The club’s Head of Soccer Academies and International Relations headed over to Asia to attend the China International Import Expo (CIIE) with the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce recently.
Speaking after making the journey Gibson gave some background to Rangers’ relationship with clubs in that region, commenting: “In terms of the background to Shanghai, we put a full time member of staff out there in 2019. It was a partnership with Multi Sports, and they do a number of different sports within Shanghai and we went out to manage the football part of that, which gave us a footprint in having a member of staff on the ground over there.
“The plan was then that the staff member would create the academy out there, so we then had the kids training and playing in Rangers kits. He would work with them on a weekly basis, do camp events and then the plan was to start bringing tour groups across from Shanghai.
“That was the plan and there was meant to be our first group coming across in April 2022, but because of COVID that got cancelled. During that time I also went over to Shanghai as part of a delegation with the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, it was a great opportunity for me to tie in with what the coach was doing with multi-sports in the international schools but then also start to create new networks and relationships within the region.
“On the back of that event it was really positive and useful. I built up a number of different contacts and we actually signed a MOU with Donghua University, now because COVID has taken such a long period of time, it has just been a case of keeping in touch with individuals, the network, the universities and the schools to ensure that when we came through that difficult period, at some point, we could go back into Shanghai and start to create some new business within that region.”
Now having a full-time member of staff in that part of the world, Gibson believes that only helps for the programme moving forward.
He continued: “We now have a full-time member of staff back in Shanghai, Stuart Lawson. He works with Multi Sport and will start to deliver the football side of it and will start to generate business on the back via the tours and individuals coming across to Scotland on our residential programmes by having a presence like we have got in Abu Dhabi.
“Just having full-time members of staff on the ground makes a massive difference for us to start to generate new business through the camps, the tours, online academy and the residentials. I headed back out to Shanghai, it was a great opportunity for me to see the work that Stuart is doing and I went with the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce again, which was really positive.
“There were several different businesses from Glasgow that went as part of the delegation. It was a fantastic event, it allowed us to pick up the conversations, have face-to-face meetings with the network that we have currently got, but also create a new network and allowed us to start to generate new businesses on the back of that as well. I went for eight days, as part of the Scottish Trade mission to Shanghai."
Gibson felt the trip was hugely beneficial as he carried on building relationships to keep expanding the network as they now head towards the end of the year.
He added: “I have no doubts that the trip was excellent and a huge part about going out to China was they are very big on having face-to face-meetings, that is the big thing.
“It is the relationship building and then on the back of that it's taking time, being patient and things will come. We are now starting to bear the fruits of that in terms of bringing new revenue and new projects from that region. It is just all about keeping the momentum going which it has.”
