This is the end of an era, the loss of a conduit to past greatness

JOHN Greig has been involved with Rangers all of my lifetime. He was playing before I was born, captain when I started going to Ibrox under my own steam and I watched him move into management, move out again, and in recent years become a boardroom fixture.

Rangers over the years have had a matchless seam of gold-plated wide men – Morton, Scott, McMillan, Henderson, Bud Johnston, McLean, Cooper, Walters, Laudrup – but in our love for the tough-tackling tireless organiser, the Rangers family shows deep appreciation of the entire game and not just for the beautiful and aesthetic. John Greig operated at full back, centre back and what we would now call sitting midfielder, but he probably would have played in goal for Rangers if asked.

Greig is a vibrant man who belies his years, an enduring and tangible link to the past for a support which treasures club history and tradition. Greig remains the lens through which the names of Baxter, Brand, Caldow etc are still seen, the club’s captain in our hour of European triumph in Barcelona, the man who came to symbolise the tragic story of 2 January 1971, who ended his playing career as a treble winner and moved seamlessly upstairs. In short, there’s a reason why his statue is the enduring memorial to our club’s darkest hour.

Many of us thought that Greig had a sinecure at Ibrox so his departure comes as a surprise to everyone. The world of 21st century football moves faster than before, so, until the man himself says why he has gone, all we can do is speculate.

What we can assume is that Greig will have been quietly and privately disgusted at what has happened to his beloved Rangers in the past decade or so. The very name of one of Scotland’s foremost sporting institutions once implied solidity, dependability and managed continuity, but nowadays – and largely thanks to Craig Whyte’s predecessor – we are as likely to be associated with headlines about tax cases, bankers and takeovers.

As one who grew from boy to man with Rangers, Greig’s views on Sir David Murray would be of huge interest, as would his insider’s take on how an institution like Rangers ended up praying for judicial favour to secure its future.

The 64 million dollar question, with Greig leaving in tandem with former chairman John McLelland, is whether this signifies turmoil at the top of the marble staircase or not.

For many Rangers fans this is the end of an era, the loss of a conduit to an era of the club’s greatness.

Whatever John Greig does now, he does it with the thanks and above all respect of the Rangers support.