Who will our experts pick to be our first Premier XI defender?
IF places in the Greatest Premier XI were awarded on longevity alone then Jardine would be an automatic selection.
After making his Rangers first-team debut in 1967 he played for fully 20 seasons for the Ibrox club and then latterly his boyhood heroes Hearts. He rarely produced a poor performance in that time. He was named SFWA Footballer of the Year in 1975 and again in 1986.
An impressive athlete, Jardine (below) excelled as an overlapping full-back.
His marauding runs forward were a potent attacking weapon for Rangers.
But he was seldom caught out of position at the back either. He won three Premier Division titles and helped the Ibrox club to complete the treble in 1976 and 1978.
The Edinburgh-born defender won 38 caps for Scotland and represented his country at the 1974 and 1978 World Cups. At the former, he helped the national team go undefeated in their three group games.
Jardine was given a free transfer by his European
Cup Winners’ Cup-winning captain John Greig in
1982 after making 674 first-team appearances.
Only Dougie
Gray and Greig have made more. He helped Hearts to finish runners-up in the top flight in 1986 at the age of 37.
Celtic (1967 to 1987) Nine (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1986).
SCOTLAND’S greatest ever right-back. The boy from Finnieston was a member of the so-called Quality Street Gang that emerged at Parkhead in the late
1960s and which included George Connelly, Kenny Dalglish, Davie Hay, Lou Macari. He made his debut aged 20 in 1970, spent 17 years in the first team, won 17 major honours and made 62 appearances for his country.
He overcame being diagnosed with diabetes and suffering a fractured jaw and became a true world-class talent. At his peak in the
1970s many knowledgeable judges reckoned he was the best player in his position on the planet. He was fast, physical, intelligent and technically exceptional. An affable individual off the park, he was renowned as a ferocious tackler on it.
If there was a weakness in his formidable armoury it was up front. He scored just nine times in 681 appearances for Celtic. But it is impossible to be critical.
“Danny was a world-class player at his peak, at right or left back,” said Brown. “He was a modern day full-back. The traditional full-back was a defensive warrior. But as time moved on they became an attacking player. Danny could have played today easily.”
Didier Agathe, Alan Hutton, Stuart Kennedy, Jackie McNamara, Fernando Ricksen.