THE Rangers family paid tribute to Davie Provan at his funeral on Friday morning and my commiserations go to all of his friends and relatives.

Davie was a terrific player for the club but he was also a lovely man and someone that I got to know well.

My daughter Heather wanted to be a football coach and he took her under his wing and got her through a couple of badges.

The family were friendly with friends of his so we knew each other well and I enjoyed spending time in his company.

He was very much a competitor and that shone through no matter what he was doing. It didn’t matter if it was football, golf or tiddlywinks, he always wanted to win. If he didn’t win, he went in the huff!

But he was a gentle giant, he never had a bad word to say about anyone and it was sad to hear last week that he had passed away.

He was a key part of the famous side of his era and I am sure the fans that watched him for Rangers will have fond memories of seeing him play.

Davie won the Treble in 1964 and that is always a special achievement for any player. We were the next side to do it in ’76 and then in ’78 and it was a very difficult thing to do.

That is why the fans recall players from those teams with such fondness and Davie is someone that is held in high regard at Ibrox for what he did for the club.

Achievements like that make legends out of players and managers and Davie was one of the first to be part of a side that completed the clean sweep in Scotland.

It was a great send-off for him yesterday and he will rightly be remembered as a very good player and a gentleman.