JR
IVAN’S BACK IN THE FRAME
From the Hammersmith Times 12 November 2003
By Dave Evans
East End businessman JR Ivan has renewed his interest in taking over Queens Park Rangers with the claim that he could immediately put them back on to a firm financial footing.
Things looked gloomy for the club just a week ago when it was revealed that Aussie businessman David Thorne had failed to make the trip to England for talks with Chief Executive David Davies, but a week is a long time in football – especially it seems at QPR.
Since then Thorne has gone on record to state that he is still very much interested in investing in the club, while Ivan, who led a consortium who missed out on a takeover when the club were in administration, is confident that he now has a structure in place which would be ideal for Rangers’ financial position.
“I have no animosity with the board for what happened in the past,” revealed Ivan this week. “We have also had no trouble with David Davies. He was very helpful when we had our exclusivity agreement before, and it was really our own fault that we couldn’t see it through in the end.”
“There were one of two people involved who were not quite right, but this time round we have taken things nice and slowly and are looking to do everything right.”
Ivan is a West Ham fan by upbringing, but it is Rangers that seem to have won his heart.
“I’m an East End boy and I used to go down to West Ham, but QPR have always been a second favourite team for me really,” he said.
“I went down to QPR for the Manchester City game and I was absolutely gobsmacked by the whole thing. Rangers are such a friendly club, while other clubs you go to can be very cliquey.”
He continued: “I have never lost interest in QPR. Despite the fact we missed out on the takeover before, I’ve always kept in the background.”
“If football is not in your blood then you shouldn’t be involved in it and it is in mine.”
Ivan had recent talks with Davies about a new financial structure for the club, which will deal with the £10 million loan the board took out to come out of administration and unencumber the ground at the same time.
The East Ender is unsure just how long it will take to sort things out, but he is confident that he will be making another bid.
“We have things 95 per cent in place, and though it is unlikely that anything will happen before Christmas, you just never know in business, and in the meantime we will be there to help if the club have any more immediate problems.”