Paul McStay…What a player the Maestro was. Saw his debut against Queen of the South and wasn’t immediately aware of what all the hype had been about but within a week he blew that away, with a wonderful goal at Pittodrie, at that time one of the toughest venues in Europe to go to.
Pivotal in Billy’s two great sides of the early ’80s then our centenary, it was a crying shame that he was left to carry that team with John Collins for the first half of the ’90s. He deserved to be playing alongside the best. Gave Celtic his best years before that ankle injury finished his career, just before we took off again. It would have been wonderful to have seen Paul and Henrik play in the same side. Tremendous player. True Celt…
Enter the Maestro…1982
Following a series of friendlies, competitive football finally returned in the shape of a Scottish Cup tie against Queen of the South at Celtic Park. I was in the Front Stand, one of around 10,000 maniacs on a bitterly-cold day, to witness the first-team debuts of two highly-rated youngsters, Paul McStay and John Halpin. The winger would have an eventful day, missing an open goal then hitting the fourth and final counter late on, his only senior strike for the club. By contrast, this was the start of a glorious career for the 17-year-old Maestro, who had first come to prominence two years earlier with Scotland Schoolboys, in a 5-4 victory at Wembley. The high expectations at Celtic for him were not misplaced.
The usual suspects of McGarvey and McCluskey were also on the scoresheet in a 4-0 win. However, by far the loudest cheer of the day was for Celtic’s second goal, a first in nearly three years for McGrain. Like JFK and 9/11, you tend to remember where you were when Danny scored a goal at any point in his fantastic career, one at Gayfield immediately springs to mind. It was the only flaw in his marvellous armoury, with the phrase ‘the Danny McGrain School of Finishing’, a well-used satirical putdown for poor strikers in my social circles, sadly mostly directed at Yours Truly.
Paul McStay would score his first goal for the club the following Saturday at Pittodrie, and what a goal it was, Celtic’s third in a brilliant 3-1 victory over our main rivals. We in the Cairn dutifully respected the official CSA ‘bhoycott’ of the fixture, Aberdeen not for the first or last time slashing our ticket allocation whilst things were going well for them. We then watched the TV highlights through gritted teeth, as the players celebrated in front of a packed Paddock End! McCluskey, from the spot, then MacLeod had earlier put Celts ahead, following MacMaster’s first-minute opener for the home side.
Maestro’s first goal against Rangers
There would be one final challenge in October 1982 , a home match with Rangers in front of the UK’s biggest crowd that season, more than 60,000. In difficult underfoot conditions, Rangers started brighter and struck first when a Prytz corner deceived Bonner at his near post and crept into the net.
Back came Celtic, forcing an equaliser within three minutes, Paul McStay continuing his rite of passage with his first goal in this fixture, following an excellent break by Murdo MacLeod. Just before half-time, the game took another twist, Cooper heading home at the far post for 2-1.
The match probably turned early in the second-half, when a long-range effort from the Swede Prytz beat Pat Bonner but rebounded to safety off the crossbar. As often happens in football, the next goal then went to the opposition, the wonderful McStay setting up McGarvey, whose aim was true, 2-2. As legs tired on the sodden turf, there was one final moment of drama remaining, and thankfully it went the way of the Bhoys. A fast counter-attack saw the ball transferred quickly through Charlie Nicholas to MacLeod, bearing through in the inside-left position on the Jungle side. Summoning on his last reserves of strength, the prolific midfielder remained composed to fire the ball past Stewart with his left foot, securing a much-needed and memorable victory for Celtic. A wonderful day for the Hoops.
Later that night, I met up with some of the Bishopbriggs Bhoys from the Cairn bus for a pint. In the era of, by today’s standards, early closing times, the Torrance Inn held an ace card, an extra hour’s licence on a Saturday night. And so we piled in, trying hard to keep the smug smiles from our faces in what was very much a mixed bar. We then had the surreal sight of Gregor Stevens, the ‘hard as nails’ Rangers centre-half from earlier that day, standing, pint of lager in hand, watching the highlights of the game on a TV above the bar. I can only imagine his thoughts as he watched Murdo’s late winner find the net. But for us there was only joy and for that night anyway, the quiet village of Torrance was most certainly green and white.
Matt Corr
