The head coach at Hamilton Accies said he was ‘overwhelmed’ after being presented with messages of support from fans following his addiction announcement last week.
Brian Rice made headlines last Monday when he revealed that he had been gambling – which goes against SFA rules and had written to the board with his confession.
Accies issued a statement last week confirming that the club had received a notice of complaint from the Scottish FA compliance officer relating to alleged breaches of its gambling rules on the part of Rice.
And the fans rallied round to show support for their gaffer and wanted to sign a shirt to present to Rice at the home game against Livingston on Saturday.
Ben Paterson, who runs the Only Accies fan account, said: “David Thomson and I, who run OnlyAccies, thought it’d be a good way to show just how much support Brian has from the fanbase.”
He added: “It went really well. Allan Maitland, the chairman, came and signed it and was present for the giving the shirt over. You could see what it meant to Brian, which was great.
“He was very grateful and thanked the fanbase for all the support. He said it was all overwhelming, the support from everyone.
“Maitland also thanked us for doing it, said it was a great idea and he was also thankful that we all showed support for Rice.
“It’s been overwhelming actually to see fans, players, managers and clubs come together and support Rice.
“We know he isn’t online so possibly hadn’t seen all the reactions yet and we thought this would be a nice token from the fans to him so show him we have his back and will stick with him while he fights this disease.”
Speaking at the presentation Brian Rice said: “It’s fantastic. Overwhelming. I appreciate everything. I want to thank everyone for their support.”
Rice is facing a Scottish Football Association charge over alleged gambling breaches.
And the Scottish Premiership outfit said they have “co-operated fully” with the association throughout the investigation period and provided written submissions of self-declaration from Rice himself, with supplementary communication provided by the club’s chief executive, Colin McGowan.
