SIR DAVID MURRAY once entertained Peter Lawwell and his wife as guests at Ibrox.
They worked closely together in the steel and mining industries back in the day.
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But Murray now claims that Lawwell “completely changed trajectory” after beginning a 17-year spell as Celtic’s chief executive in 2003.
And he believes Lawwell — now back at Parkhead as Hoops’ non- exective chairman — held too much sway in Scottish football’s corridors of power.
Murray said: “Peter was someone I knew previously.
“One of my companies, GM Mining, did business with Scottish Coal where Peter worked.
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“I once invited him and his wife to Ibrox for a game. He was delighted to accept and back then was good company.
“But by the time he rose to become chief executive of Celtic, he was on a completely different trajectory.
“For nearly two decades he tried to build up a seat of power and I honestly believe he was wielding far too much influence in Scottish football.
“At one point, after I sold Rangers, it seemed he was positively revelling in the demise of the club.
“With very few influential or credible figures working to Rangers’ benefit he was a pivotal figure.”
Just as former chairman Murray presided over an era of success at Ibrox, Lawwell’s tenure as Celts’ chief executive coincided with one of the greatest spells in their history.
They won nine in a row for the second time in Celtic’s history, an achievement which Murray’s Gers savoured once between 1989-97.
In his new autobiography ‘Mettle: Tragedy, Courage and Titles’, Murray discusses his relationship with Lawwell and Parkhead powerbrokers including Fergus McCann and Dermot Desmond.
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.
He also lifts the lid on Gers’ battles with their Old Firm rivals over his 23 years at Ibrox — and the shift in the balance of power in Glasgow.
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.
– Mettle: Tragedy, Courage & Titles by Sir David Murray, is on sale Thursday July 3 from Amazon and all good bookshops.
Preorder on Amazon here.
Sir David is donating his royalties to Erskine Hospital.
