DANNY Gill’s many Rangers-daft relatives were elated when they learned the San Francisco 49ers were in advanced talks about investing in the Glasgow club on Wednesday night.
Gill, the lifelong Leeds United fan, Elland Road season ticket holder and founder member of the Glasgow Whites supporters’ club, could understand exactly why there was such excitement.
Like them, he has been forced to endure financial crises caused by inept owners, an unceremonious fall from the pinnacle of the game, long spells in the lower leagues and myriad crushing disappointments in modern times.
The prospect of the world-famous NFL franchise throwing their considerable financial muscle and sporting wherewithal behind Leeds was an enticing one when 49ers Enterprises bought complete control of his boyhood heroes back in 2023.
Since then, the former English champions have fared relatively well. They reached the Championship Play-Off Final at Wembley last season and they are current on top of the Championship table and pushing hard for a return to the Premier League.
So far so good then? Gill, who has lived in Scotland for the past 10 years, remains conflicted about their involvement.
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“I've been trying to explain to all my Rangers supporting relatives all day that this is not the golden ticket that many people are saying it is, it really isn't,” he said. “The best way to describe 49ers Enterprises is Marmite.
“Leeds are doing well just now. But traditionally the teams that do well in the Championship are the teams that have had a parachute payments. I think we would still be up there if the 49ers were in charge or not, because we have a huge amount of wealth compared to the rest of the league. We have a huge advantage.
“We sold Archie Gray last summer, which was massively disappointing. He was the star boy, he was Eddie Gray’s nephew, he was Frank Gray’s grandson. We thought we had him for at least another year, felt he was a guy who could be a Kalvin Phillips for us, get us up, become a bit of legend.
“But they sold him to Spurs for £50m and brought in Joe Rodon for £10m. Rodon is not a bad player, but he’s not at the same level as and is not the sort of player who wins you promotion. They have sold Gray, Georginio Rutter, Crysensio Summerville and Glen Kamara and brought in £150m plus. Only around £50m of that money has been reinvested.”
“I have met Paraag at Elland Road and had a chat with him,” he said. “He is a nice guy, says the right things, knows his stuff about sport, lives and breathes sport in fact.
“You've got to remember, a lot of the investment in Leeds isn't just from the 49ers. They went and got other investment figures and I think that's what they'll do in Rangers. I imagine they’ll take a 10 to 20 per cent stake in Rangers and will then go and get wealthy businessmen, businesswomen and organisations to invest. They know wealthy people who can be tapped up to put money in. I think they will get in billionaires, multiple billionaires.
“They own the shares in Leeds, but there are all these other investors. They will bring in celebrities. We’ve had Paris Hilton, Will Ferrell, various golfers, NBA players, NFL players backing us.
“They go and get the likes of, say, Michael Phelps and will get him to invest maybe $600,000. Others will put in $100,000. But all these contributions add up and it creates this investment arm.
“So it's split into two categories at Leeds. They've got the big investors, the likes of Frank Lowy, who is one of the richest men in Australia, and the small investors, who added together make up quite a significant amount. The question at Leeds at the moment is, ‘Where is the money coming from the pay these investors back?’
“Rangers aren’t going to get millions to spend this summer. They might get the pick of the Leeds United academy players, that wouldn’t surprise me.
“It will be something that is more of a long-term investment rather than a short-term thing. They're going to have to invest a lot of money to catch up with Celtic and they will have to adhere to the spending rules which are in place. But the top priority for the investors will be to make them the No 1 team in Glasgow.”
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Red Bull taking a minority ownership stake in Leeds in the summer and becoming their shirt sponsor has fuelled speculation in Yorkshire that the energy drink brand, who run RB Leipzig in Germany, Salzburg in Austria and New York Red Bulls in the United States, may add the Elland Road club to their stable.
Gill is unsure if that will happen or if 49ers Enterprises will bring more clubs to the football arm of their business in the years to come just like their commercial partners have done with such success.
“They have also got Red Bull on board,” he said. “I do think they have been taking hints and tips from them. The former Leeds United technical director Gretar Steinsson is now performs a role with 49ers Enterprises similar to the one that Jurgen Klopp carries out with Red Bull.
“Leeds have got Red Bull on their shirts this season. We fans are all convinced the 49ers are going to sell to Red Bull for a profit eventually. Opinion is split down the middle on that possibility. Personally, I just want to see success again so I would welcome it. We have been so much pain as a fans, just like Rangers.
He added: “Rangers and Leeds are very similar in that they have fallen from grace. But so did the 49ers and they got them back to the Super Bowl. They were a great NFL team in the 1980s and 1990s. Then they suffered a decline and their stadium was horrendous. The Yorks came in as owners, they built the Levi’s Stadium and reached the Super Bowl.
“Elland Road and Ibrox are iconic grounds in football, but they are both in need of a lot of work. They are going to increase the capacity of Elland Road, improve catering, create a better match day experience. This is what they are all about. But I think any Leeds or Rangers fan would take a stadium name change to get one over on their greatest rivals.
“I believe 49ers are securing the future of Leeds, the Championship is not an important league for them, they just have to get out of it to set the club alight again. What I would say to Rangers fans is that the 49ers are a good foundation. They could create more investment. They've got every right to be excited.”
