Too young to remember the player, but he had a stellar career at some massive clubs.
He played with the best of their day and shared a dressing roo with real football icons.
He had a career that really eclipses 99% of any modern day British player,,,,
i think too many remember the Only an Excuse version, portrayed as a bumbling idiot...
a story that shows the mark of the man.....
i played in a junior golf competition at his local, certain it was Lochwinnoch, but possibly Kilmacolm.
I was the last game out and was playing well.
Some guy comes out onto course, going through the stragglers to see if anyone was in with a shout i.e. they wanted to get the presentation done asap.
So he kindly figures out for me on the last tee, 'if you get a 4 up the last, you'll win this'..
I waited around for the 10 minutes on the games in front.....
Striking the ball beautifully, i elected to give the tee shot my best..... after all, i'm brought up to face any challenge head on.........
By the time i'd gotten 100 yards down the hole, i'd lost 2 balls and was playing 6 or 7.
Bottled it, i'd never faced nerves like that besides sitting beside a lassie in RE.
Clueless on both fronts.
I do remember getting so far down the fairway, hitting my 8th, not giving a fuck. no nerves playing my shot of the day pin high.
There was about 60 people watching as i strolled up and holed the 10ft putt.
There was even a round of applause....... nobody realised i'd hit 9 shots to get onto the green.
It soon became evident.
I remember sitting in the locker room thinking i'd blew the British Open...
Turns out big Gordon was doing the prizes, heard my story, took the time to find me and console me. I'll never forget the guy aff Scotsport coming into say, 'hard luck wee man, nerves can get to you, don't be too hard on yourself, you'll have learned a bundle today. Next time you'll figure it out'.......