DAVE KING insists the Rangers board’s decision to repay a £5million loan to Mike Ashley was the ‘right thing to do’.

As reported in later editions of Friday’s Evening Times, the Ibrox chairman announced at the Rangers International Football Club plc AGM in Glasgow that the outstanding loan to Sports Direct would be settled.

The firm, owned by Mr Ashley, agreed the seven-figure deal with the former Rangers board in January and as a result has held security over Rangers’ registered trademarks, their Murray Park training ground, the Albion car park and Edmiston House at Ibrox.

The money will come from King, Paul Murray, John Bennett and the Three Bears – George Letham, George Taylor and Douglas Park – and all securities will be return to Rangers once the legal paperwork has been completed.

Mr King said: "I just think it gives us more flexibility. We felt it was the right thing to do at this moment in time.

“We’re not in a position to speak about Sports Direct but I just felt it was the right thing to do.

"It was a change of heart and I think what was really, really exciting from my point of view was the speed with which we marshalled the resources.

"We made the decision with the board last night, subject to me getting the money required and within an hour this morning I phoned the guys and the £5m was available. That was exciting to show the level of commitment everyone has got for the club.

"We’ll make the money available immediately and then it’s a question of the legal transfer.

“There’s obviously securities and so we pay the money and they release the securities, that’s the legal process.

“The main thing is that we say to them the money is there, it’s in the bank and just for the lawyers to sort out."

Mr King had previously said that he had ‘no intention’ of repaying the cash to Sports Direct but admits a change in circumstances have altered the thinking of the Ibrox board.

The decision to stump up the significant sum needed to settle the debt comes amid a series of legal wrangles, including several that Ashley has launched against Rangers, King and the Scottish Football Association over a range of issues.

Mr King said: “The new board has faced difficult but perhaps not totally unexpected challenges since it was installed – not the least being the incessant litigation by the Sports Direct Group under the guidance of Mike Ashley.

“Sports Direct appears to be working to an agenda which, very clearly, is not assisting our club’s full rehabilitation.

“There is a desire to drag Rangers through the courts and thereby slow our progress rather than seek compromise or fairness.

“But we remain absolutely resolute, as was partly evidenced by our robust and successful defence of the absurd legal claim by Charles Green, that we will defend Rangers interests in the courts when required to do so and will do whatever we can to ensure that Rangers enjoys a much more stable and successful future.”

Meanwhile, Rangers have confirmed they will become a living wage employer and join 380 other Scottish firms who pay their employees a rate of £8.35 per hour.

Mr King said: "It is a great thing and I think all the board members expect that it is the right way forward, we all agreed it is absolutely right and it should be what Rangers are doing and it is what we will do.”