David Weir - University of Evansville

As a Rangers legend, and their current assistant manager, Davie Weir is well accustomed to Scottish football. It is surprising, therefore, that his career started 3,000 miles from Glasgow, in Indiana, where he attended the University of Evansville on a football scholarship. During his time at Evansville, Weir proved himself as an excellent athlete – being named both NCAA All-American, and Midwest Collegiate Conference Player of the Year during his junior year. He graduated, ranked second in school history with his 129 career points, and to this day, remains one of the most successful Evansville alumni ever.   Upon his return from the states, he trained with Celtic FC, moving onto Falkirk, where he made 124 appearances and scored 8 goals. He then played for Hearts and Everton, but his real club success wouldn’t come until he joined Rangers in 2007. Despite his being much older than his teammates – Weir was 37 when he began playing with the club – he soon found himself at home, proving popular with fans, and even entering the Rangers Hall of Fame after just four years there. He continued to play with Rangers into his forties, announcing his exit from the club in 2012 at the age of 42. Since retiring from professional football, Weir has emerged as one of the top coaches in the UK – taking coaching and management positions at clubs such as Everton, Sheffield United and Brentford. However, he soon found himself back at the club he loves. In June 2015, it was announced he would return to Rangers FC, in order to take the position of assistant manager, Mark Warburton. Weir maintains that his time in the states forced him to develop toughness and determination – something that he was take with him into his professional career. He believes his scholarship was something that matured him, both as a person and a player, and that without it, he would have struggled to pursue his ambitions to move into club football.  

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