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Rangers warn fans of risk of fresh cash crisis

By Keith Weir LONDON (Reuters) - Former Scottish football champions Rangers warned fans on Thursday that they could provoke a fresh financial crisis at the Glasgow club if they withheld season ticket payments. Some supporters have threatened to divert season ticket money into a trust fund and hand it over only when they have clarity about the board's plans for a club which is rebuilding after collapsing under a pile of debt in 2012. Chairman David Somers warned that season ticket money was Rangers' main source of income and that the boycott threat resulted in "material uncertainty which may cast doubt about Rangers' ability to continue as a going concern". Rangers lost 3.5 million pounds ($5.80 million) in the six months to December 31, 2013. Cost cuts are inevitable when new Chief Executive Graham Wallace completes a review of the club's business next month. Rangers, who have sold 36,000 season tickets in 2013-14, have just secured a second successive promotion after relaunching from the fourth tier of the Scottish game. However, that untroubled progress on the field has been overshadowed by boardroom infighting and fresh concerns about the financial health of the 54-times Scottish champions. Illustrating overspending prior to his appointment in November, Somers said the club had signed nine players when it already had the second highest wage bill in Scottish soccer. In the absence of Rangers, Glasgow rivals Celtic have just retained the Scottish league title in what has become one of Europe's least competitive leagues. Even if Rangers return to the Scottish top flight in 2015, their financial restraints mean they may struggle to mount a real challenge to Celtic's domination. Rangers have had to arrange a short-term loan of 1.5 million pounds to help cover their costs for the next few months. Rangers raised 22 million pounds in December 2012 by selling shares and joining the AIM stock exchange in London, but investors are out of pocket as the price of the stock has crumbled. The problems at the club have given ammunition to critics who argue that soccer teams are a poor financial investment. ($1 = 0.6037 British Pounds) (Writing by Keith Weir, editing by Stephen Eisenhammer)