ALLY: SWAT COPS RAIDED GERS PARTY
Rangers legend on crazy Canada tour night out
ALLY McCoist has revealed he was once caught up in an armed drugs raid with his Rangers teammates.
The former Ibrox player and manager told how he feared being arrested after police stormed a private party the squad had been invited to in Canada.
Rangers were on a pre-season tour in Toronto in the 80s when they were taken to a mansion by McCoist’s pal Brian Budd, the late Canadian player.
However, McCoist, 58, said they realised people at the party were taking drugs and within minutes armed police burst in.
He said: “We were in Toronto and I was great pals with Brian Budd, who won World Superstars.
“He said, ‘I’ve got it all organised, we are going out’ but the problem was it was a Sunday night and everything in Toronto finished early on a Sunday.
“At 11pm, we thought that it was finished but Brian said, ‘I’ve got a private party arranged’.
“So we all jumped into about six taxis and ended up outside this house, which was like the place in The Amityville Horror.
“It was out on its own but there was a bit of bedlam going on inside.
“There were about 10 of us and we went in the front door and the place was absolutely heaving. But we had a sniff and realised there were some substances going about that we shouldn’t be anywhere near.
“I hadn’t even put my lips to my bottle of beer and the next minute all hell breaks loose. The front door got booted in, the back door got booted in, a SWAT team came flying in.
“There were police everywhere. Everybody was getting done.”
Speaking to Alan Brazil on their podcast Brazil and McCoist Unleashed, he added: “Big Brian sorted out who the top policeman was and he rounded us up.
“There were about 10 Rangers players out in the front garden and the big cop comes out and says to us, ‘Wrong place, wrong time, guys, but this is your lucky day’.
“He said, ‘On your way’ and let us off. I don’t know how we got away with it.
“We skipped down that road holding hands, I thought we were having a night in the cells.”