PAUL McSTAY
Paul McStay was generally recognised as being one of the best players of his day. A succession of Scotland team managers certainly thought that, for he was capped 76 times, and his paltry collection of medals (disproportionately low in comparison with his playing ability) can be explained by the undeniable fact that he came at a bad time of internal political strife and team managers who were visibly not of the Maley or Stein mould.
The best of these Managers, Billy McNeill gave him his chance in early 1982. Paul was a creative midfield player with great passing ability, an eye for goal and a clear desire to do well for the club that he loved and never left, however hard the media tried to persuade him to go.
It was a pleasure to be at Paul’s debut at Pittodrie at the end of January 1982, he scored and Celtic won 3-1 after conceding in the first minute.
He had first come to the world’s attention for the Scottish Schoolboys when they beat their English counterparts at Wembley in 1980, and, unlike a few of his contemporaries, Paul did live up to his promise, looking particularly good in 1982 when he very soon established himself as one of the best players in the country.
But the Nicholas fiasco of 1983 and the departure of McNeill soon after gave McStay his first taste of the problems that would beset Celtic for most of his career, namely political instability, power seeking and the club in the hands of people who knew little about football and even less about what the club meant to so many people.
Paul scoring at Ibrox as Celtic took a giant step to the title in the Centenary season with a 2-1 win.
Paul’s best season was of course the Centenary Season of 1987/88 when he played his full part in the glories that unfolded, but that was short-lived and after many heartbreaks, especially after he became captain in 1990, he may have thought of leaving the club in 1992, on one famous occasion at the end of the season throwing his shirt into the Jungle.
But he didn’t go. Although he was one of the more stable and reliable figures in the chaos of 1993 and 1994, his form was never the same again, even after things stabilised under McCann. He had the misfortune to miss a penalty in the awful League Cup final shoot-out of 1994, but captained the side to the Scottish Cup in 1995 in a poor game against Airdrie.
Paul’s problem was that he was not naturally aggressive nor a glory-hunter. Possibly he lacked some of the “devil” that other players of commensurate ability, like Jim Baxter or Denis Law had, but he still brought to the game some fine play. Even in the days when Celtic played badly, supporters could rely on at least a flash of genius from Paul McStay. He limped off the field at Stark’s Park, Kirkcaldy in April 1997 and disappeared out of the game altogether. He now lives in Sydney, Australia.
WILLIE McSTAY
Willie McStay junior was a good full back who won a Scottish Cup medal in 1985 and a League medal in 1986. On 2 April 1984 he scored a memorable long range effort in a 3-0 win over Rangers, brother Paul scoring that night also.
Both McStay Brothers scored in a memorable 3-0 win over Rangers at Celtic Park on April 1984
He managed a few teams like Sligo Rovers and Ross County and was a coach at Celtic Park.
David Potter
ALSO ON THE CELTIC STAR…
Gary Hooper joins Wellington Phoenix on a one year deal, the former Celtic striker, who had the chance to go to Iran, opted to sign for the Kiwi side and will wear the Number 88 jersey once again…see HERE.
One Scheidt and Six Magnificently Random Celtic Stories from David Potter. The Celtic historian has been entertaining us with this brilliant feature every day since the weekend and if you’ve missed it so far, it’s well worth grabbing a coffee, sitting down and catching up, some wonderful Celtic stories in there…see HERE.
Celtic’s Bumpy Ride from BR-Exit Disarray to today’s Head of Football Operations Appointment. This brings to an end the BR-Exit debacle at Celtic and allows us to move forward. Hopefully the new man is given the elbow room to do his job without too much interference from above…read the story HERE.
