Kyle Hutton ended up playing an important role in Rangers’ early rebuild, but it all could have been very different.
The midfielder rose through the Rangers ranks having arrived from Livingston, and he managed to pick up 14 first-team appearances in the 2010-11 season.
Hutton spent the 2011-12 season out on loan, and when he came back, he found Rangers in ruin and on the verge of collapse.
As Rangers were liquidated, many players chose to leave on free transfers, but Hutton stayed loyal to the Gers and Ally McCoist.
He played a key role in the fourth tier with 27 appearances, before then featuring in League One and the Championship as Rangers attempting to move back up the leagues.
Now with East Kilbride, the 26-year-old has looked back on his time at Rangers with Open Goal, and spoken about his opportunity to walk way from Ibrox in 2012.
Hutton claims he had a one-year deal on the table with Brentford, but chose to stay with Rangers after a conversation with boss McCoist, who convinced him to stay.
Hutton now feels that he maybe made the wrong decision, feeling that the move to London could have been better for his career rather than dropping down with Rangers.
“I was right torn between what do I do; do I go to the third division and work my up and play for Rangers, or do I go? Allan Preston phoned and said ‘you’ve got a one-year deal with Brentford there’. They were in League One at the time. I was like ‘can you not get me another year? I’d like another year for more security’, but he said no.”
“I phoned Coisty, and he was like ‘it’s gonna be youth, just come in, play, we need to get ourselves back up to the top league as quickly as possible’. So that was when I took the decision, I said ‘aye, no worries, I’ll stay’, and that was me.”
“Possibly looking back, I possibly should have left for my – if I’m being selfish – for my career,” he added.
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