“And they gave us James McGrory and Paul McStay…” the famous Willie Maley chant goes. Indeed, the Maestro takes his place among the greatest of Celtic legends. A boyhood fan, he fulfilled his dream of pulling on the Hoops on 23 January 1982, scoring his first goals for the club against Aberdeen a week later.
After a blistering start to his career, McStay went on to make no fewer than 678 appearances for Celtic, scoring 72 goals and winning eight major trophies along the way. He starred in the famous Centenary double winning team and featured in iconic matches such as the league clincher at Love Street in 1986. However, the real legend of the man is that he stayed with the club through the lean years, shunning a move to Juventus and remaining loyal to his true love in Paradise.
The Maestro is one of the greatest players to wear the green and white jersey. His defence splitting passes, outrageous goals and fine leadership earned him a spot in the greatest ever Celtic XI, as voted by the fans in 2002.
Happy 57th birthday to an icon, the likes of which we did not see again until Henrik Larsson arrived at Celtic Park, two months after McStay’s retirement.
