BLACKBURN manager Graeme Souness returned to the scene of his greatest managerial triumphs last Sunday when he appeared at the Glasgow Rangers Hall of Fame awards.

He was a guest at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel for a gala dinner honouring new inductees to the club's hall of fame -- including Terry Butcher who Souness himself signed for Rangers during his Ibrox reign.

Souness joined the Scottish giants as player-manager in 1986 from Sampdoria and, despite being sent off on his debut against Hibernian, he guided Rangers to their first Scottish League title in nine years later that season.

He won two more championships before leaving the club in 1991 to become manager of Liverpool but the impact he made at Rangers has never been forgotten.

"He's the man who broke all the rules and revolutionised Rangers and effectively the whole of Scottish football," said Ian Paul, Chief Sports Feature Writer for the Glasgow Herald.

"At the time Souness arrived he changed the wages policy and brought top English international players to the Scottish league for the first time."

In his first season in charge Souness signed Butcher and England goalkeeper Chris Woods. They were followed by the likes of Gary Stevens, Mark Walters, Trevor Steven and Graham Roberts as Rangers began to dominate Scottish football.

He also caused an outcry in 1989 when signing then-Nantes striker Maurice Johnston -- the first Catholic to play for Rangers in the modern era.

"It was especially controversial because three weeks earlierJohnston had been seen holding up a Celtic shirt and saying they were the only team he ever wanted to play for," said Ian.

Johnston went on to score 46 times in 100 appearances for the Ibrox club to re-pay the faith shown in him by Souness.

Ian explained that Souness had not yet been inducted into the Rangers hall of fame himself because his greatest accomplishments came as the manager.

There is no doubt, however, that he is still held in the very highest esteem by everyone connected with the Glasgow giants.

And no-one will forget the impact he made in raising the profile of Scottish football as a whole.

"You can't take away from him what he did for Rangers," he said. "His contribution was massive."