Tommy McIntyre Celtic’s Under 19s manager, spoke at a mixed media conference this morning which was attended by The Celtic Star, Video Celts and various other Celtic sites and podcasts as well as a number of mainstream media journalists including Raman Bhardwaj from STV and Andrew Smith from The Scotsman.
Andrew Smith seemed to take offence at Celtic B team playing in the Lowland League this season, challenging McIntyre on Celtic being parachuted into the league and it’s quite an argument that develops – listen below. “Do you understand why they don’t want you there?” With 95% of Bonnyrigg’s members according to Smith opposed to Celtic having a team in the league.
Tommy McIntyre will be playing a very young team tomorrow and insists that he is not looking to win every game, player development being the principal objective.
He notes that there are eight players that he could have played tomorrow against Bonnyrigg Rose who instead will be with the first team for the friendly at Celtic Park against Preston North End. That though is the objective, for the Celtic Academy to send players to the first team.
The Celtic Star asked Tommy if Celtic’s admission to the Lowland League would see a reduction in the number of young players being sent out on loan and he confirmed that this was indeed the case. The lack of youth level football over the past year due to the pandemic was mentioned as the main reason why so many players were loaned out over the past year or so but that clearly isn’t going to be the case this season, with much more opportunities to play.
Tommy McIntyre insisted that the Lowland League is a very decent level, and mentioned the exploits of Kelty Hearts also noting that a number of players in the Lowland league have played at a higher level in their careers including the Scottish Premiership . The Celtic B team boss confirmed that he’ has watched Bonnyrigg Rose four times recently and reckons his young side will have to be very well organised to cope with tomorrow’s opponents.
McIntyre confirmed that the Celtic B team will play their home games at Airdrie this season as indeed will Fran Alonso’s Celtic FC Women’s side, who he was full of praise for. Tommy also confirmed that if Celtic reach the Champions League group stages then the Celtic B team will feature alongside the first team in the participating.
He spoke about working with Ange Postecoglou and being very impressed not only with how the new Celtic manager explained the way he wants the various Celtic teams to play but also watching him implementing his ideas on the training pitch with the first team squad.
There’s another Celtic Fan Media conference this afternoon, this time with Celtic’s new signing Liel Abada.
Have a listen to Tommy McIntyre talking to the Celtic Fan media and some of the MSM journalists….
The Celtic B team will make their debut in the Lowland League this Saturday, 17 July when they take on Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic in the first league game of the 2021/22 season.
Tommy McIntyre’s Hoops side will play their inaugural game in the division after the league voted in favour of allowing a Celtic B team into an expanded league for the upcoming season.
The Celtic B Team kick-off their league campaign away to Bonnyrigg at the Midlothian club’s New Dundas Park home ground at 3pm this Saturday. Unfortunately, there are no away tickets available for this game, however, the first home game will be the following Saturday, 24 July, when the young Hoops take on East Kilbride at Airdrie’s Penny Cars Stadium at 3pm.
More information on ticketing and attending Celtic FC B home games will appear on the official Celtic FC website next week.
Having the chance to play regular senior football with important points up for grabs in an environment with more fans and pressure situations will be hugely beneficial for the development of the Celtic Academy players. Celtic fans will be able to follow the young Hoops’ progress throughout their season via the official Celtic website and the club’s social media platforms.
Some of the Celtic B Team’s fixtures will also be streamed live after the club recently announced five Celtic B team matches and five Celtic FC Women’s matches will be streamed to season ticket holders via the Pass to Paradise and on Celtic TV.
You can keep up to date with the B Team on the newly launched official @CelticFCB Twitter account which will have pre-match news and build-up, live updates throughout the games, post-match interviews and unique angle footage of all the goals.
Exciting times ahead,, so looking forward to seeing the hoops back in action,, can’t wait