Murray questions motives for SPL contracts investigation

Former Rangers owner David Murray has issued a statement denying that the club cheated their way to titles under his stewardship.

The man who sold the club to Craig Whyte for £1 has had his legacy tarnished by the administration and liquidation of the club and is held in contempt by many supporters.

Murray’s statements during his 21 year reign at Ibrox are legendary with his claim that he’s spend a tenner for every fiver that Celtic spent coming back top haunt the club.

HMRC are awaiting a verdict on the use of EBT”s that could see the club hit with a total bill of upto £70m with the SPL also investigating the issue.

Rangers claim that the EBT’s were discretionary payments and not contractual but all payments to players must be recorded in the contracts registered with the SFA and SPL.

Five Rangers titles are under threat if players were being made undisclosed payments with Murray setting out his marker as the SPL investigation is handed to an independent committee.

“During my stewardship of Rangers no rules were breached or circumvented and I reject and resent any suggestion that anything was done which amounted to cheating,” the former Ibrox chief claimed.

“I cannot be anything other than angered at the suggestion Rangers should be stripped of titles or other competition victories.

“It would appear that the SPL is once again seeking to invest itself with a power of retrospective penalty beyond that prescribed in its own rules.”

Rangers start the league season at Peterhead on Saturday in the Irn Bru Division 3 with Murray’s dream of bringing the European Cup to Govan a distant memory.

He added: ”I have decided to issue this statement because of the concerns which I have at the continuing attempts to inflict further punishment on Rangers Football Club.

“While the “Newco” Rangers was rejected for membership of the SPL on the publicly stated grounds of sporting integrity, I would question whether this was the underlying motive for many who took this decision.

“I am not totally convinced by the explanation that they were reacting to the opinions of the supporters of their individual clubs.

“This, in my opinion, is a suitable answer to cover many other agendas.

“I applaud the decision of the SFL to accept Rangers for membership and respect the decision of the member clubs of the SFL to admit Rangers to its Third Division.

“The problems at Rangers have brought no credit to Scottish football and are a tragedy for the club and for all those connected with it and who support it.

“They cannot be condoned and it is appropriate that there should be a proportionate penalty for the club for the events over the last year.

“However, I urge all those connected with Scottish football to bring this sad affair to a close – now. Bayoneting the wounded is neither justified nor proportionate.

“Nevertheless, I cannot be anything other than angered at the suggestion that Rangers should be stripped of titles or other competition victories.

“This suggestion is an insult to the staff and players who achieved these successes thanks to skill, hard work and commitment and for no other reason.

“It is also an insult to the thousands of Rangers supporters who spent their hard-earned money to support the club they love.

“I hope that those presently in charge of Rangers show sufficient resolve when it comes to resisting this move, despite the incentives being offered to do otherwise.”

Murray had originally hoped to get upwards of £30m for his 85% stake in the club but after three years trying to find a buyer claimed that he was duped into selling to Whyte for £1.

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