SIR DAVID MURRAY has apologised for selling Rangers to Craig Whyte — 14 years after the £1 deal which triggered the club’s collapse.
The former Gers owner admits the sale was a “huge mistake” in his new autobiography ‘Mettle: Tragedy, Courage and Titles’.
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Whyte took control in May 2011, but presided over the financial crash at Ibrox which resulted in administration nine months later and ultimately liquidation.
Murray, now 73, claimed at the time he was “duped” by Whyte.
But he has now said sorry for flogging the club at a time he was battling health issues.
He said: “I apologise.
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“It was a huge error of judgment in the middle of a financial crisis.
“Looking back, I had made a huge mistake.
“I deeply regretted and still regret selling the club to Whyte.
“And I freely admit that if the information had been available to me at the time I would not have gone through with it.”
Whyte bought the club from Murray just days before Gers won the league title with a 5-1 triumph over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
But the financial crisis soon unravelled, with Whyte wrestling with £18m debts he inherited and HMRC battles.
It emerged the new owner had used money projected to come from future season tickets to allow him to complete his purchase.
And under Whyte’s stewardship, the Gers went into administration and then liquidation in 2012 — and were plunged to the fourth tier of Scottish football.
SIR DAVID MURRAY: A TIMELINE
1951 – Born in Ayr
1974 – Founds Murray International Metals aged 23
1976 – Loses both legs in a car crash
1984 – Awarded Young Scottish Businessman of the Year
1988 – Buys Rangers FC for £6million
1989 – Rangers win the first of a record-equalling nine successive league titles and buy first high profile Catholic, Maurice Johnston, for £1.5m from under the noses of Celtic.
1991: Walter Smith succeeds Graeme Souness as manager.
1992 – Wife Louise – mum of their two sons – dies after a cancer battle.
1993: Rangers sign Duncan Ferguson for a record transfer fee between British clubs of £4million.
1995: Paul Gascoigne signs for a club record £4.3m.
1998: Dick Advocaat is appointed manager and club break their transfer record three times that summer by signing Arthur Numan (£4.5m), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (£5m) and Andrei Kanchelskis (£5.5m). Murray declares that for ‘every £5 Celtic spend, we will spend £10.’
2000: Rangers smash transfer record by signing Tore Andre Flo from Chelsea for £12m.
2001: Murray Park is opened at a cost of £14m.
2007 – Knighted for services to business
2009 – Sir David steps down as Rangers chairman and as a member of the board, with the club having won 15 titles and 21 cups during his tenure
May 2011 – He sells his controlling interest in Rangers for £1 to Wavetower Limited, owned by businessman Craig Whyte.
Murray added: “Do I regret the sale to Craig Whyte? Absolutely.
“I know others had doubts.
“Paul Murray was keen to buy the club and I had nothing but respect for him.
“He is a Rangers fan and wanted what was best for the club. But at that time he was not able to make a satisfactory offer.
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“There have always been suggestions that I was under ferocious pressure from the bank to do the deal but that was not the case at all.
“The bank wanted their money, of course, and I had made it clear that I wanted out of Rangers.”
Ayr-born steel magnate Murray — who was knighted in 2007 for services to business in Scotland — bought Rangers for £6m from Lawrence Marlborough in 1988.
Under his guidance, Gers enjoyed their greatest domestic era, including Nine in a Row championship success from 1989-97.
They competed in the first Champions League in 1992/93 and made the 2008 Uefa Cup final in Manchester.
Football’s scoop of the century
By Roger Hannah
IT’S The Sun Wot Broke It.
But Sir David Murray didn’t mind that his historic swoop for Maurice Johnston was first revealed on the front page of this newspaper in 1989.
He was just relieved he’d managed to help Graeme Souness pull off a transfer swoop which rocked Scottish football.
Even now, 36 years on, landing the Scotland striker from Celtic’s grasp — and making him the first high- profile Catholic to play for Gers — is regarded as the most audacious swoop of all time.
And Murray recalls: “All the talk was of Johnston joining Celtic. But Graeme came to me and said, ‘Apparently he’s not signed, the paperwork’s not done, we can get him’.
“I asked for a day to think about it, phoned him and said, ‘Yes, I think we should do it for numerous reasons — for football reasons and to remove an area where we can be criticised for not signing Catholic players. And why not make it the best one, who can come in and contribute?’
“Even though at that time Mark Hateley and Ally McCoist were the strikers and had an excellent partnership.
“Finally, just 24 hours before we were due to unveil the player, we took a call from a young journalist at The Sun in Scotland ahead of a story being published.
“On July 10, 1989, The Sun ran half of its front page with the simple headline MO JOINS GERS.
“It certainly didn’t spoil the unveiling. If anything, it ramped up the tension!”
Johnston, who had played with Celts before a spell at Nantes in France, was pictured with Hoops boss Billy McNeill in 1989 but hadn’t signed his contract to return.
Gers boss Souness, who had played with Johnston for Scotland, realised the move hadn’t been concluded and kickstarted the monumental move.
In his autobiography — published this week — he offers a deeply personal insight into his extraordinary life and work.
He lifts the lid on his relationship with bosses Graeme Souness — still a close friend — Walter Smith, Dick Advocaat, Alex McLeish and Paul le Guen.
Murray also reveals details of his relationship with superstar players including Paul Gascoigne and record scorer Ally McCoist, who would be appointed manager by Whyte after his buy-out
– Mettle: Tragedy, Courage & Titles by Sir David Murray, is on sale Thursday July 3 from Amazon and all good bookshops.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
Preorder on Amazon here.
Sir David is donating his royalties to Erskine Hospital.
