He is one of the best-known faces on our TV screens but the fame he has gathered over the years on and off the football field has not changed him.
Ally McCoist is 60 now, but, in 1979, he was about to embark on his first full season as a professional footballer at a then part-time St Johnstone.
And who better to ask about McCoist’s early days in the game than my ex-Evening Telegraph colleague James Masson who, for 40 years, chronicled all things Saints and many other things Perth on a daily basis for the Tully.
James stated: “He may be a superstar now but there is nothing super-starry about the Scottish football icon and on and off screen big personality that is Alistair Murdoch McCoist MBE.
“Of all the big football names I have met, and there are many, Ally ranks right up there as one of the humblest.
“I haven’t spoken to him for a while but, in our meetings after he left Saints, the subject very quickly turned to St Johnstone and all things Perth.
“Ally has never forgotten the start the Perth club gave him in the senior grade.”
Starting his career journey at Muirton Park
Sir Alex Ferguson used to pick McCoist up from school and give him a lift to training while he was manager of St Mirren.
McCoist would train with the youth team at Love Street but Sir Alex did not fancy the slightly-built striker, fearing he was too small.
He signed for St Johnstone on December 4 1978 and was first introduced to the first team in 1979 by manager Alex Stuart when he was still studying at Hunter High.
James was one of the first to meet him when he turned up at Muirton Park.
He said: “Saints were part-time in these days and former Dundee player and ex-Montrose and Ayr team boss Alex Stuart was in charge of playing matters.
“I was, faithfully, at Muirton every Tuesday and Thursday night to conduct interviews and it soon became apparent from speaking to senior players that the young man from East Kilbride was a special talent.
“I got to know Ally well and it also soon became apparent that he was as skilled on the pitch as he was articulate off it.
“St Johnstone had been tipped off about Ally’s displays for Fir Park Boys’ Club in Motherwell by a Saints supporter.
“When news got to Muirton Park, head scout Alex McLintock was despatched to go and watch him.
“Forty-five minutes was all the astute former referee took to realise that Ally was, indeed, a super talent.
“Spotting a Rangers scout at the same game, Alex moved fast and, by the time the second-half started, an arrangement had been made for Ally to come to Muirton Park and train with Saints.
“It didn’t take long for the Perth men to sign him and, in 1979, April 7 to be precise, he made his debut in a 3-0 win over Raith.”
Sunderland won fight to sign McCoist
His first goal came in another 3-0 success, this time against Dumbarton, early the next season.
He scored 27 goals in 68 games for St Johnstone.
His last goal for Saints was a 4-1 Parkhead loss against Celtic with Hoops boss, Billy McNeill, saying at the time: “It’s a pity a talent like that is going out of the country.”
Rangers, Wolves, Middlesbrough and Sunderland all tabled offers in excess of £300,000 for McCoist.
Alex Rennie was appointed St Johnstone manager in April 1980 and said the club wouldn’t let McCoist go without a fight to keep him.
Alan Durban’s Sunderland signed McCoist for a club record fee of £400,000 in August 1981 and he scored his first goal in a 3-2 defeat at Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest.
McCoist only managed to score one more goal in his debut season where Sunderland beat the drop with a final day win over Manchester City.
McCoist would end his second year with six goals in the English First Division before a £185,000 move to Rangers at the end of the 1982-83 season.
He went on to score 355 goals in all competitions for Rangers in a 15-year spell at the club from 1983 to 1998.
He also scored 19 international goals in 61 Scotland appearances and played at the 1990 World Cup finals and the 1992 and 1996 European Championship finals.
James added: “A three-year spell at Kilmarnock, nine goals in 53 games, wrapped up his playing career before Rangers’ record scorer once again graced the club, including three years as manager.
“Football punditry and being a team captain on A Question Of Sport brought him to a wider audience.
“However, fame has never gotten to him.
“One story I can tell of his humility, came in the early 1990s.
“Mary Gibson, who served St Johnstone for years along with her husband Jimmy, passed away.
“In all her time at Muirton Park, Mary did all sorts of jobs, making sandwiches, rolls, doing the strip washing and ironing, cleaning, you name it Mary did it.
“She also made sure the players ate properly and she took the young McCoist under her wing, becoming like a mum to him.
“Ally never forgot that.
“Mary died as Ally was setting off with Scotland for an away game against Norway and, on arriving back in Glasgow after the game, Ally phoned me to check the details of the funeral I had passed on to him were correct.
“The funeral was later that very day and Ally turned up in Perth to pay his respects to the woman who looked after him so well during his time with Saints.
“When the funeral was over he motored down to England on other personal business before returning to Glasgow.
“The fact he got off a plane, came to Mary’s service and then nipped south of the border speaks volumes about him.
“He was determined to make the effort to pay his respects despite a hectic schedule. He joined another Rangers great, Alex MacDonald, and ex-Saints stalwart John Lambie at the funeral.
“And Sir Alex Ferguson, another young lad Mary looked after, sent a wreath.
“He may be a superstar but there is nothing super-starry about Super Ally.”
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