Rangers legend returns to Edinburgh primary school where it all began - 'I was a Hearts fanatic'

John Greig is not any old visitor. He is an ex-pupil who made his name inside a stadium noted for its own red-brick façade on the other side of the country. He made his name there to the extent that he was voted the greatest ever Rangers player. A statue of him stands outside Ibrox.

Greig might have been amused to note that a large Oor Wullie figure sits to the right of the entrance to his old school. The former defender hasn’t been back since the day he left. However, when it comes to significant places in not just his own life but also the history of Rangers, the importance of this place cannot be overstated. There ought to be a plaque on a wall at least.

Now 83, Greig has returned to where it all started. There’s some extra poignancy in the wake of old Scotland teammate Eddie McCreadie’s death last week. "He was a good friend of mine," Greig said. Schoolmates, teammates, life is going full circle. "We're all getting older, falling away.." he noted.

McCreadie was not just any old teammate, he was one of the other ten players – Greig was skipper – in the side when Scotland beat England 3-2 at Wembley in 1967 to become unofficial world champions. When I interviewed the United States-based McCreadie in 2014 he asked me to say “hello” to "guys like Greig, Billy McNeill and Willie Henderson", who were all still around then.

Mercifully, Greig, like Henderson, is still with us. It’s good to be able to say “hello” to him in person and see him looking so well after being quizzed by primary five, six and seven children. Part of their prep before the arrival of such a distinguished guest was watching the BBC Scotland programme on the Rangers legend aired in 2024 in the Icons of Football series. Beats Maths, that’s for sure.

The children were engaged. "The kids were all great," reported Greig, resplendent in his Rangers FC tie. "It was a wee bit difficult for them to relate to me compared to modern day footballers. I said to them, 'Probably better than me standing here boring you with all my stories, why don’t you just ask me questions and I will answer them and we can all be involved'." Hands shot up.

‘I was a Hearts fanatic...’

Who was the best player he played with and against? Law and Pele. Had he ever dreamed about playing for Rangers against Celtic when growing up? "I was a Hearts fanatic - all I wanted to do was beat Hibs!" And did he know Kenny Dalglish? "Know him?" Greig beamed, while opening his blazer jacket. "Do you want to speak to him? He will be in here I always kept him in my pocket when I played against him!"

Greig was clearly warming to the task in the company of his Rangers-supporting nephew, David. He brought along his silver medal from the SFA for reaching 25 caps and there were gasps when he reported that he had received his CBE from Prince William. While names like Law, Pele and even Dalglish are from another age to the youth of today, there's some cache in having been honoured by a future king.

Greig was once feted like royalty in these streets although his nephew smiles at the memory of Greig returning home panting after running to make the 10pm curfew imposed by his parents when he lived nearby, at 26 Clearburn Crescent. He was already captain of Rangers and Scotland. It's debatable whether either of these things might have happened had it not been for Prestonfield Primary School. Or at least the dominie at the time.

"It's brought back old memories for me, pleasant memories," said Greig, who continued to live in Edinburgh while a player at Rangers before moving through to Lenzie after he was appointed manager in 1978. "I've lived in Glasgow now for 40 odd years. I was born and bred about a couple of hundred yards up the road. I always wondered what the school was like nowadays because it has been such a long time since I have been here.

“Basically, if it had not been for a teacher called Mr McLeod, who saw me playing football in the playground here and gave me a pair of boots to play my first game, I don’t know if I would have been a footballer. So I have a lot to be thankful to Prestonfield Primary school.

“I was telling the kids just now, you never know who is watching you if you’re playing football,” he added. “I got sent for. He (Mr McLeod) was the head teacher as I was not a pupil in his class. I thought I had done something wrong! He said, ‘I’ve been watching you play football in the playground, would you like a trial for the team?’ I said, ‘Well that would be good but I don’t have any boots.’ As I said to the kids there, he took me over to a cupboard and all these boots fell out….” On arrival, Greig had pointed out the very room where this had taken place. It is still a classroom.

“They were all these old-fashioned boots with a bar across the toe part,” he continued.

“Mr McLeod said, ‘try them on’. I tried them on and a pair fitted me. I took them home. My brother spruced them up for me and I went down and played in the public park across the road for a trial. The next week I was playing in a cup final. So that cup final was the first competitive game of football I had."

Prestonfield beat Dalry to lift the Edinburgh Primary Schools’ Association Cup. For young master Greig, it was a case of starting as you mean to go on.