There was a ripple of excitement among the Rangers support when the esteemed Scotch whisky veteran Billy Walker expressed interest in investing in the Glasgow football club at the weekend. And it is easy to see why.

The Dumbarton-born distiller, a lifelong fan who attended his first match in 1950, has won a host of accolades over a glittering career in the whisky trade, initially with major players such as Ballantine’s, Inver House Distillers, and Burn Stewart Distillers, and over the last two-and-a half decades as a business owner in his own right.

Mr Walker, who gained a degree in chemistry from the University of Glasgow in 1967, has proven to be especially adept at building companies from the ground up, as shown by his success with the BenRiach Distillery Company.

That journey began with the acquisition of the then mothballed BenRiach Distillery on Speyside in 2002 and ended with the sale of the company to Brown-Forman for £285 million in 2016. Mr Walker is now making a big impact with the GlenAllachie Distillers Company, which he founded with the acquisition of the GlenAllachie Distillery on Speyside from Chivas Brothers in 2017.

This knack of building businesses may hold particular appeal among Rangers' fans given the financial challenges currently facing the club.

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Accounts published by the Rangers International Football Club on Tuesday revealed a sharp rise in losses to £17.3m for the year ended June 30, 2024, despite record revenue of £88.3m, sparking fresh concern over the financial health of the business.

The reverse was a significant deterioration from the £3.1m loss recorded the year before, with much of the commentary focusing on the impact on the club’s bottom line from the deficiency of its player trading model. Profit on the disposal of player registrations was £5.63m for the period, in stark contrast to a profit of £23.6m from such activity the year before.

Clearly, this is one area Rangers needs to improve upon if it is avoid a repeat of the kind of the losses it has just made.

However, it is worth pointing out that operating losses before player trading in the year to June 2024 were reduced to £1.988m from £10.495m in the prior 12 months.

Any potential investor in Rangers would naturally be concerned about the weakness of its player trading, and the club has recognised the need to do better, with concerted efforts now being made to remedy the situation.

Director of football recruitment Nils Koppen revamped the structure after joining the club before Christmas last year and this guided Rangers’ recent activity in the transfer market. Unfortunately for fans, this is a long-term plan and in all likelihood it will take some time to bear fruit.

Prospective investors, on the other hand, may be encouraged by the club’s revenue performance and apparent success in driving sales across all operations, from ticketing, hospitality, and corporate sales to soccer academies, events, Rangers TV, and retail. Supporters have again shown their willingness to spend their hard-earned cash although this can never be guaranteed, with the recent poor performances of the men’s team sparking concern of fan disillusionment.

Despite the regular and often ferocious criticism aimed at the club’s hierarchy, there can be no doubt that the steadfast financial support provided by a handful of influential shareholders – including Dave King, John Bennett, Douglas Park, and George Letham - continues to be crucial to its prospects.

Over the years, investors such as these have supported share issues, provided soft loans, and converted debt into equity. Indeed, the new accounts show that after the most recent financial year-end, directors converted £9m of existing debt into equity, with the remaining loan balances converted to a new long-term facility.

This is the reality facing anyone wishing to invest in Rangers at the current juncture.

Mr Walker will be more than aware of the situation, which perhaps makes his recent comments about becoming involved more interesting.

But what would be in it for him? Football history is littered with examples of fans getting their fingers burned when they have become involved with their favourite team, often because their thirst for success clouds their financial judgment. Too often this results in clubs spending beyond their means.

Mr Walker, however, has a proven track record in business investment, and it seems unlikely that he would be the kind of investor willing to throw money at a football team in the pursuit of glory.

Tellingly, in his recent interview with Rangers Review, part of the media stable which owns The Herald, Mr Walker emphasised the need for long-term planning – a feature which is sacrosanct to success in the Scotch whisky industry.

“The reality is the board has the fiscal responsibility to make sure all the correct financial levers are in the right places, and they can see a future, that’s very important,” he said. “It’s really important to see past the next week and certainly the next five years and determine where the club is going.

“In reality, would I like to invest? Yes, if the circumstances were right. Would I be the principal investor? No. That would be for somebody else.

“But sure, I’m a Rangers fan, if the environment’s right, probably yes why not? But if I was investing I would want to have a say about the direction of where the club is going.”

The harsh reality facing the Rangers board, however, is that time is in short supply. The intensity of the focus on day-to-day events at the club means patience is thin on the ground among a support now accustomed to watching Celtic win trophies, more often than not at their expense. Club custodians simply cannot work to a 10-year plan in the manner a Scotch whisky distiller lays down spirit in barrels today that can be released as a single malt a decade down the line. The reality is they have to deliver instant success while also having to plan for the long term.

Again, however, Mr Walker will know this, and he may now feel that he is at the stage of his career where he can think about other investments, especially with GlenAllachie so well established. The most recent accounts show that the distiller reported a pre-tax profit of £8.94m for the year ended December 31, 2023, up from £7.7m, against a backdrop of global economic and political upheaval. It was another impressive performance by the firm.

The Rangers board is currently depleted in key areas, with the company engaged in long-running efforts to recruit a new chief executive following the departure of James Bisgrove in May, and seeking a new permanent chairman, as well as a director of football operations. It is easy, therefore, to envisage the club benefitting from the counsel and acumen of someone of Mr Walker’s standing.

Of course, in order for Mr Walker to invest, he would likely require existing shareholders to sell some or all of their holdings to him. He could also invest if the club were to issue new shares, which would dilute the stakes of existing investors.

Publicly at least, there is no sign any of the current shareholders are looking for an exit, but it is not difficult to see that situation changing. John Bennett recently stood down as chairman on health grounds after leading the club through a troubled stadium refurbishment project, which drew stinging criticism from the support after the team was forced to begin the season playing home matches at Hampden.

In the current, hostile environment at Ibrox, with the team trailing Celtic and Aberdeen in the league and performances routinely failing to impress, it would certainly not be surprising if some shareholders decided to sell up.

It might just also be the right time for new ideas to resurrect a struggling institution.