Lee Wallace arrived at Rangers just as the soul was about to be ripped out of Ibrox.
But Andy Little reckons if it wasn’t for the likes of the former skipper, the club’s beating heart would have gone with it. Wallace had only just made his 2011 summer move to Govan from Hearts when a few months later the Glasgow giants were plunged into a financial blackhole during Craig Whyte’s disastrous ownership.
While big-name stars rushed for the exit, Wallace and then captain Lee McCulloch stayed on for the long trek through the lower leagues. Little was at the club then too and remembers how the likes of Wallace – who has announced this week he’s retiring aged 35 – helped hold the club together. The Northern Irishman said: “I was at the club when we were sent down to the Third Division and we were going through a massive turnover of players.
“At times we lost the soul of the place. I’d been used to working with the best of the best where everything was top quality and done properly.
“But with the turnover of players, we lost what it meant to be at Rangers for a spell. However, Lee was one of those who helped us rediscover that identity.
“I’m just so thankful that people like him stayed because had he not, we really would have been at sixes and sevens and it would have been much more difficult to keep the standards high.
“Like Davie Weir and Steven Davis, Lee wasn’t the most vocal in the changing room but when he did speak he held the utmost respect of his team-mates. I was so pleased to see him be the man who lifted the Championship trophy when the club completed its journey back to the top flight.
“I wouldn’t hesitate to say Lee should be in the hall of fame. I really believe that. It was a horrible time for the club and without strong characters like Lee, it might not have been so rosy.
“As far as I’m concerned, 99 per cent of fans look back on Lee’s contribution with fondness. I’m sure he’ll be welcomed back in some capacity going forward.”
Wallace was already a regular in the Scotland squad with six caps when Rangers’ financial implosion left him facing the toughest of choices – stay at Ibrox and risk never pulling on a dark blue jersey again or join those jumping from the sinking ship. He took the first option and Little insisted: “The fans definitely appreciated his sacrifice. Lee surprised quite a few people when he decided to stay at the club.
“It was a massive boost for the club at that time. He’d have only been 25 at the time so was in the prime of his career and was giving up a lot. But to have someone of his quality – who was a proper professional – was so important.
“I can totally understand why he stayed. He’d not long been at the club when it went into administration but emerged as the first-choice left-back. The chance to be a starter at a club like Rangers doesn’t come around often. Maybe he felt sacrificing some caps was worth the opportunity to stay at Ibrox and to become a hero, which he did.”
Wallace – now expected to move into coaching – never received the send-off he deserved before moving to QPR in 2019 due to a fall-out with caretaker boss Graeme Murty. Little added: “It’s a shame he left the club under a cloud because Lee is similar to James Tavernier – not just a captain but a consistent performer, true pro and all round good egg. I believe if that fall-out hadn’t happened he’d have stayed a lot longer.”
