The Dubai cabbie tooted the horn and rolled up his sleeve to reveal a Bradford City tattoo.

Stuart McCall’s connection with the Bantams goes further than even he might imagine.

McCall was playing in a veterans tournament in the middle east, mixing it with past greats from the likes of Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea and AC Milan. But the taxi driver picking them up for dinner was star-struck by only one passenger.

McCall’s managerial stint may have ended in deep disappointment and failure but his link to Valley Parade has not weakened.

Witness the fantastic reaction he received when the 1985 team were presented on the pitch before the last home game.

“It was quite embarrassing,” he admitted. “But it was also very humbling and emotional. It was great to catch up with the old faces.

“It was probably the right time (to leave) when I did. But I still look back and think ‘if only’.

“There isn’t a day goes by when I don’t recall certain things and wonder what might have been.

“I’m still absolutely gutted things didn’t work out.

“It’s gone now but the fans and people that have worked there for years just deserve that little bit of success. Hopefully Peter Taylor, with his experience, can deliver that.”

Try naming another former boss who could go back to a club with his exit still raw and receive such a heart-felt and generous reception?

McCall even predicted the Barnet scoreline spot on, much to the delight of Chris Withe’s sons who had backed his judgement with the bookies.

He laughed: “I came in at half-time feeling awful. We were one down and had barely had a corner, let alone a shot.

“But come the final whistle, there was a nice pint of cider waiting on the table for me …”

The irony of a last-minute City win, secured with a borderline onside call, wasn’t lost on the man whose reign seemed to get fewer breaks than any.

Even now, McCall remains haunted by those thin margins that he would always refer to.

“They scored with the last kick against Barnet and did the same the other week at Rotherham. But each time they’d got what the performance had deserved – and that’s all I ever asked for and wanted.

“I see teams coming through now, like Port Vale sniffing around on the edge of the pack, and that’s how I imagined we would be.

“With a fully-fit Bradford City side, and I’m sure Peter (Taylor) will feel the same, they could happily go head-to-head with the likes of Rotherham, Chesterfield or Bury. None of those have shown they are better on the day than Bradford.”

McCall is enjoying his stress-free life. He even sleeps “right through” now rather than waking in the night to fret over injuries and tactics.

He is popping up regularly on TV as a pundit, has had time to watch his beloved Rangers scoop another Scottish title and recently strolled the banks of Loch Lomond for charity.

He is still down at Goals twice a week with his son Craig playing for City’s under-14s.

But something is lacking without the day-to-day involvement in training and the craic with the lads.

McCall is waiting to see what job opportunities appear in the summer but with the family settled he is not keen to uproot from his Harrogate home of the past 12 years.

If he did, it would be back up to Scotland, although probably not at Ibrox.

McCall insists the Valley Parade experience has not put him off management for good, though he’d be just as happy to go back to coaching.

“I’ve not been fazed by what happened but it wouldn’t bother me if I never managed again if I got in somewhere as an assistant or the first-team coach.

“You get all the involvement with the players without the same levels of stress.

“Maybe it doesn’t have the highs of the manager when you’re winning but you don’t plumb the same depths of despair.”