DAVID MURRAY, the Rangers owner, said last night he is "quietly confident" the club will be debt-free within 12 months, after revealing the outcome of the club's Pounds 57m rights issue.

The Ibrox outfit announced that its "one-for-one" share offer has raised Pounds 51.4m, through the issue of an equivalent number of shares priced at Pounds 1.

Murray again stressed that there will be no "pot of gold" for the manager, AlexMcLeish:

all the cash will go towards easing Rangers' Pounds 70m-plus debts. However, supporters will be relieved by his assurance that the success of the offer means that the manager will not have to sell any players.

Murray said: "If we do sell any players, the money will immediately be given to Alex McLeish for replacements."

The vast bulk of the rescue package has been underwritten by Murray himself through MurrayMHL, the vehicle which the tycoon used to buy investment company's ENIC's 20 per cent stake in Rangers last August.

Murray MHL, in which Murray holds a controlling stake, has taken up rights to 11.8m new ordinary shares and also subscribed for a further 38.5m - a total commitment of Pounds 50.3m.

Some 3390 existing and 1263 new Rangers shareholders also subscribed. They invested an average of Pounds 248 each, raising additional sums of Pounds 848,465 and Pounds 307,530 respectively.

Murray admitted that he was "delighted" by the participation in the offer of more than 4500 shareholders and supporters, declaring that it demonstrated "strong support" for the initiative. He added: "Collectively, we have created a firm financial footing for the club."

One surprising absentee from the list of subscribers is South African-based supporter, Dave King, who invested Pounds 20m in Rangers in 2000 and remains the club's second-biggest shareholder through his stake in Murray Sports, Rangers' parent company.

King remains embroiled in a long-running battle with South Africa's inland revenue investigators over a personal tax demand of Pounds 60m.

The near-doubling of Rangers' share capital has tightened Murray's grip on the club. He now controls 99.8m shares, representing a 91.8 per cent stake.

The Rangers chairman again underlined his commitment to fiscal prudence by stressing that all the new money will be used to eliminate debt.

"My job is to sort out the financial stuff . . . it's a different philosophy at Rangers now. It [the newmoney] is all going to square the books off."

Murray expects Rangers' net debt to be cut to Pounds 10m-Pounds 15m by the end of the financial year next June, down from Pounds 74m at the end of 2003-04. Such a figure would be roughly on a parwith Old Firm rivals Celtic.

Murray would like to go further, though. "It is still my intention to cut the debt back to nothing. We own our stadium, our training ground and our brand. We are in a very strong position. I am quietly confident that over the next 12 months we can get the club on a position of having no debt."

Eyebrows were raised when it emerged in the rights issue prospectus that Rangers had lined up Pounds 37m of borrowing facilities from Bank of Scotland, even as it detailed plans to pay down debt.

Most of Rangers' existing borrowings are with the bank in the form of long-term loan and overdraft facilities. Murray has stressed, however, that the new facility was put in place because the club had to satisfy auditors Grant Thornton that it had sufficient funds for its rights issue business plan under a "worst-case scenario".

That could perhaps involve a swift exit from European competition, or even the unlikely event of failing to qualify for Europe at all.

Commenting on the extent to which Rangers will draw on that new facility, Murray said the club "does not intend to go anywhere near Pounds 37m".