Celtic Football Club has had known to pull out a bargain signing now and again, especially in the 1990s. Lubo Moravcik at only £300k and of course Henrik Larsson at only £650k, both players of that calibre for a total combined fee of just shy of a £1 million. Fantastic business indeed.
One signing in the same decade, in February 1992 to be exact, can be classed in the same bracket, if not better in terms of getting an absolute steal.
That player was Tom Boyd, who was signed by Liam Brady from Chelsea, probably the best bit of business the Irishman did in his time at the club, when you consider he squandered around £3 million on Stuart Slater, Tony Cascarino and Gary Gillespie. That was serious money back then, big bucks. Brady wasn’t very wise with his budget, but he sniffed out a bargain by landing the Scottish international full-back.
Tom Boyd was only at Stamford Bridge a few months having signed back in the summer of 1991. He wasn’t having the best of times in London but was still a very talented player.
He put pen to paper on a deal with his boyhood heroes in February 1992. The fee? In exchange for the calamitous Tony Cascarino. What a terrific piece of business that proved to be. Tom of course would go on to be an important part of our history in the decade that followed.
It was a mixed decade indeed. He was there for the dark days of the mid 90s, but experienced the highs of leading the side in stopping the dreaded ten in 1998. He also became the first man since Billy McNeill to lift a treble as Celtic captain in 2000/2001.
Tom of course continues to serve the club well post retirement, he selflessly helps to raise a lot of money for good causes with his involvement in a serious of charity events. He is of course also a club ambassador and regularly a co-commentator on Celtic TV, where he is highly regarded by the Celtic support.
Brady somehow managed to be responsible for one of our worst ever signings and one of our best. He managed to get shot of the lump of wood that was Tony Cascarino in exchange for Tom Boyd’s services. Cascarino was one of the worst signings in the club’s history, and to get Boyd’s services in exchange is a deal Del Boy trotter would struggle to pull off. Some would say, the deal of the century.
JustAnOrdinaryBhoy – follow on Twitter @ordinarybhoy
Agreed. Superb player Tom Boyd was for us, whether at right back, left back or centre half (& could play midfield). Very two footed, just brilliant and extremely consistent in any position & under-rated. No a bad co-commentator tae 💚