James Scott made his grandfather proud when he followed in his footsteps by signing for Motherwell.
Now the forward aims to reward him for travelling up to Dingwall on Boxing Day by giving him a late Christmas present to celebrate.
John Gray made 35 Motherwell appearances and his tales of life at Fir Park in the early 1970s struck a chord as his grandson weighed up which club to sign for.
“That’s one of the reasons why I chose Motherwell, other than the fact it’s a great club,” Scott said.
“He always talked very highly of it so I thought ‘why not give it a bash?’ And I have ended up with a great career so far with hopefully more to come.
“It was quite a proud moment for him when I signed as well, for him and my family. And obviously my family are very supportive of me choosing Motherwell for my grandpa. I liked seeing his reaction when signing.
“I was at Celtic before and got released. I was at Rangers for a trial and it was good but I just liked the atmosphere and the coaching staff at Motherwell.”
Gray will be in Dingwall as Motherwell take on Ross County.
“He comes to every single game,” said Scott, who has scored six goals this season. “He won’t miss a game unless he is on holiday. But he is on holiday a lot!
“He’s great support and my family is great support as well. My grandpa is a Motherwell fan.
“I try to look for him every game. I know he is there, he is always in the same seat. If I score then I need to run over. I have not done that yet but I will need to just for a nice Christmas present.
“He is going up to Dingwall, 100 per cent. So hopefully I can give him a nice Christmas present – hopefully a hat-trick or something for going up there!”
The Ladbrokes Premiership fixture list consigned the Motherwell squad to a trip north after training on Christmas Day and a night in a hotel but Scott feels the experience will bring the players even closer together.
The 19-year-old feels Motherwell have a chance to achieve high this season with European qualification firmly in his sights.
The versatile attacker said: “You couldn’t pick a worse game away at Christmas! But it’s good going up to Dingwall, I like it. It brings everyone together, having a chat round the hotel.
“There’s a great atmosphere around the dressing room. The boys have got a lot closer from where we are in the league. We have been playing brilliantly, I think it’s the best I have ever seen Motherwell play. To sit third is brilliant.
“We are focusing on finishing third and getting into Europe. It would be such a privilege to take such a great club into Europe.”
