There was plenty for Rangers to celebrate long before the clock struck midnight on Hogmanay 2014.
Champagne corks were popping early as news emerged of a deal that would have huge significance for the club.
The club’s largest shareholder, Laxey Partners, had sold its 16% stake to Douglas Park and his Three Bears consortium.
Laxey chairman Colin Kingsnorth revealed he was handing the share to the trio of wealthy Rangers fans so they could lead the fight against Mike Ashley and his despised regime - even labelling then Ibrox chairman David Somers a “wet fish”.
Making up one third of the Three Bears was George Letham who, along with current chairman Park and George Taylor, played a huge role in rescuing the club.
Since that combined purchase of 13.3 million shares, Letham has been a key figure in the Rangers rebuild even if it has been working quietly in the background.
A matter of three months after that new year, Dave King had won control of the Ibrox club after a boardroom coup on an historic day at the EGM in March 2015 alongside Paul Murray and John Gilligan.
And Letham - who and Co handed them an interest-free £1.5 million loan to help the club start its journey back to the top.
In 2014 he also forced the club to ditch a £1 million loan agreement with Laxey after being left “horrified” at the terms which would have cost the club a £150,000 premium and instead wrote a cheque for a seven-figure sum in return for a £45,000 premium converted into shares.
In total, Letham has invested around £5 million but has stepped down from his position from the Football Club board, with communications chief David Graham and Finance Director Kenny Barclay replacing them.
The statement added: “We are very grateful to George Letham for his services to TRFC board during a crucial period in our Club’s history.
“George played a key role in the management of the impact of Covid-19, and although he is stepping down from this role, he will continue as a trusted adviser.”
Letham, who has a 4.33 per cent stake in the club, only joined the board less than a year ago but the 64-year-old has always been a reluctant hero.
More at home in Bar 72 than the Blue Room, the Fifer finally answered the boardroom call where the certified accountant’s financial acumen could act as a bridge between the football and PLC board.
However, the quiet lifelong fan of the Ibrox revolution played a key role in the appointment of Barclay which allowed him to step down knowing his shoes will adequately filled.
His voice, though, will remain powerful in the running of the club and in the stand as he swaps the blazer and tie to return to the hat and scarf of his boyhood heroes on Ibrox matchdays.
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