Andrew Ellis apologises to Rangers fans for introducing Whyte to the club

Otto Flayshow · Feb 24, 2012

I was duped by Craig Whyte - Ellis

Rangers director Andrew Ellis says he was âdupedâ by owner Craig Whyte and his issued an apology to supporters for introducing the businessman to the club.

Ellis failed in his own takeover bid for Murray International Holdingsâ 85% stake in the club in November 2010, before linking up with Whyte in his successful purchase.

"I can only say I'm sorry to the Rangers fans," he told Press Association Sport. "Bringing Craig to the table was done in good faith and like a lot of other people I feel let down by him.

"I took Craig to meet Sir David Murray in the south of France and that's when talks began and I'm distraught that it has ended up like this.

"My interest in buying the club had ended due to the potential cost of the impending tax case but I had met Craig via the Cadbury family and was told by people that he was a very successful and wealthy businessman who was interested in buying Rangers.

"He appeared to have the money, he showed me proof of funds and told me about the numerous companies he owned.

"I was absolutely devastated last week to see the club go into administration with jobs at risk.

"I am very disappointed that Gordon, a good Rangers man, with his experience, will no longer be working at Rangers and I wish Ali every success for the future. But it could have been avoided.

"I believe that if a sensible deal could have been done with HMRC there was no need for the club to go into administration."

Ellis also denied any knowledge of the Ticketus deal, which funded Whyte's takeover of the club.

"I was totally unaware of the Ticketus situation and when I asked Craig about it he denied it," he said. "Like all the Rangers fans I feel duped but not only about that.

"Craig and I shook hands on a deal that would see me getting 24.9% of the shares after his takeover.

"I was to have a contract to come up to Scotland and run the club and my team were going to be Ali Russell and Gordon Smith. I knew Ali from his time at QPR and had met Gordon through Jim White of Sky Sports.

"Both Ali and Gordon joined the club before me. After Craig took over he didn't want to honour our agreement and I had to chase him around for months.

"He has been trying agree a new deal with my shareholding much less but that still has not been completed and I have now handed my files over to my solicitor. But it wasn't the shareholding that I was interested in, nor was it the property angle.

"I joined the board because I was interested in the challenge and opportunity of getting such a huge club back on track. Rangers is one of the biggest clubs in the world but I think the marketing of the club over the last 10 years has been appalling.

"I wanted to sort out the academy, but also try to break into the overseas market and take Rangers abroad.

"I have read some negative things about my time at Northampton Town and QPR but the people I put in at Northampton are still there running the club and QPR are talking about moving to a new stadium - something I was talking about 10 years ago because 18,000 seats is not financially sustainable in the Premier League.

"It was a massive opportunity to turn Rangers round and I still think that. I am not stepping down until I find out the full situation with the administrators. I am taking legal instruction as what to do next."
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Barrie Lochrie · Feb 24, 2012

Shucks Andy, don't be so hard on yourself - chin up buddy...

Andrew Ellis apologises to Rangers fans for introducing Whyte to the club

Otto Flayshow Well-Known Member

Barrie Lochrie New Member

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Andrew Ellis apologises to Rangers fans for introducing Whyte to the club

Otto Flayshow Well-Known Member

Barrie Lochrie New Member

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