Rangers hero Ally McCoist broke my leg on Australia pub crawl – I feared my career was OVER

EVER since the idea of writing my autobiography came about, I’ve been dreading this aspect of it — the true story of how I broke my leg. But it’s been 40 years since the incident and I’m pretty sure enough time has passed for the truth to be told. Ally McCoist during his Rangers playing days Credit: Reuters Bobby Williamson has revealed the real truth about leg break – and Ally McCoist’s role Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd The truth is that it was a drunken altercation with Ally McCoist — and it was all my own fault. Rangers boss Jock Wallace had arranged a tour to New Zealand and Australia for the end of the 1983-84 season. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Our first game was a 0-0 draw against an Australian B side in Melbourne and I had to make do with a place on the bench. Next stop Brisbane. On arrival, we discovered that Manchester United were also touring there and Big Jock and the United boss, Ron Atkinson, got talking. It turned out United were staying in a place called Surfers Paradise. It sounded brilliant and, if it was good enough for them, it was good enough for us. We had been given an evening pass from the boss and everybody was up for a night out. As the night progressed, we started getting separated. I found myself with Craig Paterson, Ally Dawson and Coisty. We had left one pub and were looking for our next watering hole. We didn’t have a clue where we were going and found ourselves walking down this really wide road. Most read in Football OUR BEST FREE BETS & SIGN-UP OFFERS We couldn’t see any sign of the bright lights of a pub, nor how we could get back to where we were staying, the Beachcomber Hotel. As we discussed our next move, we thought we would take advantage of a grassy area to have a comfort break against one of the trees. And as we were standing there, I began to joke with Coisty that I was going to ‘wash his shoes’, if you know what I mean. I never did it, but one thing led to another and, before long, it was East Kilbride versus Easterhouse! Perhaps, if we had been boxers, it would have been fists up, but we both kicked out with our feet, which resulted in an almighty clash of shins. As I went down and landed on my backside I wasn’t in any pain, but I immediately knew something was wrong. The other lads, Craig and Ally, were telling the two of us to get a move on. I was lying on my back, my legs bent above me and I was thinking about getting up, but then I noticed something protruding from just below my knee. I put my hand down and that was when I realised the thing sticking out was my bone, which had pierced through my skin. The lads’ patience was, by now, wearing a bit thin, but as soon as they came over they immediately knew the only place I was going was to the hospital. One of the lads went to phone an ambulance — the other had the dubious pleasure of going to inform Jock. When Jock demanded an explanation, they were to say that they hadn’t seen anything. This left me and Coisty alone, in the dark. He was a bit tearful as the full realisation of what had occurred began to register. There might have been tears from me, too. I knew that this was a potentially career-threatening injury. ‘It wasn’t your fault,’ I said to him. ‘It was basically down to me’. But Ally was distraught. I then looked over and saw a nearby fence. And I knew exactly what I had to do. ‘Right,’ I said. ‘See that fence, I tried to jump it and I never made it. That’s what we’re going to say’. But Ally was having none of it. He was adamant that, no matter the repercussions, he was going to tell the truth. I knew that wasn’t a good idea. Ally was on his last warning and Jock’s patience with him was already wearing thin. The cover of ‘The Bobby Williamson story’ Credit: Willie Vass Any breach of rules and he was on the next plane home and, believe me, Jock would have done it. Imagine if that had happened. Who knows what future Ally would have had at Rangers — if any? Look what he went on to achieve at the club, the goals he scored, the trophies he won, the legend he became. Was that really going to be put at risk because of some daft incident? There was no way he should pay such a high price for what was my stupidity. What had happened was no fault of Ally. It was all down to me. It was my fault we had squared up but still he wanted to tell the truth. So I said to Ally, ‘You don’t want to be doing that. You were on your last warning before we left London. No, you can’t do that. We’ll just say that I tried to jump the fence and didn’t make it. That’s what happened. I’m sure Craig and Ally will back that up’. He took some convincing but, eventually, Ally came round to my way of thinking and Ally and big Craig stuck to the line that they didn’t see anything. It was a story that would hold firm for four decades! Big Jock caught up with us in the hospital when two nurses began trying to take off my trousers. Even they were wincing when they tried to get my trousers over my leg. It had swollen to twice the size and the bones were making a horrible grinding noise each time they hit. Then, remarkably, Jock told me what happened, how my leg break had come about. He said Coisty had told him everything, but, to my relief, he recounted the tale of me trying to jump the fence. Then he paused. ‘Did Coisty top you?’ he asked. My brain was working overtime. I was going to stick to our story no matter what. ‘No, I tried to jump a fence,’ I said. ‘It was further away than I thought. I landed on top of the thing and snapped my leg’. Bobby Williamson launches his new book that publishes on October 12 Credit: Willie Vass Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that Big Jock knew the truth. He felt there was some kind of undercurrent between me and Coisty, but I never felt it and I’m sure Ally didn’t. But, at the time, I was laying there wondering how he could possibly know what had actually happened? Jock looked at me. ‘Well’, he said. ‘If that’s the story you’re telling, you had better stick to it. I don’t want to hear anything else’. I needed an operation and the surgeon told me he was confident he had done a good job, putting in a plate and some screws to hold everything in place. But he didn’t know if I’d be able to continue with football, saying only that it was very much down to me and how the recovery developed. I always believed I could get through it. I had to. There was no way I was going back on the tools. I was determined not to let my career finish like that. Out Of Easterhouse, The Bobby Williamson Story (Pitch Publishing), publishes on October 12. RRP £25.00. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page Comment now