It’s been a big week for Callum McGregor…
First, he announced his retirement from international football. And today his stunning strike sealed three points for Celtic versus Hibs.
Even more significantly, it further cemented McGregor’s place in Celtic history; he has now scored for the club in 11 consecutive seasons.
Celtic’s captain first appeared for the club in season 2014-15. He scored a late winner as the Bhoys overcame KR Reykjavik 1-0 in a Champions League qualifier.
Since then, he has become a mainstay in the team, one of Celtic’s most decorated ever players. And as well as today’s goal, he has also chipped in with some other essential strikes.
In joining Celtic’s ’11 in a row’ club for successive seasons’ goals, he becomes joint 15th in the Bhoys’ all-time list.
This places him in illustrious company. The two other players to have have done this are another captain, Bertie Peacock and Bobby Murdoch, considered by many to be Celtic’s finest ever midfielder.
Even Hoops legends like Tommy Burns, Scott Brown and Billy McNeill never managed to reach the 11-in-a-row level.
Of course, McGregor has a long way to achieve number 1 in this list. Jimmy McMenemy managed to score for Celtic in 18 consecutive seasons, starting in 1902-03 until 1919-20.
One current player who could yet achieve something similar is James Forrest. Celtic’s number 49 currently sits on 15 seasons in a row; a goal this year would take him onto 16, making him joint third in Celtic records.
The contribution of both McGregor and Forrest is a reminder of the value of developing youth players at Celtic.
It is to be hoped that somewhere in the current youth system are people that may one day emulate the impact of these two outstanding club figures.
Matthew Marr
Follow Matthew on Twitter @hailhailhistory
Matthew’s debut Celtic book titled ‘The Bould Bhoys – Glory to their name’ was published by Celtic Star Books last year and is available to order HERE. This brilliant book is also available on Amazon Kindle for just £3.49 and includes all photo sections that appear in the hardback edition.
