Rangers Murray's involvement in football has overshadowed his business and personal lives and explains much of his prominence within Scottish society. In the 1980s Murray made a bid for Ayr United which was rejected by shareholders of the club. This setback saw Murray focus attention on acquiring Rangers, a club which, following the appointment of Graeme Souness as manager in 1986, had regained its ascendancy in Scottish football. Attracted by the idea of owning one of Scotland's highest-profile football clubs, on 23 November 1988 Murray secured the purchase of Rangers from the club's then owner, the Nevada-based Lawrence Marlborough, for a sum of £6,000,000. Chairmanship Throughout what was later to transpire as his first period of chairmanship, Murray continued and extended the ambitious strategy he had inherited from David Holmes. His investment saw further development to Ibrox Stadium, which had already undergone extensive remodelling in the aftermath of the Ibrox disaster of 2 January 1971, which claimed the lives of 66 fans following an Old Firm derby with Celtic. Murray oversaw the construction of a third tier on the existing Main Stand, raising the ground's capacity by 7,300. Accompanying this were changes on the pitch. In 1989 Rangers secured their first trophy under Murray's chairmanship and the first of what was to become nine successive League Championships between the period 1989–1997. This period was to be significant for more reasons than footballing success. In 1989 Murray and the then manager Graeme Souness signed Mo Johnston, the first high-profile Catholic to play for the club since the Second World War, from French club Nantes for £1.5 million. Since Johnston had previously played for Celtic and had recently committed to re-join them, the transfer to Rangers instead was highly controversial. Other high-profile players were to follow in later years, including Paul Gascoigne, Brian Laudrup, Ronald de Boer and Tore André Flo. Period of success Following Graeme Souness' departure to Liverpool in April 1991, Murray appointed his former assistant Walter Smith as manager. Under Smith, and his eventual replacement in 1998 by Dick Advocaat, Rangers embarked upon a sustained period of success that saw the club win eleven league championships over fourteen years. This domestic domination was not accompanied by success in European competition. Aside from the 1992-93 UEFA Champions League campaign, in which Rangers twice came within one victory of reaching the final, the club's record in Europe from 1989 was one