Former Old Firm managers Walter Smith and Billy McNeill have become patrons of the St Andrew's Sporting Club.
Tommy Gilmour, the boxing promoter and owner of the club, invited both men to become involved after their long-standing support for the organisation.
The club is approaching the end of its 40th anniversary year, and Gilmour wanted to mark the occasion, and the club's continuing presence at the forefront of Scottish boxing, by honouring the pair.
"We don't have anybody among our patrons from a purely sporting background and this is a way to say thanks for all Walter and Billy's help down the years," Gilmour said. "They've both offered support and advice on a number of occasions down the years. And we wanted to get Walter's name on the letterhead before he gets knighted."
Smith was keen to lend his backing to the club, which continues to hold monthly fight nights often attended and supported by figures from other sports, as well as politics, the media and business.
"For anyone of my age group, boxing and football were the main sports of the working class," Smith said. "Boxing is a big thing and my dad, more than myself, was a big boxing fan. It was a regular thing in the Carmyle, Tollcross and Shettleston areas. Personally, I played football but a lot of the other boys did the boxing. It was a great thing to be involved in.
"When I came back down to Glasgow after leaving Dundee United, Tommy was good enough to invite me along to the boxing," he continued. "The sport is maybe the same as the football in terms of not being at its highest level with the people that are in it.
"But people like Tommy are working extremely hard to keep up the profile in Scotland and anything you can do to help any sport survive is a good thing. Tommy is doing more than anybody to help the profile of boxing and keep it as high as possible."
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