Scottish journalist Alf Young reveals that former Rangers chairman Sir David Murray demanded his sacking
One of Scotland’s most respected journalists, Alf Young, has revealed how former Rangers FC’s owner, Sir David Murray , demanded to have him sacked over stories in The Herald on his business interests.
Writing in The Scotsman on Saturday, Young claimed that Rangers FC’s descent into administration is a result of decisions taken years ago, in bank and in boardroom.
Young, who held several senior editorial posts at the Herald before he retired from the paper, recalled, that in 1988 ..."when the news came through that he (Murray) was buying Rangers, I was as astonished as everyone else.
“Some three years on, with the early 1990s recession beginning to bite, my editor called me into his office. ‘I’ve heard there are serious problems with David Murray’s property interests. Could you check it out?’ he suggested.
“I talked to my contacts and checked out the relevant company accounts. It rapidly became clear there were problems. They were big ones.
….”And this was happening at the same time when a recently-acquired Rangers’ overdraft had tripled in the space of a year. All in all, my editor’s whispers had substance.
“This was a story of considerable significance for both the bank and for the credibility of David Murray’s growing business empire.
“When the stories on what I had found appeared, he went ballistic. There were demands I be sacked. I have never spoken to David Murray from that day to this.
“I once found myself in his company, tried to broker a peace and was right royally snubbed for my pains.
“I’m telling you all this because it illustrates how the events of recent days – plunging one half of the Old Firm into ignominious administration and threatening its very existence in its present form – have been incubating for a very long time indeed.”