Valentines Day in 2012 will always have dark connotations for Rangers fans with one name in particular scorched in their memories – Craig Whyte.
The self-professed Rangers fan had acquired Sir David Murray’s shares and had taken the club into administration.
Ultimately, financing the deal with Rangers fans season ticket money in a terminal venture with Ticketus.
There were red flags about Craig Whyte almost as soon as his name appeared, one of those being that nobody seemed to know anything about him, how he got his money and how much he had.
Former finance director Paul Murray was a key protagonist at the time in questioning his credibility.
Why did Paul Murray have doubts about Craig Whyte’s Rangers credentials?
Speaking to Club 1872 via Craig Houston, Murray recalls the first time he met Whyte and that alarm bells were already sounding:
“About six weeks before he took control of the club the board finally got to meet Craig Whyte, around the 31st of March.
“It was quite funny because there was ten of us on one side of the table and Craig Whyte on the other.
“We were all asking him questions and it came to my turn so I said:
“‘We’re roughly the same age, you’ve worked in London in finance, I’ve worked in London in finance, it’s quite a small market’.
“’Do you know A, B and C, ‘oh Paul, I don’t really know those guys, but I’ve heard of them.’
“That was a bit of a strange thing to say because you would know these people and then I said to him ‘what investments have you made?’
“It was all very vague, and for a guy like me who is pretty experienced in finance, this doesn’t sound right.
“We left the meeting thinking, this is so vague, ‘where’s the money coming from?’”
Eventually, we found out where the money was coming from but by that point it was too late.
Murray’s involvement even saw Whyte attempt to block Brian Kennedy’s bid to buy Rangers by making sure that the former finance director wouldn’t return to the club.
The board at the time were restricted in how much influence they had because of David Murray’s shareholding of over 80%, a model that Dave King has been adamant that we don’t return to.
The interview with Houston is a fascinating one as Paul recalls the build up to the purchase by Whyte, the fall out and how Charles Green came from nowhere to seize control.
Individuals like Paul Murray should never be forgotten and the part they played in trying to look after the club before ultimately rescuing it.
Our heroes tend to be remembered for what they do on the pitch but we can be quick to forget those who made a big difference off it too.
