IT was the 20th anniversary of Jock Wallace’s death on Sunday and I am sure Rangers fans will have thought of Big Jock and recalled some wonderful memories of him.

In 1969, Davie White signed me for Rangers but, before I had the chance to really work under him he was sacked. It was Willie Waddell and Jock Wallace who nurtured me and I had so many great times working with them.

Big Jock meant an awful lot to me and all the players got to know him really well. Even after you left Rangers, when you came back you would always refer to him as ‘boss’ or ‘gaffer’ because of the stature he had.

He was Rangers through and through. He used to tell us stories about when he was in the army and in the jungle. He would send one of the Corporals up a tree with a radio antenna so he could listen to the overseas radio and find out how Rangers were getting on.

He told us all these stories and we always thought they were rubbish. But they were true.

One day he brought a few of his former colleagues to Ibrox for a game and they told the same stories. They were all true.

Big Jock did so much for me but I don’t think he got the credit he was due from people outside of Rangers. Most people thought he played a long ball game, but that wasn’t the case.

When you look at the team we had, with Sandy Jardine and Willie Mathieson at full-back, he was always keen to get them on the ball early. I would imagine it was his influence that got Sandy into full-back after he started his career as a striker.

He was a very clever man, but the greatest thing he had was motivation. He had this reputation about working players hard in training and there are the famous pictures of us running up sand dunes, which I hated I have to say!

But you felt so much better for it in the end. We used to win so many games late on because we were fitter than other teams and that was down to him.

He won two Trebles in three years and the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972, but I don’t think he got the credit that he deserves.

He was unlucky because he was going up against Jock Stein and he got a lot of accolades, and rightly so because he was arguably one of the three best managers ever in Britain.

He got the adulation from supporters and the media. But Big Jock did a fantastic job at Rangers.

If you didn’t do something right, you knew he would give you an earful. But, the next day he would pull you aside, shake your hand and say ‘that had to be done because you have got to learn’.

That was it forgotten about and he must have done that about ten times when I was there. He was gruff with people and I got a few slaps across the head. If you needed a kick up the backside, you got it but if you needed an arm round your shoulder he would do that as well.

Rangers have had some legendary managers, and for me Jock Wallace is right up there. The fans took to him because he was a Rangers man and he fought for the club on and off the park.

Whenever there was anything said about Rangers, he would defend the club because he loved it so much.

We have had some marvellous sides, but only one has won a European competition and Jock played a huge part in that so he will always be held in high esteem by the supporters. You could see that in the tributes when he sadly died after a battle with Parkinson’s in 1996 and the way people talk about him now.

The younger generation may not know much about him but they should watch videos and read up about him. He was a lovely man, what you saw was what you got, and a great manager.

I am amazed that he is not in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame and I would hope that he is finally recognised for what he did at Rangers. To win a European trophy and two Trebles is a magnificent achievement.

John Greig has said it would be fitting if he was remembered this year on the 20th anniversary of his death and I couldn’t agree more. It would be great if he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

John and Jock always got on well, they were similar types of men and they sang from the same hymn sheet. They were leaders and are legends.

For me, he should definitely be in there. And you won’t get a Rangers fan who would disagree as they remember what Jock Wallace did for the club two decades after his passing.