Thanks to the dedication of some campaigners some light has been shed on exactly how Dave Murray was able to bring success to Rangers prior to liquidation.
Denying HMRC was the main route as other clubs paid the crown then tried to deliver success on the park while Murray laughed at such ‘red tape’.
With a ‘tax free’ budget Murray admitted in court that he was able to bring in players that he couldn’t normally afford which delivered success and denied clubs playing by the rules.
As well as denying HMRC, Murray, Campbell Ogilvie and Andrew Dickson also refused to ‘act in the utmost good faith’ with other SFA and SPL members as they registered token contracts to players and bumped up their earnings through side contracts.
In today’s Scotsman another angle on how Rangers (IL) undermined clubs as in an article about footballing legislation the roundabout route taken by Andy Webster from Hearts to Ibrox is explained.
The Scotsman reports: The Webster case was instructive. “Andy had one year left in his contract but wanted to go somewhere else,” he recalls. “His agent wanted to transfer him down south – it’s been a long time now, so I can probably say there was another club [Rangers] behind it!
“Andy just walked out of his contract!” adds Lombardi. “FIFA really tried to make a point. But it did not stand CAS scrutiny and he was ordered to pay a relatively laughable amount.”
Webster ended up paying Hearts a compensation fee of £150,000 – reduced on appeal from £650,000.”
Despite going to such extensive efforts to recruit a player from a rival club Webster’s Ibrox career is something of a mystery.
In four seasons he only managed to start two SPL matches yet out on loan at Dundee United during the 2009/10 season he was virtually an ever present and captained the club to winning the Scottish Cup.