'Unbelievable' Rangers hero had Sir Alex Ferguson raging as Man Utd hijack effort on Tottenham transfer shared

He had a shared sense of expectation at Rangers and Manchester United - but one Ibrox hero left Sir Alex Ferguson fizzing.

The legendary Old Trafford boss has never forgot his roots in Govan, where he featured for the Light Blues as a player. That same demand to win was taken with him to Man Utd where he made himself one of the most important figures in football history with trophy win after trophy win.

In an interview shared by Rangers Former Players Benevolent Club, the ex-United boss has shared his failed attempts to sign Paul Gascoigne, who signed for Tottenham over the Red Devils and later became a Rangers hero with four trophies one. Gascoigne is one of the men Ferguson holds as an Ibrox great.

The 83-year-old said: “At Rangers, the same at Manchester United, every game has to be won and there is no hiding place when you play for the biggest clubs. When people are coming to see Rangers every Saturday the expectation is always there and that will never go away.

“You create a standard that shouldn’t be forgotten and you live by it. We were behind Celtic and Jock Stein dominated Scottish football at that time but we had gone undefeated the whole season until the last game and we lost to Aberdeen and lost the league. That was hard to take. I left Rangers with expectation, but it’s the greatest thing. Expectation. That’s your challenge.

“I always say this to people, never miss the big opportunities that come your way. When I was at St Johnstone I was told I would be playing against Rangers the next day, which was unexpected, and I scored a hat-trick at Ibrox. Can you believe that? It changed my life. I never looked back from that moment on. It was forward all the time, throughout my football life. I came from Govan and, like a lot of boys from Glasgow, it gave you a determination.

“Rangers have always had great players. In modern times you had guys like Richard Gough, Brian Laudrup, Ally McCoist – these guys made their history. Coisty was a good player, a natural finisher and I tried to get Richard when he was at Tottenham but I couldn’t get him. Graeme Souness moved in quickly.

“Gazza was also unbelievable. I was raging when he signed for Tottenham. He told me he was coming to United. We lost him because they bought his mother a house. As if Manchester Utd couldn’t buy a house, can you believe that? We lost him because of a house!

“It’s very hard to go back in time but I think Sir Bobby Charlton was the best ever England player and Gascoigne was the best after that. He was a fantastic player, body strength, change of pace, imagination, cheek. A lot of cheek!”