Craig Whyte, the former owner of Rangers, blames the Ibrox club’s financial meltdown in 2012 on Sir David Murray and his board in his incendiary new autobiography.
Whyte admits “I made mistakes and I deeply regret that” in his book, Into The Bear Pit, which will be published next Friday on the eighth anniversary of Rangers being put into administration.
The Motherwell-born venture capitalist also reveals that the cost of his involvement with the Glasgow club has been “incalculable” and describes how he became “the most-hated man in Scotland”.
In a book packed full of explosive revelations, he claims Sir David, who sold him Rangers for £1 in 2011, and the previous board were “to blame for the downfall of Rangers”.
“Any suggestion I had taken over some kind of successful business and ruined it is preposterous,” he went on.
“I was driving the train when it crashed, but I wasn’t the one who set it on that disastrous track.”
Whyte, who was found not guilty of all charges relating to his takeover of Rangers after a trial in the High Court in in 2017, used £20 million from ticketing firm Ticketus from advance season ticket sales to fund his purchase of the club.
Whyte defends his use of the Ticketus money to buy Rangers – comparing it to Malcolm Glazer’s takeover of Manchester United in 2005 on loans secured against the English club’s assets.
“I regret not being completely open and up front at the time of the takeover,” he said.
“It would have spared me much hurt and would have given the fans clarity.
“The Ticketus deal was by far the best way to protect the club, because they had no security over any assets.”
Whyte reveals that Derek McInnes had been lined up to replace Walter Smith as Rangers manager in 2011 – but it was considered too expensive to “get rid” of his assistant, Ally McCoist, because of his “ridiculous contract”.
Whyte estimates failing to qualify for the Champions League group stages in 2011 cost Rangers between £15 and £20m – and insists he would still be at Ibrox if Walter Smith had stayed on as manager.
“It was probably the moment when the inexperience of our young manager (Ally McCoist) was most exposed,” he said.
“Had Walter Smith still been in charge and been able to guide us into the Champions League I firmly believe I would still be the owner of Rangers today.”
Whyte also admits he was unimpressed with the Rangers players and their commitment to the Ibrox club.
“In the main footballers struck me as mercenaries,” he said. “They were there for the money, not because they loved the club.
“They got in at 10.30am, had a run around the pitch, got their free breakfast, their free lunch and then they disappeared. What a life. I used to hear all sorts of things about the players.
“The club doctor told me a player had picked up a sexually transmitted disease and his performances had seemed to dip as a result.”
Whyte recalled how he was frustrated in his efforts to reach an agreement with HMRC about paying them back in instalments in the event that Rangers lost the “big tax case”.
“From the moment I took over I was confident that we’d either win the case or be able to do a deal with HMRC,” he writes.
“At the time of the takeover I didn’t believe there was a single problem facing the club that was insurmountable.
“In my experience, when it came to dealing with HMRC, there was always a deal to be done.
“They always wanted to get paid. It didn’t make sense to me.” Rangers was put into administration on February 14, 2012, due to the non-payment of around £9m of PAYE and NIC – and Whyte recalls how he immediately became “an outcast” and received “hundreds of death threats”.
Whyte was banned from being involved in football for life and fined £200,000 by the SFA at a hearing after Rangers went into administration.
He is scathing about the governing body and their failure to punish Rangers for their use of EBTs.
“They struck me as being completely clueless,” he said.
“They had a lot to say about me at the time, but did they say anything about the EBT case?”
He also lamented the fact that the SFA took “no sanctions” against anyone involved in the Rangers saga.
Whyte describes former chief executive Charles Green as “a bit of a nutter” and recalls how the Yorkshire businessmen transferred the assets of Rangers from the Sev 5088 shelf company which he set up to another company called Sevco Scotland Ltd and then changed the name to The Rangers Football Club.
“I didn’t take a penny from the club,” writes Whyte. “During the whole sorry saga of Rangers’ demise, I am about the only one that can say that.”
He went on: “The cost to me personally has been incalculable. “I was made bankrupt, lost my businesses and the reputational damage was off the scale.
“I would like to turn the clock back and have another go. I’d do things a hell of a lot differently.”
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