29th March 1997Bobby Hume
THE former Rangers winger, Bobby Hume, has been shot dead near his home in Johannesburg. Hume, aged 56, emigrated to South Africa after spells of playing with Middlesbrough (1962-63) and Aberdeen (1963-65). He was the victim of a car hijacking on a day when 23 other people were also killed in similar incidents in the South African city.
Hume, who came from the Hyndland area of Glasgow, played for Rangers between 1959 and 1962, after signing from the Junior club, Kirkintilloch Rob Roy. He had continued to play professional football in South Africa, his last club being Highlands Park in Johannesburg. He joined his brother Ronnie there to help the team win, in 1966, their fifth South African league title in seven years.
Former Rangers captain John Greig recalled Bobby Hume's time at Ibrox yesterday: ''He played 23 games in the first team, and scored three goals.'' Hume was already at Ibrox when Greig joined the club and he remembers him as a ''quiet, unassuming type of lad''. He was also evidently one of the first players to wear contact lenses on the pitch.
The left winger - who was rather small and lightweight - would probably would probably have played more for the first team, says Greig, but it was a successful one at the time and already had an international winger in David Wilson.
''He was an excellent footballer but in those days it was very difficult to break into the first team and he eventually moved on.''
The highlight of Hume's time with Rangers was probably to play in the first leg of the 1961 Cup Winners' Cup final against the Italian team Fiorentina; Rangers lost 2:0.
Footballers are generally judged by their ability, says Greig, but he prefers to judge them as people and Hume was ''a hell of a nice guy''.
