There was a real sense of relief amongst many Rangers fans when it was announced that Craig Whyte had bought the club from Sir David Murray in May last year. Criticisms of Murray had grown fiercer and more vocal over recent years, and with the club firmly in the grip of Lloyds Bank, the future was uncertain. But Whyte came out with positive words, claiming that the debt owed to Lloyds Bank was no longer an issue, and that he would pledge up to £25million to the next Rangers manager, Ally McCoist.
While things did not go smoothly on the pitch, the club seemed to be on a more solid financial footing, although a long-running dispute with HMRC brought the threat of an unpayable fine (and still does). But Whyte’s intentions for the club have been brought into sharp focus since the club went into administration last week. Since then, revelations and counter-revelations have dominated the headlines in Scotland, with many calling Whyte a liar as more details of how he funded his takeover of Rangers emerge.
Despite all the negative publicity surround Whyte, and despite his protestations that he is doing what he believes is best for the club in the short and long-term, one relatively small transaction that has apparently taken place threatens to backfire spectacularly on him.
In 1908, Scotsman George Morrell was appointed manager of Arsenal (then known as Woolwich Arsenal). At the time Arsenal were struggling financially, and were forced to sell a lot of their best players. Morrell had ties to Rangers, and the Rangers board purchased two £1 shares in the club, helping to keep them alive. In the 1930s, legendary Rangers manager Bill Struth became friends with Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman (the first manager to lead Arsenal to the First Division title) and in 1933 the club played a two-legged match that was named the ‘British Championship’ as both clubs were champions in Scotland and England. The two then began playing regular pre-season friendlies until the outbreak of WW2. After that, the clubs continued to play friendlies on a fairly regular basis, including a match at Ibrox in 1873 to celebrate the centenary year of the Glasgow side.
It is believed that during the time when Struth and Chapman were managers that Rangers were gifted a further 14 shares in Arsenal, a symbolic gesture that showed the strength of the relationship between both clubs. But reports suggest that Craig Whyte sold the shares to Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbekistan billionaire who currently holds almost 30% of Arsenal last year. The value of the sale is estimated to have been worth around £230,000.
In relation to football, that kind of money is small change, and it is unclear exactly why Whyte would choose to sell the shares at all. Whyte claims to be a Rangers fan, but while the story of how Rangers came to own the shares is not that widely known, questions have to be asked about their sale. Assuming Whyte didn’t know about how Rangers came to own the shares, why didn’t he ask anyone, such as Rangers legend John Greig (a member of the board at the time Whyte purchased the club, although he has since left) where they came from before selling?
There have been many revelations about how Craig Whyte financed his deal to buy Rangers, and questions asked about where the money came from, and where certain monies have gone during his time as chairman. The truth is that the sale of the Arsenal shares is a small issue when compared to the very real prospect of liquidation for Rangers.
But for many Rangers fans, the relationship with Arsenal and the club’s holding of the shares was an important part of the club’s history. Craig Whyte had already alienated himself from a large percentage of Rangers fans since the club went into administration. He still claims to have the best interests of the club at heart, and is sticking to his story that Rangers will come out the other side of all this a stronger and more financially sound club. But his disregard for the history of the club, and how the supporters feel about that history, will certainly not result in him being thanked for whatever happens next.
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