A COALITION of Rangers supporters have joined forces in a bid to earn former Scotland striker Andy Gray a place in the Hampden Hall of Fame.

Members from Associations in North America and Oceania have combined with prominent fan media representatives to lobby the Scottish FA on Gray's behalf.

The 65-year-old rose to prominence at Dundee United before enjoying remarkable success with Aston Villa and Everton, with whom he lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985, before joining boyhood heroes Rangers.

His achievements have yet to be recognised at Hampden, however, and his case for inclusion is now being driven by NARSA president Gary Gillan.

There were no inductees into the Hall of Fame last year due to the Covid pandemic but Gillan hopes Gray will soon be able to take his place amongst the legends of the Scottish game.

Gillan said: "I called Andy and said I would like to spearhead a nomination process on his behalf, if he didn’t mind, to get him into the Hall of Fame.

"I contacted David Edgar from Heart and Hand, Steven Clifford from Four Lads and our colleagues at ORSA and said we would have a collaborative approach to lobby the SFA and have Andy on the list.

"They all said yes and we started the process. Anyone can be nominated by anyone, you just have to put it in an email and explain why and they take it from there.

"We prepared a career highlights for Andy, detailed what made him an ideal candidate for the Hall of Fame and submitted it earlier this year. The SFA confirmed receipt but they didn’t have details on the structure of the nominations process this year.

"The last we heard from them was May 25 when we got an email saying our nomination had been received and added to the list.

"With the ongoing pandemic, they said it was unlikely that an induction ceremony will be held this year but that our nomination would be submitted as and when they resumed normal operations.

"When you stand his career up against others in the Hall of Fame, a lot of them pale in comparison. We will continue to put forward a strong case for Andy and hopefully he will get the place in the Hall of Fame that we believe he deserves."

The European glory in 1985 was the highlight of Gray's career and he would also lift the Division One title, FA Cup and Charity Shield at Goodison Park.

Two other League Cup successes - in 1977 with Aston Villa and 1980 with Wolves - completed an impressive medal haul from his time in England and he would live the dream by clinching the Premier Division with Rangers in 1989.

The latest inductees into the Hall of Fame two years ago included Ibrox legends Tommy McLean and Colin Stein and Gillan will continue to push the cause for one of his Light Blues heroes.

Gillan said: "It is incredible that he is not in already. I chatted to Andy and he gave me his career highlights and it is a remarkable career.

"He was Player of the Year both seasons with Dundee United and gets his move to England.

"He is leading scorer in the First Division and Aston Villa player of the year then becomes the first player to win the PFA Player and Young Player in the same season, the only Scotsman ever to achieve that. The only others to achieve that are Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

"He scored in League Cup finals, FA Cup finals, European finals and then came back home to his boyhood idols and won a title with Rangers. That is an incredible career, over 600 games and 200 goals at a top, top level.

"If you are playing in and scoring in and winning European trophies, that should be an automatic qualification for the Scottish football Hall of Fame.

"With the greatest of respect, there are players who I feel are not as worthy as Andy when you look at his achievements. It seems like a massive omission not to have him in.

"Apparently there was a consideration in a previous year where he was nominated but not selected. That was apparently a particularly strong year but I can’t imagine what you would have to have done to top Andy on both sides of the border and in Europe."