Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Oban MND sufferer crafts special Old Firm shirt to pay tribute to heroes who battled the illness

Brian MacDonald.
Brian MacDonald.

An Oban man diagnosed with a degenerative disease crafted his own unique football shirt to encourage Old Firm fans to unite in memory of two sporting legends.

Celtic supporter Brian MacDonald decided to stitch his preferred green and white jersey together with a Rangers top to take in Sunday’s heated Glasgow derby.

The 42-year-old was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) earlier this year – and forced to give up his 13-year career as a firefighter in Glasgow to move to Oban to be with relatives.

The experience has changed his outlook on life, and he asked a friend to make the shirt to urge fans to look beyond the match.

Yesterday, he explained how he wore it to remember two of his idols who also battled the disease – Jimmy “Jinky” Johnstone and Fernando Ricksen.

The name on the back of his strip reads “Jinksen” as an homage to both.

After he shared a picture of himself wearing it on his social media, friend Naomi McGleish, who made it for him, has had hundreds of people placing orders.

Mr MacDonald said: “I got one of my friends to make it especially for me after seeing a similar one – I wanted to wear their names on the back.

“I put it on for the first time on Sunday for the game.

“I don’t just want to help raise awareness of the disease in Scotland. But we need to show that it’s just a game, and we should be concentrating on the players that play in it.

“Jinky and Fernando are two legends from both sides.”

While the 2-1 win for Rangers wasn’t the result Mr MacDonald hoped for, he said the best team won on the day.

Mr MacDonald added: “Well done to Rangers for the win, the best team did win on the day.

“Despite being a Celtic fan, Fernando Ricksen has become a huge part of my life with this condition.

“I hate when there is trouble at the Old Firm – it shouldn’t be about fighting and sectarianism.

“People need to remember, it’s about the football. Let’s try and get rid of the hatred in the game.”

Mr Ricksen died in September, aged 43, after being diagnosed with MND in 2013. The footballer dedicated the final years of his life towards fundraising and collected more than £1 million to fight the disease.

Mr Johnstone died in 2006 having been diagnosed five years earlier. He was 61.

The last person to call him was old Rangers rival Willie Henderson, who had become a firm friend when their playing days were behind them.