By Alistair Aird
It’s fair to say that Sir David Murray polarises opinion among the Rangers support. Despite enjoying one of the most successful eras in the club’s history when he was Chairman, the scars from the sale of the club to Craig Whyte in 2011 and the subsequent plummeting of the club into the abyss of administration still run deep and will never heal. The part Murray played in the latter will forever be his legacy for some, irrespective of the good times Rangers enjoyed during his 23-year tenure.
But there are after all two sides to every story. Perspectives and interpretations will differ and that may well have been one of the motivating factors when Sir David decided to write his memoirs which are entitled Mettle and were recently published by Reach Sport.
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I have spoken to Sir David on several occasions and find him to be compelling, forthright and engaging. When he told me he was bringing a book out, my initial thought was that this was long overdue and that I was a tad frustrated that I hadn’t had the chance to throw my hat into the ring when it came to ghost writing it!
But when I received a copy of the book for review, I initially thought only of the end to Murray’s Rangers story. I wanted to skip the preamble and get into the nitty gritty.
While I don’t have both feet firmly in the ‘tainted legacy’ camp, the heartbreak that followed the financial implosion at my club still lingers to this day. That’s not symptomatic of living in the past either. It was a brutal experience so I was keen to see if Murray would endeavour to right a few wrongs. Would he provide some rationale as to why he sold to Whyte? Would he take some accountability for the collapse that came after that fateful announcement on St Valentine’s Day 2012?
But I resisted the temptation to skip ahead. Instead, I wanted to build to picture from Murray’s perspective from the get-go. In essence, I wanted to map out the path that took him from the steel industry to being the top dog at one of the greatest institutions in world football.
I immediately became absorbed in Murray’s journey. After a Prologue that explains the circumstances around the car accident that saw him lose both his legs and almost cost him his life, Murray details his family life and the influences of his father, Ian, and mother, Rosa. This was where the seeds for his life in business were sown.
After being forced to drop out of the prestigious Fettes College, Murray makes it clear that he wanted to earn rather than learn. That meant his path would not lead to university. Instead, Murray took on a job selling aluminium and that would be the launchpad that would see him establish himself as one of the top entrepreneurs in the world.
But woven throughout the business journey, is the route to Rangers.
There’s his attempt to buy Ayr United that was rebuffed and details of Murray attending the infamous Old Firm game that ended 2-2 and saw three players ordered off in October 1987. Murray was a guest of the Rangers player-manager, Graeme Souness, that afternoon, and that is where the first seed was planted that would blossom a year later when Murray received a call from Souness that informed him that the Lawrence Group intended to sell.
At this point, it is important to point out that as bad as it may have got 23 years later, Murray acted quickly to avert what would most likely have been a catastrophic series of events. The media tycoon, Robert Maxwell, had expressed an interest in taking over at Ibrox. As much as Murray may still be maligned in some quarters, I shudder to think what state Rangers would have ended up in had Maxwell been granted the opportunity to have a controlling interest. For Murray’s haste to conclude the deal, there should be some semblance of gratitude from the Rangers support.
Given how influential he was in getting Murray through the oak-panelled front door, Souness is given a chapter on his own. So too is Walter Smith. Dick Advocaat, Alex McLeish and the ill-fated call to appoint Paul Le Guen have the light shone upon them too.
And the chapter that resonates more than most is the one on Walter.
You can throw stones at Murray as much as you like, but one of the endearing legacies from his tenure at Rangers was the call to appoint Smith as the successor to Souness in April 1991. It must have been tempting to seek a manager that had been there, done that and got the proverbial T-shirt, but Murray resisted. He sought counsel from some trusted confidants in the dressing room and put his faith in Smith to maintain the momentum that Souness had started. That brave decision reaped handsome dividends. And when I reflect on Murray’s time at Rangers, the appointment of Smith – up there among our greatest-ever managers and the top man in the post-WW2 era – not once but twice is something that he deserves immense credit for.
But then we get to the crux of what everyone sees as the indelible black mark in Murray’s Rangers copybook. For all the success he enjoyed, for all the talent like Laudrup, Gascoigne, Numan and de Boer that he helped bring through the door, Sir David Murray stands accused of selling out and taking the easy option when Craig Whyte rode into town on his metaphorical white stead.
