A NOSTALGIC Bankie has recalled how Pele once told him of his belief that Scottish players ‘played with heart’ during a random encounter in an American bar with the footballing great.

Dermid Strain, 60, was working in the United States when he bumped into the Brazilian icon whilst on a night out in a bar in The Hamptons.

In the early 1990s, Dermid and friends used to work in Manhattan during the week and spend their weekends partying in The Hamptons – commonly known as a summer destination for affluent New York City residents.

One Friday night, Dermid and his American friend John stopped off at the Talkhouse bar, Amagansett, to get the weekend started with a couple of pints and some tequila.

And, detailing his story to the Post, Dermid explained he couldn’t believe who was sitting at the other end of the bar as he listened to the band.

Clydebank Post: Pele signed Dermid's business cardPele signed Dermid's business card (Image: Dermid Strain)

He said: “I looked around and I saw this guy at the bar who has his elbows on the counter, and he has this beautiful blond girl with him.

“And I thought 'hang on a minute'. I looked away and then looked back and thought 'it must be'.

“I said to John ‘check out the guy at the bar, do you know who that is?’.

“John didn’t like football, so had no idea who he was, but I explained to him who he was and how he was such a hero.”

Admitting it took him a while to muster up the courage to go over and say hello to Pele, Dermid knew it was now or never for his chance of getting a word with his footballing idol.

“I wandered up to Pele and said, ‘excuse me, em...are you Pele?’ Dermid added.

“He said, ‘yeah actually, I am.”

The pair had a blether for around 20 minutes, with the conversation centred - unsurprisingly - around football, with the Italia 90 World Cup having concluded just a few weeks before.

“Pele said he felt sorry for the Scots because the Scots were big-hearted but it didn’t translate into their football skills.

“Halfway through it, I noticed his beer was empty, so I asked him, ‘can I buy you a beer?’

“He said 'yeah, okay', and I bought him a Budweiser - which obviously was an important moment for me, to be able to say, ‘I bought Pele a pint!’”

Dermid subsequently got Pele to sign his business card, a memento the lad from Clydebank still keeps sacred by means of a framed picture hanging on his wall.

Reports emerged over the weekend that Pele, 82, had been moved to palliative end-of-life care after he stopped responding to chemotherapy as he battles bowel cancer.

In the last few days, the family of the three-time World Cup winner has insisted he has Covid-19, and will be released home from his stay at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paolo once he has fully recovered from that.

Pele is considered by many football fans to be the greatest player ever to grace a football pitch - and Dermid added he actually saw him in the same bar again a week later, where he introduced him to a disbelieving Irish friend of his.

But on their return to the bar a third time a fortnight later, Pele was nowhere to be seen, and Dermid admits it was the last he ever saw of the Brazilian.