NINE YEARS to the day after coming off the bench to make a scoring debut for Celtic, James Forrest was yesterday named as a nominee for the PFA Scotland Player of the Year Award. He’s up against team-mate Callum McGregor and a couple of Zombie Thugs.
Callum pipped Jamesy in a close run contest for Celtic’s Players Player of the Year and Supporters Player of the Year at the awards held at the Double Tree Hilton last Sunday night. However Forrest came out on top in our Poll so he is officially The Celtic Star’s Player of the Year for 2019.
You can check the voting on this below.
Loading ...“I remember making my debut. I scored with my first touch. It was Motherwell at home. I came on in the last ten minutes and scored as soon as I got on the park. Nothing like setting the bar high!” James said as we reported last week on The Celtic Star.
“It was great scoring on my debut. Coming on, it was class. Nine years have gone by so quick. So much has happened, so many different players have come and gone — and managers, too.
“So I can’t believe it’s been nine years. I remember waiting to go on. It was 1-0 and the manager was waiting for us to score a second goal, so he could put me on.
“I remember coming on for Aiden McGeady with ten minutes to go. He just told me to enjoy it.”
Forrest this weekend can win yet another league winners medal if we can get at least a draw at Pittodrie. And yesterday Jamesy spoke about his journey from the Academy to The Celtic Star’s Player of the Year and Nominee for PFA Scotland’s Player of the Year, which hopefully he’ll win (that would mean him and Callum have two awards each!)
“When you come through the Academy, all you’re doing is thinking about trying to make your debut,” Jamesy said as reported by the official Celtic site.
“But the nine years has gone in so quickly and I’m just going to continue working hard so that I can be here for as long as I possibly can.
“This is a massive club, and the amount of big games you play is great, particularly against some of the opposition in Europe.
“I’ve felt really good this season. We had a strong pre-season and it’s just been a case of continuing to work hard. I’ve been involved for club and country throughout the season and it’s been really enjoyable.
“We’ve now got four games to go, so it’s a big push to hopefully go on and get some good results.
“We have stayed patient and we know that the title is not going to be given to us – we have to go out and win it.
“So we’re looking forward to Saturday’s game and preparing the right way because we know it’s going to be a hard game.”
