By Lindsay Herron

RANGERS announced plans on Saturday to develop the next generation of supporters and encourage more families to Ibrox.

Chairman Sir David Murray, Chief Executive Martin Bain and the Board recognised that the club had to prioritise younger fans and now some superb measures are being put in place.

Juvenile season ticket prices are being cut by up to a third and there are other major plans in place.

Chief Executive Bain has spoken to Rangers World, explaining the whole process.

He said: "A couple of years ago we did a lot of analysis into Rangers and the future and in particular an analysis of our fan base both geographically and demographically.

"What we realised very quickly was that our model was different to many other European clubs who are in a similar boat to us in that we are very dependent on - and very grateful for - the ticketing income from our supporters as we don't have the huge media income that other clubs enjoy.

"In being that dependent on our supporters you take a season like this and you realise the expenditure fans have for tickets for their families, merchandise and, of course, the cost of following the team in Europe.

"We realised quickly that we must reduce the prices for children to come into Ibrox and the reason for that is that these children are the future of Rangers Football Club.

"It's important that they feel a sense of belonging at a young age, it's important that they get the right facilities and while Ibrox is a five-star stadium and a safe environment you are always looking to improve things.

"From now on it is going to be a lot cheaper from father and son or mother and daughter to come to matches.

"We are knocking up to £81 off the season ticket price and when you look at what that covers it works out about £7 for a child to come to a match at Ibrox.

"There is no limit to it so I hope that people see that we are making an effort to allow them to bring their children to the games.

"It is difficult for season ticket holders to bring children on an ad hoc basis because we have a large season ticket base which causes a configuration issue. In other words they can't get seats together.

"However, we are going to put a lot of focus and emphasis on being able to bring your children on a one-off basis whereby you could relocate to another seat and have your children beside you.

"You currently can't do that unless you buy public sale tickets and given the season we are having there are not that many of them at the moment!"