Michael Beale urges Rangers support to give blood as he opens up on family anguish over niece's cancer battle

When it comes to the strange little world of Scottish football, we tend to get carried away with its importance.

But of course, there are times when the outcome of a football match is put very firmly into perspective, moments when its insignificance is shown up against the grander scale of life’s more pressing concerns. Michael Beale had one such moment a couple of days before what was the biggest date in his fledgling managerial career. While preparing for last week’s Viaplay Cup final clash with Celtic, the Rangers boss and his wife Roxanne were handed the devastating news that their cherished niece Poppy had suffered a relapse of the blood cancer she thought she had beaten only a couple of months before.

Of course the Ibrox gaffer is aware of how badly the supporters who pay his wages have taken their Hampden loss, sharing every ounce of the disappointment they’ve expressed in the days since. But events at home also allow the Londoner to step back and realise that sometimes, there’s more important things than football. Opening up on Poppy’s heartbreaking news, he said: “It’s difficult because it’s my wife’s sister’s baby – my niece.

“She’s the same age as my daughter so you have a daughter who’s three-and-a-half years old and well and a niece who’s had two years of chemotherapy. She rings the bell (after beating cancer), then three months later it relapses.

“As a family, it’s difficult because you are a long way away from helping, with the family being in London. That news, in the middle of last week, was difficult.

“You don’t really realise how important our health system is and how important our doctors and nurses are until your own family feel it. It’s been ongoing for two years, we thought we were outside of it