Some Captains Have Showed Great McStaying Power.

Look down through Celtic history and one of the recurring things you see are names. Certain names which repeat over and over and over again. One of those names is McStay; it’s a family which has given so much to our incredible club down through the ages.

Three of them have captained Celtic, to varying degrees of success, but all have been magnificent servants and thoroughly deserve their place in the pantheon of heroes. These are the sort of bricks on which our club has always been built.

Willie McStay is a Celtic legend for good reason.

He had already won three titles with us as a player before he returned as club captain in 1923. In that role, which he held for six years, he won another title and three Scottish Cups. His familial connection with Celtic was strong even then; his brother played in the same team as him and when Willie left it was Jimmy who took over the captains armband. Jimmy would win two Scottish Cups as captain, to add to the three he already had (and a league title) as a player in the team.

These guys came through difficult times to captain Celtic and it was a difficult time to be captain in. Jimmy even took over as manager, but never got to run a competitive game as the Second World War was being fought, and that curtailed most competitive football.

For all they went through at our club, it was nothing on the trials and tribulations which were endured by their great nephew Paul, who captained our club through one of the most troubled and traumatic times in its entire history … to little success in terms of trophies, but with an elegance and poise, and a commitment, which elevated him above them nonetheless.

Paul McStay is a Celtic icon. Not a legend, an icon.

He was voted into the Best XI of all-time by the supporters themselves. Not bad for a guy who won a fraction of the trophies secured by other captains, others players. But Paul had quality far above almost any of them. He was as good a player as any Celtic fan of current vintage has ever seen, and there was that other thing, that steadfast loyalty to the cause that is even rarer than a guy getting a testimonial.

Paul McStay could have played for any Celtic team of any era.

But he could equally have played for any team, anywhere in the world, in any era. He was incredibly loyal to Celtic, and stayed when other players were leaving. He is that rarest thing anywhere in the game; a one club footballer, playing over 500 times for Celtic.

He also got recognition at international level, as it would have been nearly impossible to leave him out of a Scotland side. He won 76 caps for his country.

Paul was a Celtic player through turmoil and trauma. He captained us through five hard years, and the huge regret I have about having seen him is that he left before the Year We Stopped The Ten. To have seen him come on, even as a sub on the final day, would have raised the roof off Celtic Park. The man was my Hoops hero growing up.

A fitting captain?

Oh Hell yes, one of the greatest we ever had.