Sir David Murray admits major blunder over Rangers sale to Craig Whyte

Former Rangers owner Sir David Murray has admitted he made a major blunder in selling the club to Craig Whyte in 2011.

And he insists if he had remained in charge Rangers would NOT have ended up in liquidation a year later which led to starting again in the fourth tier of Scottish football.

Murray has been heavily criticised by supporters who cannot understand that a man with his business acumen would sanction someone like Whyte taking control.

It was against the backdrop of a vigorous investigation by HMRC over the EBT tax avoidance scheme in which they felt they were owed millions. Money for players was placed in overseas accounts – effectively they were not paying tax.

The 73-year-old is also pointing to a major banking crisis in Scotland which was severely affecting his business empire. He also maintains that the documentation presented to him by Whyte’s people did not indicate red flags.

"The only option"

He said: “Craig Whyte was a mistake. I’m prepared to admit that. But on the evidence of the legal documents and what he was going to do with the money that seemed the only option at the time.

“But he made the situation with HMRC worse by not paying tax, not paying national insurance and not paying his bills – he only made it worse.

“HMRC made us the target. The day I sold Rangers to Craig Whyte they ramped up fines to increase the bill to £75million but when it all washed through it was £33million and we could have handled that.

“And if it was £33million then could have handled it because we had assets. We had the stadium, and we had players but when it goes to £75million and then Craig Whyte adds to the debt and it’s £100million there’s no way back from that.”

Murray has also revealed that he had health problems at the time and subsequently needed major surgery for an aneurysm.

Fall into liquidation

Rangers’ world fell apart when HMRC refused to support a company voluntary agreement that would have allowed them to exit administration.

Instead, they were liquidated and Charles Green and his backers transferred the assets to form a new company to run the football club.

They were kicked out of the top flight and then forced to start again in the fourth tier. With Ally McCoist in charge they won titles in consecutive seasons but took two attempts to get back to the Premiership in 2016 - with Mark Marburton at the helm.

Murray said: “I was disappointed for the fans first of all and I was also so disappointed for the people that worked there – people who had been so loyal to me – and all of a sudden their jobs were in jeopardy.

“How many plates can you spin? The average Rangers fan doesn’t care about my other businesses – but so many in Scotland – a joiner in Fife a haulage firm in Melrose - were affected by the banking crises.”

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