Gordon Ramsay last night admitted to "inaccuracies" in his account of his early football career after his claims to have played competitively for Rangers were rubbished by club historians and former players.

Gordon Ramsay last night admitted to "inaccuracies" in his account of his early football career after his claims to have played competitively for Rangers were rubbished by club historians and former players.

The celebrity chef was forced onto the defensive after Robert McElroy, a club historian who has watched every competitive match Rangers has played since 1972, dismissed as "complete and utter nonsense" the 42-year-old's repeated claim to have played for the club's first team before an injury cut short his career.

Mr McElroy said the closest that Ramsay got to playing competitive football for the club was a testimonial match in September 1985. "Had he done very well in that testimonial he may well have been offered a contract or something like that - but he didn't make any impact and wasn't offered any sort of contract," he said.

Ramsay, who was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, has claimed on Desert Island Discs, in his autobiography and in a series of interviews that he played several first-team games for the Glasgow club as a youngster.

In a radio show in 2002, Ramsay explained how his footballing career ended when Rangers manager Jock Wallace and first team coach Archie Knox released him after he tore his ligament.

But at the time, Knox, 61, was the manager of Dundee. He told a Sunday newspaper yesterday: "The first time I ever saw Gordon Ramsay was in 1996 when he launched his first book. But he didn't know me from Adam because we've never met."

Ramsay's company, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, last night issued a statement to clarify his earlier claims. "Gordon has always down-played his footballing past and been clear about the fact that he never made it to be a professional," it said.