Former miner Jock Wallace worked his way up from football’s coal face to become one of Scotland’s greatest managers. As a player he had a love of giant slaying, while a fruitful coaching apprenticeship included European glory before he won two unprecedented trebles with Rangers. 

First published in 2014, Blue Thunder delighted fans of Rangers, Leicester, Motherwell and Colchester, where Big Jock plied his trade. Author Jeff Holmes has since gone on to pen biographies of Alex Totten, Davie Meiklehohn and Marco Negri as well as his latest: 1986: The Rangers Revolution: The Year Which Changed the Club Forever.

Jock Wallace was an old-school manager and a bona-fide legend; but don’t take author Jeff Holmes’s word for it…
•    John Greig, the Greatest Ever Ranger: “Jock had far more than just character. The manager of Rangers is expected to win trophies – and he didn’t let anyone down.”
•    Current Gers boss Ally McCoist was a huge Wallace fan: “When we were struggling, Jock took us to Iraq. Days later, Baghdad Airport was bombed – he knew how to protect us!”
•    Former Leicester star Alan Young: “I still get emotional talking about Jock. If things are getting me down, I sometimes talk to him at night.”
•    One-time Rangers and Celtic star Alfie Conn worked under Wallace at Motherwell: “Jock made us into winners. Losing wasn’t in his vocabulary.”
•    Wing king Willie Johnston revealed a surprise Wallace tactic: “Jock would test the strength of your abs by punching you in the stomach – right before a match!”
•    And the last word to Jock Wallace himself. “Until I joined the Army I was a loner. I wasn’t short of friends but kept myself to myself. That changed in Malaya. In the Army you have to become a team. Your life depends, quite literally, on the people around you.”

Click here for more information, or to read a sample from Blue Thunder.