I was one of the initial inductees to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.
On purely footballing ability, there’s no question Paul Gascoigne, pictured, should be in there alongside me.
However, the Scottish FA has withdrawn his nomination for non-footballing reasons – and you can understand their thinking.
Gascoigne’s a complex character, but was a player of the highest quality. He played for England at major tournaments, including World Cups, but graced our game in Scotland in his time with Rangers.
In the late 80s I was invited to play in the testimonial for Don Revie, the ex-Leeds manager, and Gazza was a young player, maybe 17, playing in that team.
You could see then the quality and the skill he possessed and you knew he was going to be something special on the field.
The way society is nowadays, other things have to be taken into to consideration, and in Scotland we know all about producing magical players who have a chequered record off the park.
If you looked at all the players already in the Hall of Fame with the same microscope as Gascoigne is being looked at with, you might have to start taking some of the people out.
However, this week’s decision matches the values of the present day, where the public look for players whose on-field performances are paired with spotless off-the-field behaviour.
But if he gets himself sorted out personally and other factors change, on his time with Rangers he should be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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