Jimmy’s bark was worse than his bite... he even named his puppy after me
BARRY FERGUSON knew he’d become one of Jimmy Bell’s top dogs when the legendary Ibrox kitman named his pet in his honour.
Few players to have served Rangers over the last few decades were ever closer with Bell than the former Rangers skipper.
Ferguson had barely started school when the seeds to their relationship were sown as he visited his elder brother Derek, a Gers hero of the late 1980s, in the dressing room.
But by the time the future Scotland and Gers captain had broken into the Ibrox first team, his bond with Bell had blossomed into friendship.
And that allowed Ferguson, 44, to peer beyond his gruff exterior.
What Fergie found was a warm heart fuelled by a desire to do anything to help Rangers be a success.
The devastated Record Sport columnist said: “I’d probably known Jimmy since I was six years old when I first started going into Ibrox with Derek.
“Everyone thinks Jimmy had this grumpy, moany exterior but he had a massive heart.
“He’d do anything for you and he certainly looked after me when I was breaking through.
“I was a local lad from Hamilton and Jimmy came from Wishaw. Before I could drive, he’d take me home at night after games.
“We just hit it off. He had such a dry sense of humour and his one-liners would put you to bed. We became really close and it was a special relationship.
“The biggest compliment he ever paid me was naming his Labrador after me.
“I know how much he loved his dog so when I found out he’d called it
Fergie, I was absolutely buzzing. That’s when you know you were in Jimmy’s good books.
“I was with him only a few weeks ago at Ibrox at the legends game and he’d even put my strip out in the same spot I always sat in the dressing room when I was playing for the club.
“It’s wee things like that which sum him up.”
Bell spent 30 years at the club, ensuring stars such as Ally McCoist, Brian Laudrup, Paul Gascogine, Ronald de Boer and more recently James Tavernier and Alfredo Morelos were kitted out with everything they needed.
But his death is another blow to a club still coming to terms with the passing of legendary boss Walter Smith back in October.
Ferguson added: “Jimmy was part of the fabric of the club. I think of Rangers and I think of Jimmy Bell. The news was devastating.
“I saw my phone flashing at about 5am and I left it. I saw then I’d had a few missed calls and one was from Dave Lavery, the club’s masseur, contacting me to break the news.
“I broke down. He was the best – a proper Rangers man. I’m still a bit stunned I’m even talking about the fact he’s no longer here.”
Jimmy was part of the fabric of the club BARRY FERGUSON