The Daily Record has produced a Mills & Boon classic to celebrate how Paul Murray and Keith Jackson saved Rangers, except they didn’t.
Ten years ago today the Borders Banker was on a family ski-ing holiday in France as his beloved club was placed in administration. Despite the claims of the dynamic duo 276 creditors ranging from taxi firms, florists, newsagents, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and a face painter are still waiting to be paid by the club that Murray ‘saved’.
In 2007 Murray accepted a blazer, brogues and a Blue Room ticket from the hugely successful businessman Dave who had a long standing relationship with Scottish newspapers with the Daily Record a particular favourite.
With success at the time built on a scam of disguised remuneration to bring in players that the club couldn’t afford in the same way as their competitors it was a business built on sand.
The financial crash of 2008 put the squeeze on Dave who was told to sell the club by HBoS if he was to retain anything of his debt-ridden empire.
Paul knew that the club was unsustainable, the Superiority Complex of supporters wouldn’t contemplate financial reality which could result in sustained success for Selik.
No businessman would touch the toxic club. Eventually Dave accepted a pound coin from Craig Whyte, six months earlier he had been introduced to the Record’s army of readers as a Motherwell born billionaire. That theory had been taken apart by internet bampots within 24 hours but the Record charged on with the fiction regardless. Mr Whyte had a mortgage on a Highlands Castle.
Paul kept quiet as Whyte’s tenure unravelled, except for whispering to Jackson whose reputation was in tatters with ‘Motherwell born billionaire’ hanging above every article published.
In their Valentine’s Day Bromanace, the Daily Record reports Jackson recalls:
Paul and I first came into contact in the days after the Record broke the news of David Murray’s intention to sell control of the Ibrox club.
Over the dizzying months that followed, leading up to the ill-fated takeover in May 2011, Paul would become more than just a trusted whistleblower to me. We remain close friends to this day.
Returning the misty-eyed compliments Murray admits:
I’m pretty sure if you look back at what was written – and it was your newspaper which carried most of it – I was making my concerns known from the start.
On the week the club was taken over, I did an interview saying this was going to end in administration in 12 months. As it happened, it was almost to the day.
In June of 2011, you wrote a story about the club being funded by mortgaging future season tickets. You were then shut down and forced to apologise, even though it was later proven that the story was correct.
Having upset Mr Whyte and fearing that they would be cut out of the loop of juicy transfer tales the Record deleted the Ticketus story from their website, over the following six months there was no follow up or reference to the deal. By January 2012 the Record finally twigged what was inevitable.
Paul continued:
It had been coming. You guys at the Record had written the season ticket story which pretty much blew the thing apart. It was obvious there was no way back because the club’s future revenue had been sold off.
Nikica Jelavic was also sold on the last day of the January transfer window, so it was clear where everything was heading.
On Monday the 13th, there was activity in court. HMRC tried to appoint their own administrator so they could get a proper look at the books.
But the club were able to stop that and get Duff and Phelps appointed. And then, the following day, the inevitable happened.
LIQUIDATION 10 YEARS AGO TODAY.BYE BYE EBT CHEATS