Former MK Dons boss Mike Williamson has been appointed as a first team coach at Rangers, where he will join a coaching set-up overseen by fellow ex-Dons boss Russell Martin.

The 41-year-old was one of two coaches appointed at Ibrox as part of Martin’s backroom team, with the club also confirming goalkeeping coach Salvatore Bibbo as part of their new set-up after Bibbo left Sheffield Wednesday.

The role is Williamson’s return to coaching after leaving Carlisle United, having been fired in January after only 5 months at Brunton Park.

Before then, Williamson had spent just under a year as Head Coach at MK Dons. He joined the Dons from Gateshead in October 2023, where he took the Dons to 4th in League Two after arriving with the club in the bottom half.

He then left after being offered the Carlisle job in September 2024, leaving after the Dons were heavily beaten by Crawley in the 2024 League Two play-offs before a more difficult start to the 2024/25 campaign saw the Dons lost 4 of their opening 6 games.

Williamson will join a set-up overseen by Martin and which also features another ex-Don in Matt Gill, who spent two months working as part of Martin’s coaching staff in 2021 at Stadium MK. Gill later moved to Swansea when Martin took the job in South Wales, with Gill also working with Martin at Southampton.

Confirmation of Williamson and Bibbo’s appointments came ahead of Rangers’ first home pre-season friendly ahead of the 2025-26 season, with Rangers due to host Belgian side Club Brugge tomorrow (06/07).

Martin, who was MK Dons boss between November 2019 and August 2021, told the official Rangers website that he was looking forward to working with his two new appointments.

He said, “I am delighted to have Mike and Sal join my team ahead of the new season.

“I played with Mike at Wycombe Wanderers so we go back a long way, and I know the qualities he can bring to this group. As a player he played at the very top level and is an experienced coach having been a manager himself.

“I am also really happy to bring Sal into the team, he has a lot of experience and a strong track record of developing goalkeepers. After speaking to him it was clear that his knowledge and character will be a real asset to the players and the staff, and I am looking forward to working with them both.”

Gers Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell added, “I would like to welcome both Mike and Sal to Rangers. They are both experienced coaches who will bring a lot of knowledge to the club.

“Their addition strengthens Russell Martin’s coaching team and reflects our continued commitment to building the best environment capable of delivering success on and off the pitch.”

Thelo Aasgaard has left Luton Town after Scottish side Rangers activated a release clause in his contract.

Aasgaard had only joined Luton in January 2025, but following the club’s relegation from the Championship, the 23-year-old has moved to Scotland for an undisclosed fee reported by some sources as being in the region of £3.5million.

The deal makes Aasgaard Rangers’ fifth signing in their first transfer window under the management of recently appointed boss Russell Martin.

Aasgaard had joined Luton from League One side Wigan Athletic in January, with the attacking midfielder scoring twice in 17 appearances for the club in his time in Bedfordshire.

Luton manager Matt Bloomfield told the club’s website that a trigger was comments by the Norwegian national team manager Stale Solbakken, who said earlier this week that he would need to move to a higher level than League One to feature in his contentions for any squad if Norway qualify for next year’s World Cup.

Bloomfield said, “It’s bitter-sweet. We are obviously disappointed to see Thelo go, but unfortunately, after our relegation, there was an air of inevitability that he would be highly-sought after.

“In order to sign him in January we agreed to a conditional release clause – something that this club has only ever done in exceptional circumstances – which only got triggered in the event we played League One football this season.

“This meant the move was entirely his choice and if it wasn’t for his international manager’s comments, that he needed to be playing at a certain level of football to go to the World Cup, we may have been able to persuade him to stay, but the fee was met and his future success will benefit the club greatly going forward.

“I think we should be filled with pride, because we’ve taken a boy from League One and he’s now off to a huge club who will be playing in the Champions League qualifiers.

“I’d like to thank Thelo as well, because he’s been great for us. He’s acted with integrity for every moment he’s been with us and on the way out too, he’s been a diamond of a boy.”

Aasgard told the official Rangers website that he was delighted to make the move to Scotland.

He said, “I am delighted to be here. I have been waiting for it, but I am glad to get it over the line.

“When I heard about Rangers I was over the moon. I have played against the manager’s teams a few times and I always pictured myself in his team and to be here now is really good.

“It was an easy decision, I love the number of games here, it is like the EFL and I love playing. The stature and history is enough as well.”

MK Dons’ trip to Newport County has had its kick-off time changed to facilitate a Sky TV broadcast.

The match at Rodney Parade in South Wales was in the selection for TV broadcast in Sky’s first tranche of fixture announcements covering August and September, which was announced yesterday (04/07).

MK Dons’ visit to South Wales will remain on Saturday 23rd August as previously intended, but will now see the game start at 12:30pm instead of the provisionally scheduled 3pm.

The match is the only Dons game to be moved for TV coverage in that time. The game at home to Oldham Athletic on the opening day of the season on 2nd August will also be broadcast, but this broadcast choice is part of Sky’s commitment to broadcast all opening games in EFL divisions.

Tickets for the Dons’ match at Newport will go on sale in due course.

Defender Amari’i Bell has joined Charlton Athletic after his exit from Luton Town.

Bell, 31, has signed a two year contract to move to the South London club after he left Luton at the end of the recently concluded 2024/25 season.

The announcement sees Bell become the second person to move from Luton to a Charlton side managed by ex-Hatters boss Nathan Jones, with Thomas Kaminski having been announced as a new Luton signing earlier this week.

Capable of playing as a left wing-back or left-sided centre back, Bell left Luton after four years contracted to the Hatters. He made 157 appearances and scored two goals for a club that he joined from Blackburn in 2021 after becoming a free agent.

In his time at the club, he had been a regular, with one high point seeing him help Luton to win promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.

He made 33 appearances for Luton last season, but was confirmed as departing upon expiry of contract.

Bell told the official Charlton website, “It’s a fresh start for me and one that I’m looking forward to as Charlton are on the way back up. It’s another chance to work with Nathan who is a great manager that knows how to get the best out of his players, and he certainly does for me. It’s going to be a great time.”

Charlton Manager Nathan Jones, who previously signed Bell at Luton, said he was looking forward to the opportunity to work with Bell again.

He said, “Amari’i’s someone I know well. I signed him at Luton and he did fantastically well for me. He knows how I want to play, he has Championship and Premier League experience, and he’s a wonderful athlete with pace and power. He will add to the group and we’re really delighted because left-sided centre-halves are very difficult to come by.”