Rangers director of commercial and marketing James Bisgrove has made exciting comments about Ibrox modernisation work ahead of the return of fans [FC Business Magazine].
The Gers haven’t played in front of a home crowd since 48,000 packed in for a Europa League Last 16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen back in March 2020.
Since then, it’s been behind-closed-doors matches all the way in Govan, but there’s hope that that will change very soon.
Although numbers haven’t yet been confirmed, Rangers hope to welcome a ‘significant’ number of fans back for a glamour friendly against Arsenal in mid-July and national clinical director Jason Leitch recently claimed that stadia could be filled to capacity by mid-August [Daily Record].
Bisgrove is excited for the return of supporters and believes they’ll be pleased by the improvements that have been made in their absence.
“As fans start to return to the stadium from next season they’ll see quite a transformation from the Ibrox they remember in terms of its modernisation,” he said [FC Business Magazine]. “We’ve already completed the process of having a fully connected stadium with WiFi running all the way through it.”
“We’ve upgraded all the matchday kiosks so they’re now all contactless payment compatible. Both of those things might sound pretty obvious but the last time supporters were here they could only pay with cash.
“We are renovating two of the biggest lounges in the stadium and the project that I’m most excited about is the Blue Sky Lounge. That will be the top hospitality experience in any Scottish stadium.”
Bisgrove also confirmed that the ground’s capacity will be increased by around 300 following the installation of new premium seating.
This is another exciting update from Bisgrove, who seems to have good news for supporters on a near-weekly basis these days.
A remarkable number of new partnerships have been announced since his appointment in 2019 and all this work at Ibrox should significantly improve the matchday experience for fans.
The move to contactless payments and the installation of WiFi were both overdue, while any increase to the capacity, no matter how minor, is welcome given the incredible demand for tickets.
Steven Gerrard is currently trying to improve his squad ahead of the new season and the club have reportedly submitted a multi-million-pound bid for a player who has been likened to a top Premier League star.
