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By JOHN MCGARRY Published: 02: 03 AEST, 25 June 2025 | Updated: 02: 22 AEST, 25 June 2025 View comments As in everyday life with people, relationships between football clubs can often be complicated. In an era when multi-team ownership models and matters of dual interest are increasingly occupying the minds of UEFA officials in Nyon, there’s a little unease whenever an individual or a company has a foot in two camps. Acutely aware of the unholy mess at Crystal Palace and their bid to play in the Europa League next season, the SFA demanded that there would be no such impediment to Rangers playing in European competitions prior to signing off on the American takeover. UEFA’s assurance that both the Ibrox club and Leeds could theoretically play in the same continental competition in the future has at least allayed one concern. Less clear is what form the connection between the respective clubs will take. Paraag Marathe appreciates there will be suspicion in such areas. The man who’s simultaneously chairman at Leeds and vice-chair at Rangers resoundingly refutes any suggestion that the Ibrox club will be subservient to the recently-promoted English Premier League side. The relationship he foresees is one of equals and mutual co-operation. He sees no reason why both parties cannot benefit. Paraag Marathe sees the relationship between Rangers and Leeds United as being one of mutual co-operation Marathe, who is chairman at Leeds United and vice-chairman at Rangers, speaks at the Glasgow club's EGM Marathe and Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh walk down the marble stairs at Ibrox ‘I mean, it could just be simple things, ’ he said. ‘If there’s a plumbing issue and we go through certain plumbers who are terrible and certain ones who are good, if Elland Road had a plumbing issue, we’re certain to want to call and figure out who the best plumber is. ‘You can apply that analogy to an agent, so there’s lots that you can share. ‘So, me being able to sit across both means I can help navigate those, too. ‘In my mind, it’s a real positive to have two clubs like that, but there’s not one that is subordinate to the other. That would be a disservice. ’ There is, of course, a third party in this relationship. Long before British football clubs came onto his radar, Marathe made his name with NFL in San Francisco. These days, he’s both president of 49ers Enterprises - the group that now wholly owns Leeds and has a stake in Rangers - and executive vice-president of football operations. This might not be a brand of football to which the denizens of Ibrox are accustomed. But, by association, it’s now a part of Rangers’ world. Marathe contends that only good can come from Rangers' association with the San Francisco 49ers Leeds United will be playing in the English Premier League next season after winning the Championship A statue of Scot Billy Bremner takes pride of place outside Leeds United's Elland Road  Marathe contends that only good can come from the Glasgow side being linked to a world-wide name whose investment arm was recently valued north of £5billion. ‘I think it is pretty objectively true that the San Francisco 49ers are one of the biggest sports brands in the world. And, certainly, one of the most recognisable, ’ he added. ‘Rangers is a gem of European football. What the 49ers can bring is a certain global gravitas and awareness to Rangers. ‘Take the States or other places where the 49ers are top of mind. Now all of a sudden Rangers are in that same sentence. ‘Why does that matter? It matters when we are out with commercial partners who care about how many times they are going to be mentioned, how many times their name will come up. ‘That has monetary value. It has helped us with Leeds. In terms of one not being subordinate to the other, selfishly speaking, it actually helps the 49ers, too. ‘I know from my experience at Leeds, it matters to players that we are out recruiting. “Oh wait, a second, the 49ers are involved in this”. That helps us in the recruitment of players. ’ You wouldn’t be in the least surprised if plans are already afoot for Rangers to head to the States next summer if their schedule allows. The Rangers hierarchy have full belief that Kevin Thelwell, left, and Russell Martin can successfully lead the football side at Ibrox, says Marathe  Russell Martin has a huge task on his hands trying to reduce the gap to rivals Celtic Thelwell, above right, with chief executive Patrick Stewart, is the sporting director tasked with helping Martin in every way he can Whatever the limitations of Scottish football, the club’s vast following overseas would be the envy of many an EPL side. The Americans evidently believe there’s gold in those hills. ‘The world is becoming a smaller place, ’ said Marathe. ‘It is so much easier to consume Rangers, to consume the Scottish Premiership, because it is easier to watch through streaming or whatever. ‘Football is borderless. It is the world’s great game. It is one of the reasons why we wanted to be involved here.   ‘We are one of the biggest clubs in the world, with 600 supporter clubs and millions of fans around the world. The more people that consume the brand, consume the sport, consume the matches, the better for us. ’ The numbers associated with the 49ers are bewildering. Aside from confirming that their club is now controlled by serious people, though, they don’t have a huge amount of direct relevance for Rangers supporters. After buying up a majority stake, the consortium of which they are part agreed to invest £20m via a share issue. More funds might well follow but, for now, that sum must be put to good use. While it’s a substantial amount in the context of Scottish football, it guarantees nothing. ‘That is pretty simple and basic, ’ said Marathe. ‘It is the philosophy that I applied at the 49ers, that I apply at Leeds now as well. ‘Ultimately that foundation is built upon discipline, thoughtful, analytical, data-based decision making. ‘We don’t want to be in a position where we are just shooting from the hip and just making gut decisions. ‘There is time for gut decisions, not everything is done by a calculator. But the more we can stack the odds in our favour and give proper thought to a decision that we need to make before we make it . .. ‘The more often we can do that with the hundreds and thousands of decisions that we make, we will be right more than we are wrong. That is essentially the blueprint. ‘The results will matter. I’m not saying they are irrelevant. But, if you focus more on the process, then chances are you’re going to be right more than you’re wrong. ’ Rangers fans are desperate to see how their club perform under American ownership next season While there’s still plenty of time for the new regime to reshape the squad with that guiding principle, they’ll probably need to hit the bullseye every time this summer to stand a chance of beating a settled Celtic side to the title at the first attempt. Marathe only sees that sizeable challenge as an opportunity. ‘The short, medium and long term goal is to win, ’ he stressed. ‘It’s win the league, it’s win cups, it’s all of the above. Do we think we have what we need to win? Absolutely. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t. ‘We definitely have big belief in Kev (Thelwell, sporting director) and Russell (Martin manager) to lead the football side. ‘This is about building the right foundation and about doing it intelligently and thoughtfully, not just throwing money at it. ‘We’re not trying to benchmark ourselves against that other club. We are trying to be as successful as we can be. That is a self-evaluation. ’

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