

His legacy, his parting gift, to his fellow fans will be his major shareholding at Ibrox and Club 1872 continue to make progress towards completing a deal that could eventually reach £13million.

A place around the top table where King once held court is the ultimate ambition for Club 1872 and the former chairman took questions from members ahead of their contributors meeting at Ibrox on Monday evening.

Nobody understands the past more than King. Indeed, nobody is doing more to try and future proof Rangers as he seeks to leave the club forever in the hands of those who cherish it most.

"If you look at the history of supporters, I am closer to it in the context of Rangers because I have been around the board for over 20 years, and in my view supporters at Rangers and other clubs don’t get a fair shake," King said.

"The reason they don’t get that is because of the economic impact of supporters. Take Scottish football, the biggest contributor to the running of Rangers is supporters.

"During regime change, myself and other directors and shareholders agreed to lead the investment into the club.

"But still, as much as in my case I was the lead investor during that period, supporters collectively put more money into the club than I did or my fellow directors did, but supporters have very little to no say in the running of the club.

"It goes back to the unfortunate situation that led to regime change when supporters found themselves completely without a voice and the only way they could ultimately get a meaningful voice in the club was to boycott the football team.

"That happened once in the 150 year history of the club. We don’t want it to happen again.

"We don’t want the supporters to have to exercise their influence at the club by voting with their feet and not buying product, not buying season tickets.

"The only way to avoid that in the long term is to make sure that when, from time to time, as will happen again in the future, when supporters voices will need to be heard.

"The best way for that to happen consistently without the violent impact that things like boycotts have is to have influential shareholding and representation on the board so that their voice is being heard all the time, not only in moments of crisis."

When King and his fellow savours - including Paul Murray and John Gilligan - were attempting to remove a reviled regime at Ibrox, the power of the people was of paramount importance.

Every rally held, boycott staged and vote won played a part in the boardroom overhaul that was the foundation upon which title 55 was ultimately built.

Supporters remain grateful for the efforts of the current Ibrox hierarchy but King knows the cost of failing to prepare for every eventuality as he seeks to give fans a meaningful say in the future of their club.

King said: "If I can give you a very direct example in my own experience, when I first came onto the board in the David Murray era, we were winning trophies, winning tournaments, had a strong team and did well in Europe.

"I think every supporter at that time would have said the club was in safe hands. David Murray is a supporter, people like myself were all supporters on the board.

"But look what happened. When that was no longer true, supporters did not have enough influence to effect the outcome of what happened thereafter.

"We saw changes to the structure, saw changes that the supporters were violently opposed to, saw changes that result in deep disconnect and disrespect to the supporters, and the supporters just had to sit back and suffer that.

"Where was the comfort level from six, seven years earlier from during the David Murray reign when everyone thought the club was fantastic?

"The club will go through challenges in the future, there is no doubt in my mind about that. It happens to all clubs.

"The only way that supporters can consistently influence that over time is to be a significant shareholder, sitting at the table when all the decisions are made.

"I repeat, not just when a crisis emerges. That is what happens with supporters.

"Because they don’t have shareholder representation, they only find out what is really happening when a crisis emerges. Very often it is too late and it is out of their control."

The deal between King and Club 1872 has not been without controversy and the organisation have found themselves mired in legal dispute and allegations in recent months.

An attempt to remove the board from office failed in August and King has reiterated his unwavering backing for the Club 1872 directors as he addressed a series of concerns and questions.

King said: "This is one of the dangers of the success of Club 1872 that all members must be alert to at all times.

"Because Club 1872 has been successful, because this campaign will lead – at whatever level – to a greater interest in Rangers Football Club and a greater say in the affairs of the club, there will be individuals from time to time who try and hijack for their own purposes and use social media.

"I think the supporters of Club 1872 have got to be incredibly vigilant and be very careful about accusations made against office holders.

"Yes, the office holders must be accountable. But they must be accountable to the facts, not to smear campaigns or media campaigns and in my dealings with Club 1872, I have gone and still go on the basis of my direct reaction to those who have been running and are presently running Club 1872.

"And my experience has been nothing but good. So every one of you continue to have my full support."

King has once again refused to put a timescale on the process that will see him transfer tranches of his stake in RIFC plc to Club 1872 as donations from members reach financial targets.

Rangers raised around £4.5million from supporters in a share issue earlier this summer but fell short of their £6.5million target.

Club 1872 are the sixth largest shareholders in Rangers at present and King believes his arrangement is the only viable way for them to increase their Ibrox influence.

King said: "First of all I don’t think they will be available to supporters at anywhere near that level and secondly I think it would be a far more expensive option.

"I think if one looks at what I would call the phantom share issue that Rangers put out, they raised money from supporters on the basis of issuing shares, but supporters have got no influence over these shares.

"I don’t think a single supporter actually has a share certificate. Money has gone into the club that has not assisted supporters in increasing their influence going forward.

"I believe it is vital supporters start to really exert a level of influence on a consistent basis that gives them a voice at the club."