Celtic TV had a new presenter yesterday as Celtic View Editor Paul Cuddihy and former Hoops hero Joe Ledley were joined by Louise Gould whose dad is none other that the popular former Celtic goalkeeper Jonathan Gould who of course helped Celtic stop the old Rangers doing the Ten.

Last season Connie McLaughlin was introduced to the Pass to Paradise broadcasts and she was a notable improvement on what had gone on before that, with the fans being subjected to stuff like theRangers lead at the top of the table being described as ‘fake news’.

Hopefully Connie will be back this season too, although maybe we won’t need to watch too many games via the Pass to Paradise. Did you see how many fans were in Wembley last night?

While it is unclear whether Louise Gould is simply working on Celtic TV for a short-term stint during the pre-season matches in Wales or will be part of the ongoing Celtic TV output remains to be seen. Maybe this is a wee trial?

Some feedback on Louise’s Celtic TV debut: “You did well,HH” Celtic Gossip… “Hopefully full time for the rest of the season,” Henrik’s Tongue….”Yer dad stopped the 10,” John Ferris…”You did a great job, good chat. Hope to see you involved more,” Nadie…”Great job, good game, hopefully more to come this season,” James Reilly.

Proud to host for this club 🍀 #CelticFC @CelticTV pic.twitter.com/7fSvMQYQi0

— Louise Gould (@Lou_Gould) July 8, 2021

Louise Gould’s Dad…

Everyone remembers Artur Boruc, but believe it or not between Packy Bonner and the Holy Goalie Celtic had other people between the sticks. One of them was Jonathan Gould. Gould had a 20 year professional career, stretching from 1989 and played for a number of teams in England before moving to Celtic in 1997. 

Gould played for a number of teams throughout his career beginning at Clevedon Town through Halifax Town, Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion, Coventry, Bradford, and eventually to Celtic before moving on to Preston North End. Looking at his appearances it seems that he made around 25 or so games a season on average, but, look a little closer and you will see that the bulk of his professional appearances were made at Celtic. He made 157 appearances for the club over his five seasons there and would never come close to the success he achieved at Celtic at any other club.

Gould won three League Cups, three Leagues, and a Scottish Cup at Celtic and played his part in both the 97/98 season and the last Treble winning season. Yet, his list of honours from other clubs is somewhat less engaging; he won the play-offs with Bradford, and the New Zealand league with Napier City Rovers. 

Gould didn’t stay first choice Keeper for Celtic for long, he played second fiddle to Rab Douglas from the 2000/01 season. Yet, to his credit he stayed with the club until 2003 after which he left to join Craig Brown at Preston North End. He said of his move at the time: 

 “I wanted the opportunity to play first team football and I’ve been restricted in the last 18 months at Celtic. I know Craig Brown and that was a big factor for me. The manager believes in me as a goalkeeper and that gives you an extra two or three inches in your stride.” 

Interestingly there seemed to be some crossed wires as to Gould’s actual and perceived role at Preston. Brown made clear on signing Gould that he would “supplement the goalkeeping provision we have here. But we don’t want him to hinder the progress of our younger goalkeepers.” However, he did make a number of appearances for the club, playing 58 times.

Gould was by no means a Celtic great, yet his time at the club marked a career high for him, something he readily acknowledges according to Mark Guidi in his book The Inner Sanctum The Secrets Behind Celtic’s 1997-8 Title Win.

The book tells of a story in which Gould claims that he “won’t get bigger than Celtic” and that it was the best move of his career”. As the story goes, his friend was disappointed with his lack of ambition but was subsequently stunned when Gould divulged that it was Glasgow and not Stalybridge, Manchester that he was moving to.