Murdo Mackay, a former agent for footballers at Rangers and other Scottish clubs, yesterday appeared in court on fraud charges connected to alleged financial irregularities at Derby County FC.

The club's former director of football is accused of "conspiracy to defraud" and "conspiracy to conceal criminal property", following a police investigation into the takeover of the club in 2003.

Mr Mackay, 52, of Dalgety Bay, Dunfermline, is one of four men who appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court.

The club's former chief executive, Jeremy Keith, and former finance director, Andrew Mackenzie, are facing the same charges. Businessman Mark Waters, 47, is charged with false accounting.

The four were granted unconditional bail during a preliminary hearing and told to reappear at the city's Crown Court on February 14.

Mr Mackay, who was born in the Outer Hebrides but grew up in Partick, Glasgow, became a players' agent in the early 1990s, following spells in the navy and as a semi- professional footballer.

Working for accountants Pannell Kerr Forster, he built a portfolio of players which included several of Rangers' famous "nine in a row" squad, including Andy Goram, Ian Durrant and Ian Ferguson.

But in 1993, The Herald revealed that Mr Mackay was an undischarged bankrupt, who owed £166,607 to a string of creditors after his staff recruitment agency, MMK Associates of Dalgety Bay, had folded in 1992.

Despite this, Mr Mackay went on to spend 11 years as a FIFA registered agent, and in 2001, he founded Inside Soccer Recruitment (ISR), a Livingston-based players agency, which employed 30 people, including Terry Butcher and Eric Black but just 16 months later, ISR went into liquidation, following cash-flow problems.

Mr Mackay joined Derby County in 2003, at the time of a takeover by Mr Keith and Mr Harding, who bought Derby from administrative receivers for just £3, with the club in £30m of debt. The takeover was backed by a £15m loan from a Panamanian-registered company, ABC Corporation. Mr Mackay originally had an undefined role, though it was reported that he helped bring new financial investment into the club. He went on to become director of football and was involved in the signings of high-profile players during the era in which George Burley was manager. But after a series of public disputes, Burley resigned in 2005.

Mr Mackay later had a public dispute with Mr Keith, over the sale of star striker Grzegorz Rasiak to Tottenham Hotspur. He eventually left his post at Derby County on March 22, 2006.

A month later, it was reported that police officers were looking into allegations by Mr Mackay that irregular payments were made to directors during the 2003 takeover.

According to The Guardian newspaper, Mr Mackay alleged that he, Mr Keith and Mr Mackenzie privately agreed that they would each receive £125,000 out of a £375,000 commission which was paid to a consultancy company, Streamline Management.

Both Mr Mackenzie and Mr Keith firmly deny they received any money.

Mr Mackay has also denied any wrongdoing. Following his arrest earlier this month, his solicitor Stephen Burdon said: "My client has assisted the police throughout this lengthy inquiry and refutes any allegation of inappropriate conduct in relation to Derby County football club."