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With at least three top flight English sides circling New Broomfield‘s pen, Celtic and Rangers declared an interest in Tony Watt. He was invited to Lennoxtown, where he showed up well in an under-17s game against one of his other suitors, Liverpool. A training stint at Murray Park followed before Tony scored his final goal in an Airdrie shirt against Alloa at Recreation Park.
Just six months after his Airdrie United debut, 17-year-old Watt signed a three-year deal with Celtic worth a potential £100,000 and went straight into Chris McCart‘s development side. Airdrie were able to strengthen their own squad with some of the funds by bringing in another young Scottish prospect in Gary Mackay-Steven.
Just two months after signing, Watt and fellow £100,000 signing, Greig Spence, were handed all-lime first team jerseys in a Friendly match against Athletic Bilbao at their old San Mames Stadium. True to form, Tony Watt almost scored with his first touch of the ball in the scoreless draw.
Although bubbling under the radar, there was no doubt that Watt’s rise had been nothing short of spectacular. He followed this up in September with a wonder goal for Celtic under-19s against Barcelona in the NextGen Series game. The audacious Watt picked the ball up just inside Barca’s half, before dribbling past three defenders and finishing with all the aplomb of a seasoned professional.
Tony Watt described signing for Celtic as “a dream come true” but even his wildest fantasies could not have prepared him for what was to come next. Hundreds of youngsters go through the revolving door of every top football club in Britain, and very few are able to craft out a meaningful career at the very highest level. By the time the 18-year-old had made the step up to make his competitive debut against Motherwell in April 2012, Watt had added a physicality to his game that full-time training had bestowed him.
Only in the squad due to being suspended for the following night’s Youth Cup Final due to a semi-final sending off, Watt came off the bench after an hour to replace the ineffective Pawel Brozek. With Stuart McCall’s men holding Celtic to a scoreless draw, Watt pounced on a Victor Wanyama cross at the back post and guided a right-footed shot into Darren Randolph’s net from a tight angle. The youngster with the number 32 jersey had opened the scoring for the team he had always supported and sent the Celtic fans behind the Fir Park goal into bedlam. Watt saluted them with a grin from ear to ear and portrayed a genuine innocence so vividly lacking in the box office world of top class football. Three minutes later, Watt rifled in a second from the edge of the box and his introduction to the Celtic faithful was complete.
Fortune, Rasmussen, Murphy, Kapo, Bangura, Brozek, Miku, Lassad: A litany of substandard strikers to have desecrated the hallowed Celtic striker’s jersey from 2009 to 2012. Millions wasted and only Gary Hooper to speak of during that era in terms of true quality in front of goal. So when Tony Watt emerged from Lennoxtown and scored his second double in his first start against Inverness Caley, he offered a glimmer of hope to Celtic fans who had long since grown tired of being let down by overpaid, unknown mercenaries.
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