How nightclub boss brokered mega Rangers transfers as talent spotter reveals remarkable role in 3 Ibrox moves

Football attracts people from all walks of life – but very few can match the story of Paul Montgomery, the flamboyant Geordie who went from running a floating nightclub to spotting some of the greatest British footballing talent of the last 40 years.

Montgomery started out rubbing shoulders with A-list celebrities such as Wham, Level 42, Bryan Ferry and Wet Wet Wet at the famous (some would say infamous) Tuxedo Junction nightclub before opening his own club and at the same time becoming a trusted lieutenant of footballing icon Sir Bobby Robson.

Predicting – and picking – the best young talent available is very often an ephemeral and some would say impossible job but Montgomery simply had a knack for knowing who would make it – and who would flounder. And, in his remarkable, hilarious and deeply impassioned autobiography, he reveals his part in some of Rangers' biggest transfers as he lifts the lid on his incredible career change, the highs and lows of his football journey to the top of the sport and how he still loves the game that has given him so much. Here, in an extract from Montgomery's book 'Rough Diamond - How A Nightclub Boss Found Football's Future Stars' he reveals details of some of Rangers' biggest transfer in 2004/05.

"Going into the summer of 2004, Alex McLeish had already been offered Dado Prso and Jean-Alain Boumsong, but asked for my opinion if I’d seen them at all. I had, plenty of times, so wrote up my thoughts. I knew Prso was excellent and would be a brilliant free transfer, as per the club’s transfer remit. He was a true warrior of a player and would be a great frontman. He also had an excellent attitude, since he occasionally experienced chronic discomfort in his knees, but played through the pain