Sevilla FC, a Scot and ‘the Foxes’

Sevilla FC and Leicester City have little in common, other than being unfamiliar faces at this stage of the UEFA Champions League, but they do have a shared history with the Scottish manager Jock Wallace.

The legendary former Rangers boss, who broke Celtic’s hegemony in Scotland in the seventies, moved on to England and then Spain later in his career. Having won two Scottish trebles at Ibrox between 1972 and 1978, he headed south to take over at Leicester City in the English second division. He led ‘the Foxes’ to promotion by winning the title and took them to an FA Cup semi-final in a four-year spell at Filbert Street. During his time there, the famously tough task-master coached a young Gary Lineker: "He was uncompromising, but his bark was actually worse than his bite,” the former England international told ESPN. “But it took a while to learn that. We had massive respect for him. He was very demanding, but at the same time he ended up being hugely encouraging, too.”

In 1986, Wallace joined the British exodus of managers to Spain, following Terry Venables, Ron Atkinson and John Toshack to LaLiga, when he replaced Manolo Cardo at Sevilla.  “Jock loved Spain, he had a holiday home there," his agent Bill McMurdo told The Scotsman. "The problem was that he didn't speak a word of Spanish. But as luck would have it, we had kept in touch with a guy who ran a Spanish restaurant in Leicester which Jock used to go to when he was manager of Leicester City. He helped out as an interpreter and Jock got the job.”

He only spent one season at the Sanchez Pizjuan, leading the team to a mid-table finish, but relished the famous city rivalry with Real Betis. Sevilla’s derby opponents play in the same green and white colours as Celtic, the Glasgow rivals of his beloved Rangers. “Seville is a fantastic city and a great club. He enjoyed every minute of it," McMurdo said.

Sevilla FC host Leicester City in their Champions League round of 16 first leg On Wednesday at 20:45 CET.