There were however factors at play that one could argue forced Murray’s hand.
The collapse of the Bank of Scotland was the main one, and Murray goes to great lengths to explain the devastating impact that had not just on Rangers but also on his own business empire. And there were health reasons too after Murray was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm in August 2009.
The disclosure of the latter for the first time may be perceived as an attempt to tug at the heart strings, to use ill-health as some sort of rationale for the error of judgement that was selling to Whyte. But I took this to be more of a catalyst for Murray to convince him that he had to get out. As much as we all love our football club, our devotion and dedication should never come to the detriment of our own physical or mental health.
At this point, Whyte appears to have been the only show in town. And although Whyte has been profiled in hindsight as something of a nefarious character, Murray makes it clear that documents were exchanged that proved that Whyte and his cronies had the funds necessary to keep Rangers afloat.
Admittedly, there were some red flags.
Murray, who includes his sworn testimony to the police when Whyte was under investigation for fraud, references a ‘private and confidential’ document from Chief Executive, Martin Bain. Bain expressed his concerns over the suitability of Whyte, but after reviewing the document, Murray felt there was nothing of any substance to suggest that the deal should not be completed. Bain, who himself doesn’t have the best of reputations among the Rangers support, seems in this case to have been bang on it.
And then there was the proof of funds.
A Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) was signed by Murray on 6 May 2011. But in August 2011, when Murray sought assurances that Whyte was compliant with the obligations of the SPA, all he got two months later was a draft letter – unsigned – from Whyte’s solicitors, Collyer Bristow, that stated that everything had been fulfilled. But by then, the horse had bolted, and the door couldn’t be closed. The damage would be irreparable.
There is contrition at this point. Murray regrets selling to Whyte, but perhaps the factors at play – the financial collapse and subsequent impact on his businesses and his health issue – meant he wasn’t as diligent as he should have been. I’m not saying there was desperation per say, but for myriad reasons, Murray was done. That said, despite the red flags, he had assurances and legal documents that suggested the Whyte package was the real deal. Hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing.
So, after reading Mettle, how do I think Sir David Murray should be remembered in Rangers folklore?
For the success he brought to the club? Absolutely. Murray presided over one of the most silver-lined eras in our history. For taking a calculated and measured gamble on Walter Smith? 100%. And for earmarking Walter to resurrect us after the French farce that was Paul Le Guen, Murray deserves plaudits for that too. For overspending? Perhaps, but looking back now, how many of us questioned it as we filled the squad with world-class players to attempt to turn domestic dominance into the success in Continental competition that we craved?
But the events of 2012 can’t be erased. Murray made a massive mistake, an error of judgement that he openly admits was heavily influenced by other factors. But there were others in the mix too, trusted advisors who saw very little amiss. Murray isn’t blameless – and he is magnanimous enough to admit that – but as the man that signed on the dotted line, he will forever be tarred with the brush. He was complicit in the demise of Rangers Football Club.
I know there are many among you that wouldn’t touch Mettle with a bargepole. You don’t want to line the pockets of Sir David. On that, the back flap states clearly that all royalties are going to Erskine Hospital. But having read the book with an open and objective mind, I would recommend it.
Everyone has a story to tell and there are few more absorbing than this one. Murray has grafted hard to establish himself in the world of business. Ruthless? 100%. But there is humbleness and humility there too.
And although the ending was far from fairytale, you can’t deny he delivered success and silverware during his time at Rangers. And in April 1991, Murray took a punt and gave us Walter. For that, above all else, we should offer some semblance of gratitude.
As an aside, there are a couple of factual errors that haven’t been picked up unfortunately. When discussing the acquisition of Maurice Johnston in July 1989, the book makes mention of the strikers Rangers had at the time of the purchase. Ally McCoist and Mark Hateley are the names quoted. This is incorrect. While McCoist had been a Rangers player since June 1983, Hateley didn’t arrive from Monaco until the summer of 1990, a year after Johnston. And when referring to historical European exploits of Rangers and Celtic, the book states that Rangers lost to Bayern Munich in the semi-final of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1967 when in fact the two met in the final of the competition.