I was living in England back in 1990, and football wasn’t as freely accessible as it is now especially Scottish football. My experience of live football was teletext. I’m sure a lot of you will relate to the struggle!
One of my most vivid memories is getting a video tape sent down to me by a relative. It was early 1990 and it was the full recorded game of Celtic versus Rangers in a Scottish Cup tie at Celtic Park. I of course knew Celtic had won, but hadn’t seen any footage.
When it arrived it was like opening a Christmas present and I couldn’t wait to fire it up in the old JVC. I watched every second of the game, more than once and Tommy Coyne scored the winner. Not the prettiest of goals, but a goal against Rangers is a goal to cherish. It is one of my earliest childhood memories along with the centenary season and the Scottish Cup final of 1989. This was my first glimpse of Tommy as a player and he quickly became one of my idols.
Tommy wasn’t in the superstar mould of a Paul McStay but he was a decent player that perhaps didn’t get the accolade his talents deserved. He was also from the same part of Glasgow as me, sunny Govan.
He was already an experienced pro by the time he joined Celtic at the age of 26 in 1989. He had nigh on a decade of experience in the Scottish game scoring just shy of 100 professional goals with Clydebank, Dundee United and Dundee.
It was his goalscoring exploits with the dark blues of Tayside that finally made clubs stand up and take notice. Celtic were one of those clubs and splashed out £500,000 for his services. Being a Celtic supporter it was a dream come true for Tommy.
Tommy signed at the end of the 88/89 season, but unfortunately was cup tied for that famous Scottish cup win against Rangers. It was the following season that he made his mark on the side, and he started it in explosive style by scoring a hat trick in a 3-1 win against Hearts at Tynecastle on the opening day of the season.
His four years at Celtic had its ups and downs. Like most players he struggled with injuries and loss of form while also dealing with competition for places. It didn’t deter him from finishing as the leagues top scorer in season 90/91. A feat he also achieved while at Dundee in 1988.
Despite scoring a further 15 in season 91/92 and starting the next season just as prolific he soon found himself out of favour with Liam Brady. It was strange, yes we had other competition up front but in my book Tommy was better than Andy Payton, a washed up Charlie Nicholas, Gerry Creaney and of course the enigma that was Stuart Slater. Brady of course also brought in another washed up ex Celt in Frank McAvennie. It was bizarre to say the least.
Tommy not surprisingly left for a new challenge and joined English side Tranmere Rovers in March 1993. At the time I thought letting him go was a mistake and time would prove me right. Sadly for Tommy his time at Tranmere was cut short due to devastating personal circumstances.
Tommy for me was a success in a Celtic shirt. His record of 52 goals in 132 appearances testifies to that. He didn’t win any honours sadly, but like a few talented players at that time he played in a tough era for the club and to score that many goals more than proved his credentials. Imagine him in a better Celtic side? He was a superb player with great technical ability as well as knowing where the goal was. Players like him were hard to come by.
He would return to Scotland, this time in the claret and amber of Motherwell. He proved to be a shrewd signing for The Steelmen, scoring over a half century of goals for the Lanarkshire club in a five year period. Finishing as the league’s top scorer in the 1994-95 season. The third time he achieved that feat and became the first and still the only player to do so in the Scottish top flight with three different clubs.
I always felt Tommy Burns should have brought Tommy back to Celtic instead of Andy Walker. Tommy was in his prime and would have done wonders in a second spell at Paradise. What could have been. He naturally came back to haunt us on a few occasions in his latter years with Motherwell.
It wasn’t just his domestic success in those latter years, he also did it internationally with the Republic of Ireland. Scotland didn’t make it to the 1994 World Cup in the United States, but Ireland did and I supported them as they had Pat Bonner and of course Tommy himself.
I felt immense pride for him as he helped Ireland shock Italy in the opening game against Italy in New York. he ran the experienced and world class Italian backline of Franco Baresi, Paola Maldini Mauro Tassoti and Alessandro Costacurta ragged for the full 90 minutes in searing temperatures as the Irish pulled off a shock victory. Courtesy of a goal by fellow Glasgow born player Ray Houghton.
That was an Italian side who would go on to reach the World Cup final and only lose on penalties. Tommy was immense against them and I felt a sense of pride that a Celtic supporter from Govan could take centre stage in the world’s greatest tournament. He stood up against the best the game has ever seen and made them take notice. it gave us all hope. Tommy Coyne what a player. Dreams can come true.
JustAnOrdinaryBhoy – follow on Twitter @ordinarybhoy
I read your article with interest. I always liked Tommy Coyne a very good goal scorer and underrated player in my view. I always felt he NEVER got the backing he deserved from the supporters (partly due to missing a sitter at Ibrox one day) I remember being in the main stand at Celtic Park when we played Aberdeen in the last game of the season (early nineties but can’t be more specific) from memory we needed a point to qualify for Europe but lost the game. Paul McStay had played a cross field ball which went straight out of play and there were some murmurings of dissatisfaction, but when Tommy Coyne mis controlled a long ball there were incredible howls of derision. Yep, in my view Tommy never got a fair crack of the whip