Aberdeen captain Scott Brown has paid tribute to Walter Smith, sharing his own experiences of the man and the respect he held for him.
Brown is of course synonymous with Celtic and the many years he spent at Parkhead – its fair to say that there is no love lost between the Rangers support and the Edinburgh man and the feeling is likely very mutual.
Walter Smith gave Brown his debut for Scotland, but later would turn down the chance to sign for him at Ibrox.
Despite that, he spoke of his deep respect from Smith and the impression he made on him. Particularly, he stressed how the great man transcended the Old Firm divide and the power of his friendship and mutual respect for Tommy Burns.
Ibrox will be a powderkeg of emotion tonight, but Brown as well as Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass spoke of how they will be paying tributes to the man, ahead of a very important Premiership clash.
As reported by the Evening Express, Brown stated:
“I remember after Tommy passed away, Walter and Ally (McCoist) helped carry the coffin.”
“So I’ve got great respect for the man. He was the one who tried to be bigger than that divide.”
“It is the most powerful message that has ever been sent out. You talk about bridging the divide but that picture speaks a thousand words.”
On turning down Ibrox for Parkhead, he added:
“Everyone knows I had the chance to go to Rangers. I chose Celtic.”
“At the time, I thought maybe Walter and Coisty would hold a grudge.”
“They never once did. I met Walter a couple of months later out on the street and he was fantastic.”
Meanwhile, Dons boss Glass spoke on his own terms about how he will remember Walter Smith, describing the Rangers legend as a “great”:
The former Aberdeen player said:
“You are talking about one of the absolute greats, alongside Jock Stein, Jim McLean, Billy McNeill – all those people.”
“We get the chance to pay respect to him, we will be part of that as Aberdeen people.”
“It’s a chance for both clubs to pay their respects to an absolute giant of the game in Scotland.”
Respect
Walter Smith had an almost universal reputation of being a fair and decent man.
Even in the heat of battle in football, the same things are coming from prominent figures at rival clubs, like Celtic and Aberdeen – that is the measure of the man.
There may well be some people who just can’t help themselves in terms of being obnoxious but they will be in the minority.
Full respects will be paid to Walter Smith tonight, with Brown and Glass leading their own side in marking the sombre occasion.
Actions will speak louder than words and simply, somethimes things matter more than the game.