THE opportunity that Dave King offered his fellow Rangers supporters was once in a lifetime. It will be for generations to come to determine whether the call of 'thanks, but no thanks' was the right one or not.
The fans have spoken, the proposal from the former chairman has been rejected through inaction and the fate of Rangers has been taken out of the hands of the thousands and still rests with several individuals.
A move from Club 1872 to raise around £13million and purchase King's major shareholding in RIFC plc was ambitious and bold. It has ultimately failed, with King confirming on Tuesday that the support for the plan was nowhere near the level required.
King has previously spoken of extending the initial three-year deadline and giving the fans the time needed if the appetite was there. In a statement, he insisted any further prolonging of the period would be 'futile' and would 'not have any meaningful impact'.
He cited the wish from some fans to own shares in their own right rather than through Club 1872 and pointed to the dissatisfaction that some have with the organisation as a reason why the target of 20,000 legacy members has been missed by such a margin.
It was point four in his statement - as he highlighted the fact that 'supporters no longer feel that the Club is under threat' - that is the most pertinent. If that is the reason why large swathes of the fan base have failed to get involved then many have short memories.
The chance to control almost 20 per cent of the shares in Rangers was a unique one. It was a plan defined by history, one that looked to tomorrow rather than focused on the events of today.
It is hard to envisage a scenario now that would allow a supporter organisation to own a fifth of their club and to have a claim to a boardroom seat. Like he was in 2015 when he rescued Rangers and set about restoring Rangers, King was their best hope, their only hope.
Club 1872 have 'already identified a number of opportunities' to increase their percentage through other avenues but meaningful influence is now as far away as it has been for some time. Given the strained relations between the Club 1872 board and the Rangers hierarchy, they could find it almost impossible to get a look in at Ibrox.
The success of this scheme would have been no slight on the current custodians. It was a perfectly reasonable position to take to back the regime that is in place and the King blueprint at the same time, but fans only rally to a cause in moments of war rather than peace and many saw every pound going to King as one that should have gone to Rangers.
This issue was bigger than that, though. It was somewhat ironic that this announcement was made on the anniversary of the traumatic evening that Craig Whyte stood on the steps and announced his administration plans. The rest, of course, is history.
Those events can never be rewritten but they would not have unfolded if fans had owned the Holy Grail of 25 per cent of the shares in Rangers. The whole point of the 'Never Again' campaign was to ensure that such a disastrous scenario was impossible to play out in the years and decades to come.
There will be many supporters who are content with the running of the club and the current shareholder profile. At once stage, though, the approval ratings of Sir David Murray would have been overwhelming as well.
Rangers showed that no giant was too big to fall and the trials and tribulations were proof of how quickly situations can change, how easy it is for control to be lost and for the destiny of Rangers to be snatched away from the fans in the stand that had to take to the streets.
No support should understand that better or more profoundly than Rangers. The impact of this decision could be felt for generations to come and it is the directors and investors of tomorrow that punters need to worry about rather than the ones of today.
The future cannot be predicted. The past should never be forgotten at Ibrox.
