“I just played football non-stop” – WWE superstar reveals he once dreamed of playing for Rangers
Andrew McLean Galloway IV, popularly known by his WWE ring name Drew McIntyre, has disclosed that he dreamed of playing for Scottish Premiership giants Rangers as a kid.
McIntyre is one of the most popular British athletes in the professional wrestling picture today. He notably became the first person from the United Kingdom to win the WWE Championship, beating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania in 2020.
The Scot has set his eyes on winning his fourth major championship in the promotion at WrestleMania 39. He is scheduled to face Gunther and Sheamus for the Intercontinental title at the event.
As McIntyre prepares for his triple-threat match on the grand stage, he has revealed that he dreamed of becoming a professional footballer growing up. The 37-year-old particularly hoped to play for Scottish giants Rangers. He told talkSPORT:
“My mind was pretty much set, I wanted to be in the WWE. But that was such a far away thing is most people’s minds. There was a period when I was like, ‘Wrestling in WWE is my ultimate dream, but if I play for Rangers that’s cool, too.’
“And that’s kind of the way I was thinking, like it was going to happen, WWE is the one, I’m going to make that happen, but if I played for Rangers, I’ll be fine with that."
Congratulations to #RangersFC fan @DMcIntyreWWE who last night became the first-ever British @WWE champion.
That Super Ally top bringing all sorts of luck 
👏 Congratulations to #RangersFC fan @DMcIntyreWWE who last night became the first-ever British @WWE champion.
9⃣ That Super Ally top bringing all sorts of luck 💪 https://t.co/ot3OEv36D1
McIntyre provided further insight into his passion for Rangers:
“I was so convinced that it was going to work out, I saw it in my mind, it’s amazing that it did. But growing up I was such an obsessive Rangers fan, playing football everyday like most kids at the time.
"I just played football non-stop. Any break at school, after school until my mum was shouting at me to come in and eat dinner, it was such a big love of mine.
"And then my brother and I would wrestle when we were at home, until we were forced to come back and play football, but we would wrestle in the bedroom and put on our wrestling matches. So it was always Rangers and wrestling my whole life."
WWE superstar Drew McIntyre was sent off in his final football game
The Rangers fan disclosed that he was given marching orders in his final football game. He added that it took the managers of both teams to take him off the field that day as he was prepared to fight the referee for his decision:
“In my last ever game, I think I was 16, and I’d been wrestling for a year, I started doing shows professionally at that point while still being in school.
“And I got a yellow card for a two-footed challenge which should have been a red card, but I got a yellow card for it, but then I got a red card."
McIntyre continued:
“One of the players kicked the ball around me and tried to go the other way, so I turned and tried to follow the ball and he tried to go that way, and my shoulder smashed into his face and knocked him out.
“I got sent off for it, it wasn’t my fault so I was a little upset, so then I took off my shirt and threw it at the fully-grown referee and tried to fight him, and it took both managers to pull me off the pitch."
McIntyre will be glad that things turned out the way they did as he has made a name for himself in WWE.