Scottish soccer club Rangers condemns fire damage to statue of storied former coach Walter Smith
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scottish soccer club Rangers on Friday condemned a fire attack on the statue of former coach Walter Smith outside its Ibrox stadium, calling the incident “shameful.”
The statue of Smith, who died at the age of 73 in 2021, was unveiled last year. He led the team to 10 of its 55 Scottish league titles in two spells in charge, and also coached the Scotland national team.
Scottish police said it was investigating fire damage to the statue reported early Friday.
Rangers said in a statement it “strongly condemns this shameful behavior.”
Smith started work at Rangers in 1986 as assistant to Graeme Souness and took the top job five years later when Souness went to Liverpool. He won seven straight titles before leaving and later joined Everton, then was assistant to his close friend Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
Smith coached Scotland for two years before returning to Rangers in 2007 as coach for four more seasons. He was briefly chairman of the club in fallout from financial turmoil in 2013.
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