A new stand for spectators to watch youth games, additional dressing room facilities, a classroom area and more floodlighting will be added after East Dunbartonshire Council gave the green light to the project.

The enhancements will be funded by the Rangers Fans Fighting Fund, an initiative set up by Sandy Jardine in March 2012, with further support coming from the Scottish Football Partnership.

Managing director Stewart Robertson told rangers.co.uk: “We are excited by this new project. Our Academy is a key part of our business plan and we are starting to see the benefits of the significant progress we have made in this area with the likes of Ross McCrorie, Jamie Barjonas and Ryan Hardie all featuring in recent weeks.

“The stand will be a tangible legacy provided by the supporters which will also provide more dressing room capacity and education space, which will benefit our young players. It will facilitate greater utilisation of our Academy pitches and thereby the amount of time the players spend with a ball at their feet. Ultimately this will assist us in producing more players for the first team.

“The new floodlighting will also allow us greater pitch availability, which again will benefit the players. I would like to thank the RFFF for allowing us to push forward with this important and exciting initiative and, along with the support from our friends at the Scottish Football Partnership, we will deliver a facility that all Rangers fans can be proud of and which will benefit the club for years to come.”

Auchenhowie was opened in 2001 and features seven full-sized pitched as well as an indoor pitch and a practice area on a 14-acre site.

Work on the new facility is set to begin this month.