Rangers have reportedly identified St Mirren chairman Jim Gillespie as their preferred candidate to become new Ibrox chief executive.

Club chiefs are thought to be hopeful of landing Gillespie in the coming weeks with a contract not yet finalised but the move widely expected to go through.

Rangers have not yet replaced James Bisgrove after his move to Saudi Arabia with John Bennett operating in the CEO role while potential candidates are considered.

Bennett is thought to have settled on Gillespie as Bisgrove's successor with chiefs keen to put the award-winning director in place at Rangers in the near future.

Here's everything you need to know about Jim Gillespie...

Who is Jim Gillespie? 

Jim Gillespie is the current St Mirren vice-chairman and chief executive at Renfrewshire charity Kibble.

The 46-year-old joined Kibble in 2014 as an executive director before graduating in roles to chief executive three years later.

The experienced boardroom operator also provided consultancy on police development and implementation to governments in the UK.

He was presented a Butler Trust Award in 2006 by Princess Anne. Gillespie was named Regional Director of the year for Glasgow and the West - for his work at Kibble - at the Insitute of Director Awards in 2019.

He then won the 'Agility and Resilience' gong from IoD in 2023, again for his work as a Kibble director.

When did he join St Mirren? 

Gillespie first joined St Mirren as a director in March 2020. He was appointed on completion of Kibble purchasing a 27.5 percent stake in the club in a move which aided a transition to fan ownership.

Gillespie took post as a Kibble representative on the board of directors - at that point under Gordon Scott - before transitioning to become vice-chairman in April 2021.

At the time, he said: "It is a privilege to take on this position. I know what an important institution St Mirren FC is in the local area and what it means to our loyal fans and local community.

"The board are working hard to achieve fan ownership and having the infrastructure in place to continue the progress that has been seen both on and off the field in the last year. This is an exciting time for St Mirren."

What did he do? 

Gillespie has been a key figure behind the scenes for St Mirren in recent years since first stepping into a directorial role at the football club.

Through his work at Kibble he helped guide the purchase shareholding in the club which in turn facilitated a fan ownership model through the St Mirren Independent Supporters Association (SMiSA).

The vice-chairman - working under current chairman John Needham - is involved in key day-to-day decision-making despite the role technically being part-time alongside his Kibble duties.

It was Gillespie who first discussed a move to St Mirren for Stephen Robinson two years ago and sold the manager on a switch to Paisley with the club stumping up compensation to take him from Morecambe.

Robinson stated: "When I spoke to Jim and he told me the ambitions, the set-up, the training facilities and what they are trying to improve with it, it was a very exciting opportunity that was difficult for me to turn down."

The St Mirren manager - and chief operating officer - Keith Lasley work closely with Gillespie across a number of areas within St Mirren.

Gillespie is understood to have played an influential role in St Mirren managing to sign Alex Gogic to a new three-year deal last season with the player running our of contract in a standout season in Paisley. The vice-chairman is experienced in handling contract discussions with players alongside Robinson.

While in position at St Mirren, the club have achieved historic back-to-back finishes in the Scottish Premiership and returned to Europe for the first time in 37 years this season - eventually knocked out by SK Brann in the Conference League third qualifying round.

Robinson previously said of the work behind the scenes at St Mirren: “I work closely with Jim Gillespie who is part of the Kibble ownership and I work closely with SMISA and I have had nothing but support and direction. Everybody is puling in the same direction at this football club."

Rangers links? 

According to The Scottish Sun, Gillespie is a "lifelong Rangers fan" and has contacts at the Ibrox club.

Gillespie is often spotted in the directors box at St Mirren matches and recently attended the draw against SK Brann seated alongside former Ibrox player Ryan Jack.

Jack is currently a free agent but Robinson cooled speculation on a move for the midfielder after his appearance in Paisley. 

Any issues? 

During his time at St Mirren and Kibble, Gillespie was involved in a row over land and a proposed Kibble development.

The charity has bid for £2m of public money to help fund a £13.4m wellbeing hub in Paisley to aid their efforts to support children with complex needs in Renfrewshire.

A row erupted over allegations Kibble had earmarked a site owned by St Mirren for the building - however, this was repeatedly denied by the charity which insisted the council had "wrongly shaded in an area of land owned by St Mirren" instead of intentions to build on one of numerous vacant sites in Ferguslie, Paisley.

As the dispute emerged, Kibble said allegations were based on the "entirely false premise that there was ever any intention to build on land owned by St Mirren". The spokesman for the charity went on: "There simply was not."

St Mirren's board insisted that the application was "unspecific" as to the precise location and that it was "not on land owned by St Mirren."

The application was unsuccessful in January 2023 with the matter "closed" as a result.