I was dubbed next George Best when I joined Rangers but I played just one game and only have myself to blame

Ross McCausland has made a name for himself in the Rangers first team but quietly progressed through the ranks after joining his boyhood heroes at youth level.

But that was nothing like a fellow winger who made the same move from Linfield to Ibrox a quarter of a century ago and arrived at the Light Blues amid much hype. Like many wide men from Northern Ireland who show great promise, Lee Feeney was dubbed ‘the next George Best’ when he burst onto the scene at Windsor Park.

It’s an impossible task to live up to - Keith Gillespie was another weighed down by it despite turning out for Best’s former club Manchester United - but nevertheless Feeney was saddled with it. At a time when Rangers splashing multi million pounds on international stars in the wild spending days of Dick Advocaat, the Dutchman agreed to a modest £100,000 outlay for Feeney.

There were high hopes for the Ulsterman but he failed to live up to the hype as he made just one appearance for Rangers off the bench - a 4-0 victory over Dundee one month after he arrived - before returning to Linfield three years later via a loan spell Down Under with Northern Spirit, the Australian club who had a tie-up with Rangers at the time.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph this week, Feeney reflected on his time at Rangers, saying: “When I left Linfield to go on a week’s trial I fitted in really well and held my own, I was pleased after every training session and obviously they made a bid and signed me.

"Then I went over and the honeymoon period was over, you have to get into it straight away. You can’t slow down and drop your standard. I was doing decent and made my first team debut but I got injured and during that time they signed Claudio Reyna and another midfielder -