Centre-back who worked with Smith at Dundee United, Rangers and Everton remembers a humble, fair and tough man
I still remember the first time I met Walter Smith. I went to Dundee United on trial and was staying with a friend of my father’s in Broughty Ferry. Walter picked me up for training on that first morning in February 1980. He continued to do that until the end of the season. We trained morning and afternoon together because Walter was looking after the kids at the time. That very first night, I actually played alongside Walter in a trial game against Arbroath at Gayfield; he was at full-back, I was at centre half. This was the start of a long friendship. He was a great man, a wonderful human being.
Walter was no soft touch. Myself and Ralph Milne, who has also sadly passed away, used to put Walter in the small boot room as 17- or 18-year-olds and try to knock him about, without any success. His nickname was ‘The Bear’ for obvious reasons.