Today is the 58th birthday of The Gift from God, the Slovakian genius that is Lubomir Moravcik. One of the greatest players I’ve seen pull on the Hoops, and quite possibly one of the best ever.

Lubo of course arrived in Scotland as an unknown quantity and just like his mentor Dr Jozef Venglos his arrival at Celtic was mocked and ridiculed by the Scottish media.

A 33 year old has been, one of Dr Jo’s pals, was the cry from the poisonous media. Our good pal Hugh Keevins famously said “I don’t know what I find more laughable, the fact that cannot find £500,000 from the biscuit tin to sign a proven talent like John Spencer, or the fact that they spent £300,000 on one of Dr Jo’s old pals, the unknown Lubomir Moravcik”.

Happy Birthday Lubo.🙌 pic.twitter.com/t1AL245wjf

— Li'l Ze (@LilZe_7) June 21, 2023

Well lubo wasn’t unknown. A quick check of his career would have told doubters like Hugh Keevins that Lubo was a gifted player who had played at a high level in France and Germany and had represented Czechoslovakia at the 1990 World Cup finals. He was anything but unknown.

Lubo Moravcik and Dr Jo venglos — Lubo Moravcik and Dr Jo

That wasn’t in their narrative though, and as usual they were under orders to stick the knife into Celtic at any given opportunity with headlines like ‘Celtic sign dud Czech’.

Keevins and the rest of the Scottish media ‘succulent lamb’ pack were soon introduced to lubo when the Slovakian made them eat their words when he scored a double in a 5-1 thumping of Rangers. A Celtic legend was born.

In his four year stay at the club Lubo won the hearts of the Celtic supporters. He was a fantastic footballer with two great feet, great vision and an eye for goal. He wasn’t afraid to get stuck in either, he was no shrinking violet. He was the complete player, he could even control the ball with his backside!

9 Nov 2000: Lubo Moravcik of Celtic celebrates scoring Celtic’s first goal during the UEFA Cup Second Round, Second Leg match between Celtic and Bordeaux played at Parkhead in Glasgow, Scotland. Mandatory Credit: Mark Thompson/ALLSPORT

Lubo shined under the guidance of Martin O’Neill and won several honours, even getting his first taste of champions league football. The night against Juventus in October 2001, he was the best player on the park in a famous 4-3 win over the old lady. Outshining the world class talent in the Italian sides ranks, he looked right at home.

It was a shame he had to wait until the latter stage of his career to play at the top level. Could you imagine if we had a signed a 25 year old lubo? His value would’ve been priceless. Maybe it was just meant to be.

I’m glad I got to see such a talented player in the flesh strut his stuff in the hoops. He’s a legend and one of the best talents to have played in scottish football. Here’s to you Lubo, Happy Birthday.

🚨𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲🚨

To celebrate the Gift from God’s birthday today, here’s a gift from the #CelticTV archives when Lubo Moravcik was the star of the show at Ibrox🎁

Enjoy a trip down memory lane, Celts! 🍀#CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/hAXEaaTBle

— Celtic TV (@CelticTV) June 22, 2023

Happy Birthday the Gift from God
Lubo Moravcik 58 today ☘️☘️ pic.twitter.com/Dz9cyP3rqk

— Willie Collow (@CollowWillie) June 22, 2023

"My favourite time, my most special time, was at Celtic…They said I was a ‘gift from God’ but it was the opposite, Celtic was a gift from God to me…Celtic is unique."

Happy 58th birthday to Lubo Moravčík 🎉🍀

— 🍀 Celtic1967.com 🍀 (@Celtic1967_com) June 22, 2023

JustAnOrdinaryBhoy – follow on Twitter @ordinarybhoy

HUGE SAVINGS IN THE CELTIC STAR’S SUMMER SALE!

The Celtic Star’s book promotion has been so successful, with hundreds of books at great prices being posted to Celtic fans all over the world, that we’ve decided to continue with the sale until the end of July. We’ve reduced all six books currently available from their usual retail price of £20 and prices are as low as £6 (see below).

All books are high quality hardback, with some signed by the author. And it’s also worth noting that you only pay postage on one book, so it’s free for the second, third and so on. ORDER HERE or click on The Celtic Star image above…this is how it feels to be Celtic!