Scottish soccer club Glasgow Rangers have announced the appointment of Patrick Stewart as their new chief executive (CEO).
Stewart will step into the role on December 16, replacing previous permanent CEO James Bisgrove, who departed the club for Saudi Arabian side Al-Qadsiah in May.
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The Scot joins Rangers from English giants Manchester United, where he had served since 2006 before exiting the club earlier this year.
Stewart occupied a variety of roles at the Manchester club, mostly as its first-ever general counsel (2006-2019) and the head of its in-house legal department, a role that also saw him leading on commercial and operational duties such as licensing, merchandising, and digital media in-sourcing, and commercial rights management.
In 2019, Stewart was elevated to the board of Manchester United, and in 2022 made the executive director of its holding company which saw him representing the club in meetings with prominent stakeholders such as the English FA and Europe’s UEFA governing bodies.
Amid significant operational churn in the last year at Manchester United as British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his chemicals company Ineos acquired a 25% stake in the club, Stewart stepped in as interim CEO between November 2023 and July 2024, replacing the outgoing Richard Arnold.
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By GlobalDataStewart joins a Rangers side also in a period of organizational disarray, with the club having gone most of 2024 without a permanent chief executive, chair, and director of football, underscored by poor on-pitch performances that have led to significant fan unrest.
In the months between Bisgrove’s departure and Stewart’s appointment, the club’s interim chair John Gilligan, who had been filling in that role after previous chair John Bennett stepped down for health reasons, had been managing the club’s operations.
Gilligan stated of Stewart’s arrival: “Patrick comes with an excellent reputation and background, bringing extensive experience of operating at senior levels during his 20-plus years in football.
On the topic of a permanent club chair, Gilligan added: “The board continues in discussions with several excellent candidates for the role of chairperson and expect to announce an appointment in the coming weeks.”
For that role, Scottish banker and politician Malcolm Offord has become the front-runner in recent days.
Offord, a member of the UK parliament’s House of Lords, founded Scottish private equity firm Badenoch & Co. in 2013, before his appointment to the UK government as parliamentary under-secretary of state for exports, a role he held up until the July 5 general election earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Rangers have announced a multi-year partnership with financial technology company Guavapay.
Guavapay, which operates global payment platforms MyGuava, the All Things Payments app, and business transaction platform MyGuava Business, becomes the official payment processing partner of Rangers.
This sponsorship is facilitated through the MyGuava brand, which becomes the club’s new lower-back-of-shirt sponsor, while MyGuava Business’ point-of-sale solution will be adopted at locations across the club’s 51,700-capacity Ibrox Stadium in order to facilitate transactions.
Earlier in 2024, Guavapay became an official partner of English Premier League side Crystal Palace in a three-year deal, and also became the front-of-shirt sponsor of English second-tier side Millwall, both again through the MyGuava brand.
