Jimmy Bell was Rangers 'father figure' to young stars as Chris Burke recalls unlikely duo running derby day gauntlet

Former Rangers winger Chris Burke has paid tribute to Ibrox kitman Jimmy Bell, who has died aged 69.

A club icon, Bell joined in the 1980s, initially as a coach driver before assuming responsibility over club kit.

Known as a meticulous worker and a proud figure who loved Gers through thick and thin, tributes have poured in from current manager Gio van Bronckhorst and his players to club legends of years gone by.

Burke, still going strong at Kilmarnock, was a wide-eyed teenager when he first met Bell as he began his Rangers career in the 2000s.

"He was a great man and a great human being," he told Go Radio.

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"I used to help him a lot with the kit at the academy. I remember we used to walk to the subway and get off at Ibrox, and I'd help him with the kit before the first team came in.

"I think he took a liking of me because he knew I had that work ethic to help him out – he was fantastic.

"He loved an arm wrestle – I think every new player who came in he would test them with an arm wrestle because he was a strong character."

Nothing sums up the man Burke describes as a "father figure" than the derby day gauntlet the pair of them ran at Parkhead – the young winger's first Old Firm experience.