Rangers legend Graeme Souness loses bet to Rod Stewart - and donates £10k to charity

Rangers legend Graeme Souness has donated £10,000 to a Scottish hospice after losing a charity football bet to Celtic superfan Rod Stewart.

The famous Old Firm supporters agreed the wager in March after a friendly spat on Talksport radio over which of their teams would win this year’s Scottish Premiership title.

And when Brendan Rodgers’ side clinched the title on Wednesday with a 5-0 win at Kilmarnock, Souness, who man-aged Rangers from 1986-1991, was delighted to cough up the £10k for Rod’s chosen charity – the St Andrew’s Hospice in Airdrie.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Record, the former Liverpool and Scotland captain – now a top pundit on TV & radio – said: “It’s money well spent and I was delighted to write out a cheque.

“The St Andrew’s Hospice is a facility I’m very familiar with and I’ve witnessed first-hand the incredible care and compassion that they offer patients.

“I visited a friend at the hospice a few years ago and also went to see former Rangers player Fernando Rick-sen when he was being cared for by the brilliant team of doctors, nurses and medical staff in the final months of his life. It’s an absolutely amazing place.”

If Rangers had won the league – and Sir Rod lost the bet – the Maggie May singer was set to hand £10,000 to Souness’ chosen charity Debra, which supports people with the rare, painful skin-blistering condition epidermolysis bulls (EB), also known as butterfly skin.

And Souness, who swam the English Channel last summer to raise more than £1million for Debra’s A Life Free of Pain Appeal, said: “Maybe Rod might want to make a donation to Debra as I’m hoping to take part in another significant challenge at the start of September.”

The kind-hearted singer, who was speaking exclusively to the Daily Record – said: “I’d be delighted to help Graeme’s charity. He’s a good man and he was a great player. But let’s not wait until September.

“If Celtic do the double over Rangers in next week’s Scottish Cup Final, I’ll match his donation and give £10,000 to Debra.”

And with a nod to this week’s fiery spat with Simon Jordan – the Talksport host who has infuriated the veteran rocker by talking down the Scottish game – Rod joked: “I’ll also give a million quid to the charity of that sanctimonious pillock’s choice if he goes a whole week without saying something derogatory about
Scottish football…”

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