“The harsh light of fiscal reality”. Sir Keir Starmer’s stark warning over the nation’s finances ahead of Wednesday’s budget could be copied for the opening lines at Rangers’ next AGM - whoever is in charge at Ibrox to lead it.

Rangers’ latest financial figures paint a bleak picture for a fanbase frustrated at the running of their club from top to bottom and without a chairman, a chief executive or cause for optimism that things will get better any time soon.

A £17.1 million loss, still reliant on investor funding to cover shortfalls and dependant on a faltering player trading model coming good.

Rangers’ total losses since returning to Scottish football’s top tier eight years ago now stand at a staggering £96.1 million for the return of one league title, one Scottish Cup and one League Cup.

(Image: Kieran Canning)

For all of the club’s efforts to modernise the business and Ibrox into a 365-day-a-year asset, the accounts lay bare the most important thing for a football club remains what happens on the pitch.

From Rangers’ stated four key pillars of revenue: ticket income, commercial income, European football and player trading, there is a clear disparity between commercial growth and football failure.

Ticket and commercial income accounted for 72 per cent of record overall revenues of £88.3 million.

Commercially, Rangers are in a better place than they have been for a long time. The club’s celebration that they are “free of any litigation claims for the first time in over a decade", while a relief, is also a window into how they have burned through cash at an alarming rate.

Hospitality income broke through the £10 million mark for the first time and, since the end date for the accounts at the end of June, a renewal of front-of-shirt sponsorship with betting company the Kindred Group will deliver a 60 per cent increase from the 2025/26 season.

However, those figures will do little to cheer fans, who found themselves locked out of Ibrox for the first month of the season and are watching a team seemingly going backwards on the field.

The associated costs with the delayed works in the Copland Road stand and moving four home games to Hampden in August will not be disclosed until next year’s accounts.

Instead, it was the failure to reach the Champions League twice over last season and poor returns from player trading that saw Rangers sink into the red.

A run to the last 16 of the Europa League mitigated some of the damage from losing to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League playoff round, but the failure to press home a promising position in the title race last spring that would have guaranteed entry to an expanded, even more lucrative Champions League format, will be even more costly.

That was compounded by defeat to Dynamo Kyiv in this season’s third qualifying round, meaning Rangers even missed out on the Є4.3 million bonus that comes from progressing to the playoffs.

Defeat to the Ukrainians hastened a cost-cutting exercise that took place over the summer transfer window to slash the wage bill.

Overall salary costs dropped from £64 million in the 2022/23 season, which had been the highest in Scotland, to £61.2 million.

Since the summer clear out of high earners such as John Lundstram, Kemar Roofe, Connor Goldson, Todd Cantwell, Ryan Jack and Ben Davies, Rangers estimate a further £6 million has been stripped off the wage bill.

“Realignment of costs has been made across the business, but particularly in the first team squad cost, which reduced by £2.5 million. This is anticipated to reduce by a further c£6 million in the coming year since the Summer 2024 transfer activity,” said the club’s annual report.

“The actions taken in the January and Summer transfer windows, we believe, have delivered a young and hungry squad with increased value within the market. Whilst we have made positive progress around our player trading model, much work remains to be done in order to deliver a sustainable model.”

Changes were also necessary to avoid falling foul of UEFA’s new cost control measures. Spending on player wages, transfer and agents fees were capped to 90 per cent of revenue last season, falling to 80 per cent this season and 70 per cent in 2025/2026.

Rangers were named on a UEFA watch list back in 2022 and based on last season’s figures were running at just under 80 per cent of football cost to revenue.

Raising money through player sales is therefore all the more important in years to come and where Rangers’ progression towards financial sustainability has come off the rails.

Crucially, operating losses prior to player trading have been significantly cut from £10.5 million in 2023 to under £2 million last season.

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But spending in the transfer market continues to outstrip gains, a trend which continued into this summer’s window.

“The player trading model is not yet where the business needs it to be with player amortisation and impairment of £13.6 million being significantly higher than player gains of £5.6 million,” added the financial report.

Amortisation allows clubs to spread the cost of a transfer fee over the course of a player’s contract. For example, Mohamed Diomande’s £4 million fee on a four-year deal means a £1 million amortisation charge each year on the books.

Impairment charges are where clubs cut their losses and sell at a lower price than the player’s value on the books.

“The £13.6 million includes £2.9 million of player impairment, ultimately a direct cost associated with the necessary Summer 2024 transfer activity in order to rebalance the squad and the first team budget.”

The bulk of that write-off will come from the sale of Sam Lammers as Rangers continue to pay the price for the disastrous summer recruitment of 2023.

Rangers’ stated aim is to at least balance the cost between player purchases and sales, but costs again far outstripped income from the summer transfer window, with £13.4 million spent since June and just £0.8 million recouped.

(Image: Kieran Canning)

The summer clear-out was part of Nils Koppen’s strategy to bring down the average age and wage of the squad, while at the same time developing players into more sellable assets down the line.

The likes of Jefte, Connor Barron and Hamza Igamane could in time deliver the profits they seek.

But Rangers' task is becoming ever more difficult and fraught with risk. There is barely a club in European football not searching for cheap, young talent with the intention of selling on for a bumper fee.

Rangers are attempting to do so whilst cutting back spending on wages and also having to meet the demands of fans sick of seeing Celtic run away with title after title.

Painfully for the blue half of Glasgow, a look across the city shows the model they are aiming for in a steady stream of major sales that can be reinvested back into strengthening the squad.

(Image: Kieran Canning) The gulf between the two Glasgow rivals is laid bare by their cash reserves.

Celtic’s swelled to £77 million in their latest accounts, without even factoring in another season of Champions League football and a Scottish transfer record sale of Matt O’Riley.

Rangers had just £1.7 million spare at the end of June and have been forced to turn to investors and debt financing once more to fund the club’s working capital requirements.

The last thing Rangers can afford is another cycle of managerial change and the costs that come with it.

But unless Philippe Clement can produce a much-needed tonic for the travelling fans at Pittodrie tonight, it will be hard to suppress another winter of discontent at Ibrox.