RANGERS fans didn’t fall divided during the darkest period in their club’s history. But do they stand united as they hope for a brighter future?

The coming months and the next couple of years will decide just how strong a voice and how major a player the support will be at Ibrox.

There are few fan bases that could suffer the number of blows the Light Blue legions have but still come back for more, week after week, season after season, as a list of characters that will send shivers down the spine in years to come somehow became associated with Rangers.

That is in the past, though. Those investors, those directors and those players are consigned to the history books.

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Now, Gers fans are being asked to play their part once again. This time, the impact could be even more significant but, like on previous occasions, they must make the most of the chance that has presented itself.

In an exclusive Q&A with SportTimes this week, Club 1872 directors Laura Fawkes, Euan Macfarlane and Bruce Taylor laid out that particular vision as the organisation launched their bid to raise £1million.

The upcoming rights issue will allow a portion of the soft loans from the current investor base to be converted into shares, while additional funds will be put into Rangers as the rebuilding job continues at all levels at Ibrox.

Unlike when Club 1872 last spent a seven-figure sum, any money they put out this time around will go directly to where they want it and where it is needed as they seek to maintain their 10 per cent shareholding.

The purchase of half of the stake held by Mike Ashley’s MASH Holdings in June saw the organisation become the second largest shareholders in RIFC plc and helped further dilute the billionaire’s unwanted influence in the Light Blues.

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But if the support want to increase their own say in how their club is run, they must do more than they have to date.

Club 1872 has around 7,000 members that pay monthly subscriptions of £5, £10 or £18.72 and the work of the volunteers behind it should not be underappreciated by the wider fan base.

Those numbers are some way short of what should be achievable, however. When you consider that 50,000 at a fiver a head brings in £3million-per-year, it becomes clear what is possible, but also what Rangers and their fans are missing out on.

That is money that could take Club 1872 closer to their ambition of holding a 25 per cent, plus one share, stake at Ibrox, or be used on or off the park at Ibrox.

There will come a point when the likes of Dave King and his fellow investors stop writing cheques, when the books are balanced and Rangers become self-sustaining for the first time in many, many years. And the supporters will have to step up and pay once again.

At the other end of the M8, the Foundation of Hearts, which has around 8,000 members, have now handed over £6.5million to the club. Just under £2.5million of that went towards the Tynecastle redevelopment project and the Jambos fans are on course to assume control from Ann Budge by the summer of 2020.

The success in Gorgie is proof of what can be achieved when a support comes together under the one banner with a focus and a drive but the idea hasn’t fully captured the imagination of Gers fans in the way it could, and should, have.

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In the eyes of many, both inside and outside of the support, Club 1872 are seen more as a fans group than the second largest shareholders at Ibrox and that is a perception that can only change through action.

It has not had its troubles to seek in the last couple of years as boardroom machinations spilled over into the public forum amid resignations and reinstatements, claim and counter claim. There is a real danger that the politics will put people off and turn prospective members into sceptics and critics.

Football is nothing without the fans and it is they who are the real custodians of their club, they who were there before and will be there after any director, manager or player.

This is not about fan ownership of Rangers. Instead, it is fan involvement and representation.

Club 1872 have written to the board to open discussions about a seat at the top table alongside King and his fellow directors and that would be another important milestone for the support as a whole. It would give them a voice, but only they can decide how loud it is.

Their greatest strength is their numbers. Rangers fans must make the most of it sooner rather than later.