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Peter MacDonald was an Academy player when great Rangers men like Walter Smith, John Brown, Archie Knox and John McGregor were at the club in the mid to late 90s and he says working with those legendary figures gave him the grounding he needed to succeed in the professional game.
Peaso, now 45 and a respected football agent and consultant, was honoured to receive a top-class football education by these old-school coaches during a decade with the Light Blues and the importance of standards and a winning mentality were drummed into him on a daily basis.
He trained with Rangers royalty like Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant, Jorg Albertz and Giovanni van Bronkhorst when he was at the beginning of his football journey and was thrilled to learn from a host of Ibrox heroes.
When Dick Advocaat was manager, he offered Peter a two-year contract to stay with the club but he knew he had to move on to play regular first-team football and he went on to forge a positive career.
The former youth striker enjoyed 10 seasons with St Johnstone and productive spells with Morton, Clyde, Stirling Albion and Dundee – where he linked up again with Bomber and helped fire the Tayside club back to the top-flight.
MacDonald, who also had a spell back at the Rangers Academy as a youth coach when he hung up his boots, retains a genuine passion for football and he has helped steer the careers of a number of young players.
He has advised talented footballers like Leon King, Mason Munn, Liam Kelly, Ross McCausland, Rory Wilson, Connor Barron, Max Johnston, Josh McPake and Kyle Glasgow and is delighted to still be involved in the game.
In a wide-ranging interview as he showed his support for The Rangers Youth Development Company – who have donated more than £12 million to the Academy so far – Peaso says he was proud to start his career with the club he loves.
He said: “I started at Rangers when I was 9 or 10 and it was brilliant. I loved it and the club was really successful at the time.
“Second place was never good enough and I always remember Bomber and John McGregor telling me that Rangers players just had to find a way to win.
“You need to battle, you need to fight to win. That was the priority and it should always be the case.
“They set the standards and I knew that if I fell below those standards there would be consequences – not playing or not getting a contract.
“You had to give your all for the badge but that was a given at Rangers.
“When I was a young apprentice we would come in and collect the balls and set out the kit so you got the chance to mix with the first-team players under Walter and there were so many great players in that squad.
“When Dick came in I had the chance to train with his squad and that was a good grounding too.
“You should be privileged to be at Rangers and I definitely was.
“It was tough at times but it was great to learn from Walter, Archie, Bomber and John McGregor and be around the first-team.
“The training ground is there now but we were at Ibrox early in my time at the club and all the young players had jobs.
“It could be cleaning the dressing room, putting the kit out for the players or cleaning the manager’s office – which was my job.
“You got to interact with them on a daily basis and it was setting standards. We had responsibility and it was a great time to be at Rangers.
“You hope to have a career there. Only a small percentage of young players can make it at a club like Rangers but we still went on to have good careers.
“I had to leave to go and play but Dick offered me a two-year deal to stay.
“Stoke were looking at me at the time and I was scoring a lot of goals for the 21s when I was 19 and I thought I might get a chance in his team as there were a few injuries.
“It never came though and St Johnstone came in for me. They had sold Momo Sylla to Celtic and they used £125,000 of that transfer fee to come and get me.
“I had a meeting with Dick and he was honest with me and told me he wanted me on the bench for the season but I had just turned 20 and needed to go and play.
“I didn’t let my heart rule my head, I decided to leave and Rangers got money for me.
“I had amazing times when I was a youth player here and I saw parts of the world I had never been to before and played in a lot of youth tournaments with some great players.
“We still have a big group chat to this day – with guys like Allan McGregor, Craig Moore, Maurice Ross and Stephen Carson – and we try and meet up every year.
“It was a big leap from youth football to playing at St Johnstone but I had to do it. Ultimately, if you look at it, I wasn’t good enough to play for the Rangers first-team but I carved out a good career.
“I used the basics I learned at Rangers and always worked hard. If you don’t do that you don’t deserve to be anywhere.
“Sandy Clark signed me, he was away about 6 weeks later, but I had a good ten years at St Johnstone and worked with some great people like Billy Kirkwood and Billy Stark.
“I always thought I was lucky to be playing professional football and I was never big time. I always treated people the way I wanted to be treated and I never took anything for granted.
“I was very lucky and blessed to have the career and journey I had and it all started with the grounding at Rangers.
“I got to work with Bomber again when he was the manager of Dundee and I helped get them back to the Premier League.
“I was doing well with Morton and I met up with him after Irene Love’s funeral.
“She was Tiny’s sister and their family were associated with Rangers for decades.
“We went back to Ibrox after it and I asked him if he was looking for a striker.
“I had scored a lot of goals for Morton when I came back from injury – something like 15 goals in 9 games – and he said he was interested and would get back to me.
“We met up again for a coffee and he told me he wanted to sign me.
“I knew Dundee fans were going to question my age as I was in my early 30s but I went up there really lean and fit and gave myself a proper opportunity to do well and I’m glad I did it.
“I got off to an absolute flyer at Dundee and I scored something like 9 in my first 6 games and you become a wee bit of a cult hero after that. It buys you a few bad games for sure!
“That year was probably the best year of my life. Bomber had left in the February but he had built a team to win the Championship.
“We won the league and I scored in the game that got us promoted. I remember I got one of the boys to take a picture of me with the trophy and I sent it to him. That was for Bomber and he was a joy to play for.
“I was very grateful to him for taking a chance on me as an older player.
“I also did my coaching badges and I was A Licence qualified when I was 33/34.
“I was then in at Partick Thistle taking the 17s – with another ex-Ranger Scott Allison – and I was also joint player-manager at Clyde. I really enjoyed that experience.
“I came back to Rangers and had five years as a coach at the Academy and I’ve worked for the SFA at their Performance School so I’ve had a nice coaching journey too.
“I enjoyed being back at Rangers. I worked with Brian Gilmour at the 16s and we had a successful team.
“It was great to be back at the club and I saw players like Nathan Patterson, Josh McPake, Leon King, Lewis Mayo and Stephen Kelly develop. It’s great to see these guys kick on.
“If you work hard enough you can go on to have a good career after a good grounding at Rangers.
“I was blessed and I feel fortunate to have had a good career in football.
“It was always based on hard work and I was proud of what I achieved.
“Now I can help advise players in my football consultancy role and guide them through their journeys.
“I’ve worked for CAA Base and now I’m with InMotion Sports Agency as Head of Football and I’m loving it.
“I deal with player recruitment, contracts, education and working with clubs to get the best for the kids.
“I was a professional footballer for 20 years and part-time for 5 so I have a lot of experience to pass on.
“I think you’d be naive not to take on a bit of advice from myself or any ex-player. I always tell them the truth and I’ve worked with a lot of good people in the game so I have a lot of experience.
“I go back to it though. You have to work hard to succeed in this game and I will always be grateful for the grounding I received at Rangers.
“I’ve been in football all my life. I’m very blessed and I’ve enjoyed the journey I’ve been on.”
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