Full Description
Morton's football skills were a perfect blend of speed, dexterity and the brain of a football professor. Only 5 ft 4 in., he had a physical balance that was almost balletic. Superlatives stalked him, even when his playing career was over, and it's here that an even more interesting side to Morton's career and personality begins to emerge, one that offers unexpected insights into Scottish politics and culture of the inter-war years and beyond. As a member of Rangers' board, Morton was a powerful figure in Scottish sport, but more important still was his recruitment to the Unionist cause. The 'Wee Insurance Man' - so known because of his dapper appearance and invariable briefcase, even in playing days - was a potent symbol to a middle class alarmed by socialism and a rising current of Scottish nationalism. In "Blue Devil with a Briefcase", Brian Morton tells the story of his legendary kinsman, a story in which personal reminiscence, sporting legend and cultural history all coincide in one tiny frame.There may never again be a Scottish footballer with Alan Morton's peerless skills, but has the world he inhabited disappeared too - or have the values to which Morton lent his name simply gone underground?
