Former director Paul Murray believes Rangers’ first Scottish Premiership title win in 10 years should be the catalyst to drive on and leave the previous decade of disruption behind.

Murray first joined the Ibrox board in 2007 but was removed in 2011 when Craig Whyte took control of the club before it descended into administration.

Rangers re-emerged in the bottom tier of Scottish football in 2012 and began making their way back to the top flight with Murray returning to play a key part in Dave King’s boardroom takeover in March 2015, a development noted by many Gers fans as pivotal in the recovery of the club.

Murray returned to the board then, initially as interim chairman, but stepped down in 2018.

As a fan he welcomed with “pride, joy and relief” the club’s 55th title win – and the first trophy for boss Steven Gerrard – being confirmed on Sunday when Old Firm rivals Celtic drew with Dundee United and now he believes a new era must get under way at Ibrox

He told the PA news agency: “It has been tough to rebuild the club and a lot of people have been involved in doing that.

“The people there at the moment are all Rangers fans pulling in the same direction for the club.

“I think there is real harmony and unity between all aspects of the club and it has been very important.

“This almost feels like the end of the first part of the journey and it’s not time to look back, it’s time to look forward. The future is very positive.

“The coaching staff we have got are very good and people always say winning the first trophy is arguably the most difficult one to win.

“And having done that, you would hope, the confidence that everyone at the club gets from doing that will be a big help going forward.

“There’s still a lot to play for this season obviously, the Europa League, the Scottish Cup and hopefully we can get through the rest of the season undefeated in the league which would be a great achievement.

“There is the Champions League hopefully to look forward to and obviously we are coming up to our 150th anniversary as well, so yes, good times and there are a lot of things to be very positive about.

“It has been tough times over the last 10 years but I think there is a real feeling now of positivity.”