Alex Rae’s touch of class in Bertie Auld tribute

I will be the first to admit, I give former Rangers midfielder Alex Rae a bit of a hard time on this blog with his punditry regarding Celtic.

But for one day only I am going to give him a little bit of credit.

Speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, Rae revealed he had a great friendship with Bertie and how he used to frequent a bar in the Barra’s and chat with Bobby Lennox and Bertie about his career.

“I used to love being in his company. As a young boy  I used to frequent the Barras.

“I used to enjoy a pint of Guinness.

“There was  few Lisbon Lions that used to work behind the bar. Bobby Lennox and Bertie and it was just great to go in and chat to these guys.

“They used to aske me how I was doing and how my football was going down south.

“And I spent four and a half hours going round Turnberry with him [Bertie] a couple of years ago. He didn’t actually play, I was playing with his son. 

“Four and a half hours we were going round the course he was telling me where I was going wrong with every single shot [laughing].

“I was like, ‘C’mon wee man you’re killing me here!‘. The humour he brought to that four and a half hours will last long with me. He was absolutely brilliant.

“He was absolutely brilliant and he was infectious.  Whenever you where in his company he lit up the room and he will be sadly missed.

“Because when you think about what he done on the football pitch and we’re talking about as an individual and a character.  He won numerous titles for Celtic, Lisbon Lion, cups, he actually won the League Cup down in England as well.

“So when you factor in all that into play my thoughts are with his family.”

It was a genuine and touching tribute from a man who admitted on the show that he was very fond of a true Celtic legend.