Why I love our ‘Greatest Ever Celt’: A tribute to Jimmy Johnstone…
Today is 30 September, 2021, and for those of you who think I am suffering from some kind of amnesia, rest assured I am perfectly fine. This day is special not only because the mighty Celtic FC take on Bayer Leverkusen at Paradise tonight, but that this is the day that our ‘Greatest Ever Celt’ was born.
Jimmy Johnstone was born in View Park, Uddingston 77 years ago this very day. A man that would leave an indelible mark on Celtic Football Club throughout his footballing career and beyond.
My personal experience while growing up supporting Celtic would be influenced by this man, despite the fact that I was born in a different era altogether from his. I myself first bore witness to Jinky’s unfathomable skill and footballing ability, when I was taken to the Celtic superstore on my 10th birthday. It was on this birthday that my granda’s sister, my auntie Rita, asked me to pick whatever I liked as gifts for my 10 years on this planet. And, me being heavily into all things Celtic at this moment in my former years – which bordered on the obsessional – I was buzzing like a swarm of angry bees around this shop.
However, I stopped in the middle of my self-inflicted melee, when a cardboard cut-out of a chap with fiery red hair and a mischievous smile caught my attention. In the cut-out, he was knelt down on one knee doing his laces on a miraculously white pair of football boots.
I was entranced by this cardboard photo, and enquired to my auntie Rita who this effervescent footballer was in this picture standing before me. She replied: “Oh, that’s Jinky son”. The name. Even the name. Christ. A name such as this I thought, has to be worthy of more research. So, after much deliberation I decided to buy a VHS tape of “Jinky” ‘The Jimmy Johnstone Story’.
And once I got home, I watched with sheer delight at this redheaded, diminutive figure tearing full football teams apart, whilst having an air of irreverence about the whole thing. Men at over six feet tall falling on their backsides, as this tiny little man weaved and jinxed inside and out of them – it was truly a sight to behold.
I couldn’t believe I didn’t know who Jinky was until this point. I near enough burned my granda’s ear off with talking incessantly about him for the weeks and months after I had watched his life story on VHS. To me, he epitomised what Celtic was all about. Panache. Don’t just do it – kick the doors down whilst your doing it!
When hearing of stories about him, it really did make sense that this larger than life character would be blessed with a gift that the whole world could revel in. I also grew to understand he was a troubled figure. Like all geniuses, his talent would also be his curse. But I didn’t care; this is what made him all the more endearing to me as his fan.
My auntie Rita would also hit me with a bombshell a few years after this, when she revealed to me that she used to bump into him years before, when he would be running in the park. At the time though, she didn’t realise who this little man was that would always say hello to her. I could scarcely believe it.
It all made sense now. My auntie stayed in Uddingston too. So she had seen him continually. I was agog after this revelation. I wanted to know if it would be possible to meet this man, so I wrote him a letter. In it I was so effusive in my praise for this man and his abilities as a footballer. I wanted to make him understand how grateful I was that he shared his gift with us all, whilst leaving an imprint in the hearts and minds of others that only truly great men can do. He was Celtic. That enduring human spirit, which manifests itself especially during times of hardship. Symbolic of the trials and tribulations of both his and Celtic’s life.
In reply to this letter, I received a photo of the ‘Greatest Ever Celt’ – signed with his best wishes. When my auntie Rita brought this to me I could have wept for joy. It was a milestone in my young life. A real life legend replied to my letter and it was more than I could have imagined. Around this time, Jinky was unwell as he battled bravely against another demon that was attacking his body. Unfortunately, I would never get the chance to thank him in person for his wonderful gift – a treasure that I hold dear to this day.
Jimmy Johnstone will always be the ‘Greatest Ever Celt’. When he received this magnificent accolade in 2004, he remarked that we had given it to the wrong number 7 (everyone knew who he meant). Jimmy was wrong though. The very fact that Jinky thought he was not worthy of this honour, is enough in itself to make him worthy. Like Christ picking Saint Peter as his man, despite his obvious shortcomings, it is the rock upon which we are built that endures. Celtic endures because of Jimmy Johnstone.
Thank you Jinky, thank you.
Paul Gillespie
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