In Memoriam - Andrew Smith (QVL)

It is with a heavy heart friends, that I bring the sad news of the death of Drew Smith, one of our own, and a Bear extraordinaire. Better known to most of you through the FF messageboard and his articles in the Follow Follow fanzine as QVL, Drew passed away after a short illness on 18th October at the tragically young age of forty-five. Drew grew up in the Cardonald area of Glasgow and remained and raised his own family there. Brought up in a typical working class environment, Drew won a scholarship to Glasgow High School. A fine achievement for a young lad back in those days but he always modestly maintained that it played second fiddle on his CV to his membership of the Boys Brigade. Drew could have travelled anywhere in the world with the skills he acquired as an apprentice Engineering Draughtsman at Scotstoun Shipyard, but his family and friends, not to mention the proximity of his beloved Rangers and Ibrox Stadium, were the steadfast anchor that he happily cast in life. Drew spent the last 17 years of his working life employed at Weirs Westgarth of Cathcart and will be sadly missed by his colleagues who counted him as much a friend as a workmate. If the BB was the compass that guided the young Drew Smith through his formative years then his many years as a Freemason was a definitive factor in adulthood and shaped the honest and true friend that we knew. His hard work and commitment to the Craft were rewarded with friendships aplenty among his Brethren. When he wasn’t watching Rangers he enjoyed nothing more than swapping tales about The Gers, not only with his old pals, but the many new friends that he met through Follow Follow and the Rangers Supporters Trust. In his alter ego of QVL he will be also be missed by his fellow Cyber Bears on the FF messageboard, although Grandmaster Suck might be considering redundancies in Admin now that Drew’s legendary Friday night rants are no more. Like many Bears of his generation Drew won his loyalty spurs enduring years of Celtic domination in his youth. This ensured that he savoured every single Rangers triumph to the max. Legendary are the times, when after an Old Firm victory, a Championship win or those memorable European games when we would belt out the tunes of glory long into the night. Of all the old Rangers songs that we would give laldy, it will be the final verse of Calum Kennedy’s “The Rangers Story” that shall bring his memory flooding back. “And when all my life has ended And when death has made its mark They can scatter all my ashes On the slopes of Ibrox Park With the Angels I‘ll be singing Up in heaven, up above I’ll be singing Follow Follow For the Rangers that I love” I will miss his optimism to my guarded pessimism in the pre match swally and his inevitable, “I told you so”, in the boozer after the game. But for all the qualities that his friends shall mourn, the least will not be his indomitable sense of humour. Rushed to the Southern General and diagnosed with terminal cancer on the eve of the Champions League match with Porto, Drew from his hospital bed put his anxious friends at ease with the one-liner, “Trust me to buy the three-game package”. Drew is survived by his wife Eileen and their sons Craig(14) and Scott(8). They are in our thoughts and prayers. Rest in Peace Big Man. I’M SPARTACUS NB - a link to some of Drew's articles can be found here - http://forum.followfollow.com/showthread.php4?p=1037390#post1037390