NafisaRangers have announced the appointment of Kevin Thelwell as the club’s new sporting director.
Thelwell, 51, is presently serving as Everton’s director of football, a position he was already scheduled to depart at the season’s conclusion.
Rangers have been endeavoring to select a sporting director since February, with CEO Patrick Stewart, consultancy group Sportsology, and 49ers technical director Gretar Steinsson all participating in the selection process.
Thelwell, who has formerly served as New York Red Bulls head of sport and the sporting director at Wolverhampton Wanderers, meets the seasoned criteria set by CEO Stewart and external consultancy firm Sportsology, which advocated a return to the sporting director model earlier this year.
Rangers have been functioning without a sporting director since Ross Wilson left the club and joined Nottingham Forest in 2023.
“That role will put someone right at the top of the football tree; an experienced football person who will be responsible for all aspects of the football club to ensure they’re working together towards fulfilling our holistic, joined-up plan,” Stewart said on the sporting director role earlier this year.
“If you look at each of the elite European football clubs, most of them will have a single person who is responsible for the entirety of the football operations.”
Thelwell said on the role: “This is a huge honour for me to be joining a club with the size, stature and expectations of Rangers. From the first conversations, it was clear to me how ambitious the club is, and I’m excited to play a part in shaping its next chapter.
“I know how much Rangers means to so many people, and that brings both responsibility and motivation. Rangers needs to win. That’s the bottom line. There’s a strong foundation already in place, and I look forward to working closely with the teams across the men’s, women’s and academy programmes to build something that delivers consistently.
“Of course, there’s important work ahead, especially in men’s first-team structure but we’ll approach it with energy and purpose. While change takes time, I’m confident that we can make real progress. I can’t wait to get started.”
Thelwell’s primary task will be to designate Philippe Clement’s replacement at Ibrox, with Barry Ferguson currently acting as interim manager until the season’s end.
The club’s current campaign is effectively concluded following elimination from the Europa League last week by Athletic Bilbao.
Meanwhile, Rangers and the US consortium poised to finalize a takeover of the club have commented on the ‘productive talks’ to acquire a controlling stake at Ibrox.
“Rangers and its existing controlling shareholders are in productive conversations with the two lead members of the Consortium, Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises Global Football Group, about the potential for the Consortium to acquire control of the club and to inject additional capital,” the club and consortium told Sky Sports News.
“These discussions reflect a shared recognition of the importance of Rangers FC’s long-term direction, ambitions and management.”
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