GORAM ON RUN FROM HITMEN IN DEBT CRISIS

FALLEN football star Andy Goram is in hiding after gangsters put a price on his head.

The former Rangers and Scotland goalie was told by Glasgow underworld figures he was "a dead man".

He claims thugs have warned him not to show his face in the city until he has paid back massive gambling debts owed to them.

And since he has no means of paying up, he is now holed up in sleepy Elgin, Moray.

Goram, 39, was on a short-term contract with Third Division Elgin City which ended on January 1.

He told team-mates: "I can't go home. There's a price on my head."

The player hid In Tenerife last month but returned to the club, managed by his ex-Rangers' teammate Dave Robertson.

A pal said: "Goram was in a pretty bad way. He was telling us all about his debts and people he had crossed.

"He made it crystal clear that he owed money to some very nasty characters.

"He wasn't being particularly careful who he spoke to about it. It was as though his life is such a mess he doesn't care any more.

"His life has always been out of control, but even by his standards this is really dodgy."

Goram started the season at Queen of the South in Dumfries and was then thrown a lifeline at Elgin.

But he is now out of work again. Last night he told the Sunday Mirror: "I've got nothing to say to you.

"I haven't got a club at the minute so I've got nothing to say."

Asked about his comments to team-mates, he slammed down the phone.

Goram's estranged wife Miriam, 34, said last night: "A price on his head doesn't surprise me because he's up to his neck in gambling."

Pub landlady Miriam, who still stays in the couple's converted farmhouse near Lanark, added: "I thought he was still abroad.

"He's certainly keeping a low profile because he would have been back down here by now. From the day he walked out I've not had a penny and he cleared everything out of the bank account.

"He got a pounds 5,000 signing-on fee from Queen of the South and pounds 500 a week, then pounds 200 from Motherwell for a coaching stint.

"But the wine he likes to drink costs pounds 10 a bottle and he'll drink two of them a day. I know how much he should be paying for his car and to his ex-wife. There's no way he has been paying these things.

"He reportedly got pounds 100,000 from his testimonial dinner - where's that gone? He must have gambled the lot."

Miriam laughed off reports that she had rekindled her on-off romance with Goram, despite repeatedly forgiving him in the past for his womanising, betting and drinking.

She added: "When is he going to realise he's got a problem?

"I thought he had learned but obviously not. It might be when he's kicked out of his home and is in the gutter.

"I can't help him any more - it's over to him now.

"He's addicted to everything - alcohol, gambling. Everything he does he does to excess.

"He is on self-destruct and he can't help himself. It is so sad.

"The last I heard his car was off the road so he'll be struggling for transport.

"I don't wish him any harm. He asked me to go to Elgin but I didn't go. I haven't seen him for about three months. God knows what kind of life he's living. All he can be doing is living out of suitcases because I've still got a ton of stuff.

"He's bound to have big debt problems because he's not earning any money and he can't stop spending.

"He never paid one bill towards the house, towards his car or towards his ex-wives - I paid them. I took on every bill to do with the house. It's not that he hasn't had money - he has had money.

"People look at him and ask where it all went and he will tell them three ex-wives. Well, there's not one of us living a fancy life.

"The money went down his throat and into a bookies, nowhere else. It's very, very sad.

"Thank God he did play for Rangers because he's got nothing else. He's got nobody that cares for him for any length of time because he ruins whatever feeling you have for him.

"He's not close to his mother and doesn't see his kids. What an existence!

"The other day there was a horse called Andy's Birthday which won at 28-1 and I sent him a text, 'Hope you had that winner'.

"He sent one back saying 'No money to bet, been sleeping, haven't seen a race'."

Miriam said Goram's time is running out unless he realises soon he has a gambling problem and seeks help.

She added: "He's living off the name. The last time I saw him I told him, 'You know what, I feel sorry for you that you're Andy Goram. I bet you would cut your right arm off just to have one day to live a normal life'.

"That way he would see what life's about but he doesn't have a clue

"I remember someone took a photo of Alex Higgins in a dingy wee pub in Ireland playing pool for drink and I thought some day that's what I'm going to be looking at in the paper.

"I can't see him sorting himself out."

Goram remains one of Scotland's finest ever keepers and helped Rangers to nine league titles in a row.

But it is his notorious lifestyle as a gambler and drinker that he is often remembered for.

He wed third wife Miriam in July 2001 but they split in December the same year after Goram said he was going out for a "piece of fish" and vanished for three days.

In June last year it was revealed Goram narrowly avoided being made bankrupt after brewers Scottish Courage launched legal action over a pounds 130,000 debt.

The action at Dumfries Sheriff Court related to unpaid bills at Maisies pub which Miriam now runs in Lanark.

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