Dave King has challenged the Rangers board to a high-stakes EGM showdown as he bids to return to Ibrox as chairman.

And the former Light Blues chief believes Rangers require £50million worth of external investment if they are to achieve their ambitions in the coming seasons.

The Rangers Review reported this week that King had set his sights on a sensational return to Ibrox following John Bennett’s resignation as chairman due to ill health. It is understood there is little appetite amongst key boardroom voices to reach out to South Africa at present.

Read more:

That has not deterred King, however. And he has urged the established Ibrox hierarchy – which is now headed by John Gilligan on an interim basis – to stand up and be counted as the major shareholder gears up for another boardroom battle.

“We need to find the right CEO and construct an executive team that will take the Club forward,” King said in a statement to the Rangers Review. “Using a recruitment agency will be counter-productive and expensive. This decision again reinforces the disconnection of this board from reality and its inability to get recruitment right.

“I completely understand why some influential board members don’t want me back. They know from past experience that I would not tolerate board members who are only in it for the ‘jacket and tie’ and don’t actually want to do any real work. If the board can, for once, set aside self-interest and put the supporters first, then I offer a challenge.

“Urgently call an Extraordinary General Meeting (as I did to get Ashley out) and put yourselves up for re-election. I will in turn put up my nominations, including myself. None of the existing board members (who presently protect each other) can vote and neither will I. John Bennett and George Letham would also be excluded from voting for obvious reasons. In that way we can leave it to supporters (for once) to decide who they want to run their Club.”

Gilligan has stepped up to lead the RIFC plc board that also consists of Alistair Johnston, Graeme Park, Julian Wolhardt, John Halsted and George Taylor. Those figures, other than Gilligan, have been in place for some time and King believes the hierarchy have wasted millions on managers and players since Steven Gerrard secured title 55 three years ago.

Board sources have dismissed King’s claims of ‘investor fatigue’ but the South Africa-based businessman insists outside finance is the only way forward after costly projects such as New Edmiston House and the Copland Stand redevelopment.

“Yet, those same faceless people want the chance to do it all again,” King said. “When John Bennett took over he tried to turns things around - but had no human or financial resources to support him.

“It is amazing that the same people who got us into this trouble want to continue control by placing, as a professional Chairman, their own puppet - who will have no knowledge of the Club or financial interest in its future. We are sleepwalking Celtic towards title 55, 56 and 57 instead of trying to stop them. This board will go down as an infamy in the Club’s history.

“I estimate that the Club needs a minimum of £50million to achieve our short to medium term objectives but that could never be raised under the present board structure. The funds we need must come from a far wider and wealthier base and from parties that will be willing to invest more (over time) to take the Club forward and to become a modern age football club.”

King currently holds a 14 per cent stake in RIFC plc after previously selling chunks of his shares to Club 1872. Between them, Taylor, Wolhardt and Halsted control around 21 per cent.

Read more:

Bennett opted to stand down from the top table over the weekend after a tumultuous term as chairman. Now King has stepped up his bid to return to Ibrox after previously serving for five years following regime change in 2015.

“The complete lack of leadership of this faceless crew is most clearly demonstrated by the simple fact that not one of them was willing to show their face by stepping in as interim chair when John stepped down due to ill health,” King said. “Shame on them! Lurking in the shadows in a time of need is not the Rangers way and that is why I have again offered to assist.

“If there is a better option, I would support that. But I cannot support a leaderless, rudderless board that is in a crisis of its own making."