Friend and former team-mate John Anderson’s favourite holiday destination is Dubai.
He and his lovely wife Shona have visited the luxurious Emirate many times.
They were there once again just a few weeks ago and, one evening, John was eagerly awaiting news of his former club Riverside Athletic, who had to win their final league game of the season against Tayside Fire Brigade to clinch the Midlands AFA George Buckman Premier Division title.
With an added gloss, John takes up the story.
“Shona and I have just returned from holiday in Dubai and QPR boss Harry Redknapp and his wife Sandra were staying in the same hotel as us.
“The after-dinner discussions were, of course, on football.
“I had told him my team Riverside Athletic had to win their game that evening to win the league.
“Later on, he shouted over to me if I had word on how my team was doing.
“Right on cue, Peter Crozier texted me with an update of the match, revealing we were 5-0 up at half-time.
“I showed Harry the text and he said we better start the celebrations early.
“River, of course, went on to win 8-1 and become champions.
“Another story from Harry is that, when he found out we were from Dundee, he started to tell me of his two old friends from the City of Discovery who were team-mates at Seattle Sounders in the late 1970s.
“They were none other than two Dundee Football Club legends Jocky Scott and Gordon Wallace.
“Harry had nothing to say except very good things about them both, saying all three families were close when they were at Seattle together.
“He even mentioned he still has a photo of Jocky’s son Jason alongside his son Jamie Redknapp.
“Harry and Sandra were real down-to-earth people who were always looking for a blether but with Anderson and not on this occasion with Brown!”
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