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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Scottish club lifts lid on financial benefits of cup tie against Rangers

Greenock Morton has detailed the financial benefits of playing Rangers in the Viaplay Cup.

The Championship side ran Michael Beale's team close at Ibrox in mid-August, with the Scottish giants eventually running out 2-1 winners.

Grant Gillespie had the Ton in the lead in the game after an early second-half penalty. 

However, new signings Cyriel Dessers and Danilo ensured Rangers progressed to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Dougie Imrie's squad has been ravaged by injuries to influential members of the team in the early stages of the season. 

And today, the club sent out a missive to communicate with fans on a range of topics, one of which highlighted how much the club made from their recent trip to Ibrox.

It reads: "There has been a lot of mentions of the income from the Rangers game that we have seen.

"For total transparency to our supporters, the club generated around £235,000 in gate receipts from that game and it is a significant boost to the club’s finances.

"Since the draw for that game was made, we were able to increase the manager’s budget which helped add Alan Power, Jamie McDonald and Iain Wilson to the squad.

"Alan and Jamie in particular have arrived with great experience, and the additional budget helped make these signings possible.

"Everyone at the club has been disappointed with the last couple of results, and it has been frustrating how injuries have hampered us so far.

"Last season we were fortunate with very few players out injured over the course, whereas this year we have lost several early doors including Jack Baird, Grant Gillespie, Jai Quitongo and George Oakley.

"For any squad in our division, losing multiple key players is extremely challenging. We are currently operating with a squad of 18 players, with Michael Garrity out on loan.

"This squad number has always been the manager’s target, however, there is still some budget available to add to the squad. The manager is keen that this money is spent well and not used to panic sign because of a couple of bad results.

"A good example of this last season was the signing of Liam Grimshaw in September which would not have been possible had the Manager not been patient with his budget.

"However, as a community-owned club, we also have to be very aware of our spending. Right now, significant investment is required off the park.

"We are in the process of recruiting a General Manager, a post which had previously been occupied on essentially a volunteer basis, and once that person is in post, we will be carrying out further recruitment to strengthen our off-field operations.

"This is key to helping the club to grow off the pitch and become a more sustainable business, less reliant on prize money and gate receipts.

"In addition, it is no secret that Cappielow is a structure that is going to need investment in the coming years, some of which will be required sooner rather than later.

"We need to start building a fund for these works and ensuring that we have the finances to make improvements where necessary.

"We have also been extremely grateful to Dalrada for their support, it cannot be understated how important their backing has been, and how much it has helped get us off to a positive start with community ownership.

"Finally, we have to highlight the incredible contribution from our supporters via MCT membership and season ticket sales.

"With over 1000 members and 1200 season tickets sold, your support really is unbelievable, and we thank every one of you for that.

"All that being said, the context for the business is that for 20 years, it largely ran at a six-figure loss. In recent years, this loss has been £200-300,000.

"Thanks to Dalrada, MCT, season tickets and cup draws, we will likely post two profits in a row which enables us to start building a rainy-day fund.

"Everyone at the club is working extremely hard to make a success of community ownership to give supporters a club that they can be proud of both on and off the pitch."

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