Rangers administration: Rangers fans’ fury forces Craig Whyte away

Supporters in the 50,000 sell-out crowd plan to demonstrate before kick-off and during half-time, while hundreds are expected to take part in a march to the stadium organised by fans’ group Blue Order in a show of “strength and unity”.

Mr Whyte yesterday issued a strong denial of any “criminal wrongdoing” and stressed he had “not taken a single penny” out of the business. But he said he would not show face at the match against Kilmarnock.

The beleaguered businessman is facing investigations on several fronts after the Scottish Football Association announced last night it was to mount a full independent inquiry into the activities of Rangers FC.

It will investigate whether there have been any breaches of their rules, adding that attempts to obtain information relating to its “fit and proper person” requirement had been restricted by the club’s solicitors’ failure to share information.

Despite an ongoing investigation by Strathclyde Police and outrage among fans, Mr Whyte said it remained his intention to “safeguard the club’s future”, and he attacked “ill-informed” and “downright malicious” media speculation.

He is expected to stay in London, where he has been assisting administrator Duff & Phelps, and a timescale for his return to Scotland remains unclear. However, one prominent supporters’ group said Mr Whyte had promised to meet them in Glasgow to discuss recent events.

On a fourth turbulent day after the 140-year-old club’s ignominious descent into administration over an unpaid £9 million tax bill, Mark Dingwall, a board member of the Rangers Supporters Trust, said: “What we’ve encouraged fans to do is support the team during the actual game, but if they want to vent their feelings within the bounds of good taste before the game and at half-time, they can.”

Asked whether the demonstrations inside Ibrox would be against only Mr Whyte or also former owner Sir David Murray, he said: “Obviously, events of the last week means there’s a lot of anger against Craig Whyte.”

Mr Dingwall said the trust had an e-mail from Mr Whyte on Tuesday accepting an invitation to meet supporters’ representatives, but the appetite for full disclosure had been increasing among rank-and-file fans. He said. “We’ve now got a lot more information and those questions will be a lot more pointed when we get to talk to him.”

The Blue Order group will gather at Kinning Park at 1:30pm today to march to the stadium. Urging fans to join the march, the group posted on Facebook: “We want to be there early. Please leave that extra pint and come show the doubters that the Rangers supporters are standing together against Craig Whyte in defence of our club”.

Meanwhile, manager Ally McCoist demanded disclosure about what was happening at the club. “I am as surprised at some of the revelations as the next man,” he said. “Of that there is no doubt.

“The one thing I would say to you is that I’m a Rangers supporter and I want some answers.”

However, in a defiant statement on Rangers’ website, Mr Whyte told the side’s “magnificently loyal fans” he had acted with propriety since taking over the club from Sir David last May.

As chairman, he said, he had been “at the centre of this firestorm, and quite rightly so”, but he emphasised his experience in turning companies around.

“The decision to call in the administrators was painful but it was the right thing to do,” he said. “They have promised to publish a full report as soon as possible and I very much welcome that. In spite of the endless speculation and attempts at character assassination by certain sections of the media, I am 100 per cent confident that the administrators’ report will prove that every penny that has come in and gone out of Rangers has been properly accounted for.

“And I wish to state categorically … that I personally have not taken a single penny out of Rangers since I became chairman and have paid all my expenses from my own funds.”

The statement came after former club chairman Alastair Johnston asked the Crown Office to investigate whether there was any evidence of fraud in the takeover deal. Strathclyde Police is also examining the situation at Rangers after being “passed information”.

The SFA said it was “concerned” by the developing situation at Rangers and the “new information” that had come to light since the appointment of administrators.

It said it has been granted “full co-operation” by Paul Clark from Duff & Phelps, but previous efforts to obtain information had been “restricted”.

Stewart Regan, the SFA’s chief executive, said: “I would like to reiterate the need to learn the lessons from this unedifying episode. It is essential that we work together to improve the overall sustainability and competitiveness of the game in this country. This is a matter that the SFA is already in discussions with the relevant league bodies to address.”

In his statement, Mr Whyte insisted any investigation would find he had acted above board, adding: “I have absolutely nothing to fear because any fair investigation will prove that I have always acted in the best interests of Rangers and been involved in no criminal wrongdoing whatsoever.”

He said it was “only right” Duff & Phelps was given time and space to go about its work, and that he would “take a step back from events” to avoid becoming a “distraction” to that process or to McCoist and the team.

In a statement from joint administrator David Whitehouse, Duff & Phelps said Mr Whyte had co-operated, and that his statement brought “further stability to the situation”.

Meanwhile, the investment firm that financed Rangers to the tune of £24m has said it bought the club’s season tickets and did not lend the money.

Octopus Investments clarified its arrangement with the club, through its Ticketus arm, after Rangers’ administrators revealed the money could not be traced in the club accounts, and instead appeared to have gone into the account of a parent company.

Additional reporting by Matthew Coyle