HE is one of Scottish football's most successful managers, following his fruitful two spells as Glasgow Rangers boss.

But Jock Wallace also made his mark in his albeit brief time in charge of Colchester United.

Wallace took the unlikely path from Scottish giants Rangers to Fourth Division minnows U's, in January 1989.

With England's 1966 World Cup winner Alan Ball as his coach, Wallace transformed the Layer Road fayre, doubling the gates from 2,000-4,000 as the team fought off the drop into Conference football.

The Colchester players loved him like a father and he arrived in Essex boasting a reputation for being one of Scottish football’s greatest-ever managers.

Wallace had tasted European glory and secured two unprecedented trebles in charge of Rangers, where he had enjoyed two successful spells.

No wonder Colchester owner Jonathan Crisp had specifically targeted Wallace but after his success at the Gers, the Scot encountered a very different situation at Colchester, who were officially the worst team in English football when he took the reins.

They were rock bottom of the fourth division, with just three wins to their name.

But after Wallace’s arrival, the Layer Road gates had more than doubled to pushing 5,000.

As Jeff Holmes writes in his 2014 book 'Blue Thunder – The Jock Wallace Story', the Scot knew the task that was ahead of him ahead of his first match in charge, against Tranmere Rovers.

Just before kick-off, Wallace said: “I have the hardest job in the world. Colchester are propping up the English League – but I’m back in business.”

Wallace was tasked with keeping the U’s in the Football League and he passed with flying colours.

Alongside his number two Ball (the duo were affectionately known as “Bawl and Ball” to Colchester’s players), the U’s secured nine wins and eight draws from their remaining matches to complete the Great Escape.

When Ball left to take over as Stoke City’s assistant manager and with Wallace struggling to cope with his Parkinson’s disease (although his illness had not been revealed publicly at the time), the Scot stood down as team boss in December 1989 and became a director.

Wallace later returned to Spain but it was during a trip back to England visiting his daughter Karen and her family that he died of a heart attack in July, 1996.

Wallace’s time at Colchester was all too short - but he certainly left his mark on Layer Road.

This article is adapted from an article that was originally published in the Daily Gazette, in 2014.

“Blue Thunder: The Jock Wallace Story”, published by Pitch Publishing, is available priced at £17.99.