A letter which has been unearthed after nearly 50 years has revealed how Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, was once barred from attending Ibrox by Scot Symon, a legendary predecessor.

Symon wrote to Smith's father in 1962 turning down a request for his 14-year-old son, who had broken a leg playing football, from sitting on the track which ran around the pitch at the Govan stadium.

Smith, who is now in his second spell in charge of the club, had forgotten all about the remarkable correspondence until his sister came across it in their family home in Carmyle earlier this year.

The letter, dated August 28, 1962, reads: Dear Mr Smith, I regret that I cannot grant permission to your boy to sit on the track. Such a position would be frowned upon by the police and at the same time expose him to the risk of being struck by the ball.

Trusting you appreciate our position, please extend to your son our sincere sympathy in his misfortune and our hopes that he will make a speedy recovery.

Yours sincerely, Scot Symon, manager Smith did not allow the rejection from his boyhood heroes to affect him adversely; he has gone on to enjoy a lengthy and successful career as a player, coach and manager with Rangers, Everton and Scotland.

The letter from Symon to the father of his future successor has been put on display, along with several other new pieces of Rangers memorabilia, inside the updated trophy room at Ibrox.

Smith recalled: "My sister, Liz, found the letter a few months ago when she was having a clear out. She still lives in the house in Carmyle where I grew up. I had forgotten all about its existence, to be honest. I brought the letter into the club to show Sandy Jardine and he quite rightly said that he thought it was an important piece of club memorabilia and asked if he could put it on display in the trophy room. I was quite happy for that to happen.

"I remember breaking my leg playing football.

My father wrote a letter to Rangers to try and help cheer me up. It was fantastic to get a response from the great Scot Symon. Although it was a disappointment not to get in to watch a game on the track, it was a perfectly understandable decision.

"When I wasn't playing football myself I used to go to the Rangers games with my dad and I remember feeling very proud to have received a personal letter from Scot Symon. That Rangers team Symon managed in the early 1960s was one of the greatest in the club's history and dominated Scottish football. I am sure Rangers fans of that era have, like me, got fond memories of many of the wonderful players, the likes of Jimmy Millar, Jim Baxter and Davy Wilson, of that time.

"It's pretty incredible that, more than 25 years after receiving the letter from Symon, I would be following in his footsteps into the manager's office at Ibrox for my first spell in charge of Rangers. I am really glad this letter is on permanent display at the stadium so that all of the supporters can come in and can see it."

The letter is one of several new exhibits, compiled in recent years by Jardine, a legendary Rangers player and now the club's player recruitment and welfare manager.

Jardine said: "Walter told me about three months ago that his sister had happened across the letter. I told him to bring it in. A letter from a former Rangers manager to the father of a future Rangers manager is a valuable document. Little did Scot know he was sending it to a future Rangers manager. Walter gave it to me and I had it framed. I am sure fans who come to the club on the stadium tour will be amused to see a letter from one old manager about a future manager."

The letter is not the only contribution Smith, who will be at Hampden this afternoon for the Homecoming Scottish Cup semi-final with St Mirren, has made to the Ibrox archives. He has also donated his runners-up medal from the UEFA Cup final in Manchester last year to the famous Blue Room.