Magical McStay Moments

When asked to choose his favourite game for the club, the current reserve team coach and former defender explained that there were two moments with special significance, both for him as a player and for his immediate family.

On April 2, 1984 the entire McStay clan travelled through from Larkhall to Celtic Park to see Bhoys play Rangers in the final derby game of the season. Such days were always big occasions for a family which includes Celtic legends from the early last century, Jimmy (ex-player/manager) and Willie (former defender), among their number.

But on this particular day they had reason for added excitement, with Willie ('the second') and his younger brother (and future club captain) Paul both lining-up in the same Celtic team. "It was a memorable day for a lot of other reasons as well," said McStay as he continued the story "Going into that match, we'd been beaten by Rangers in the league Cup final and people were looking for a response to everything that was going on around us.

"We then went one up on the half-hour mark, Paul scored the first goal and then for me to go and score the second was great. It looked as though we were going to run out comfortable 2-0 victors, but when Davie Provan scored that third goal, just showed how emphatic it was. And it could have been much more than three.

"It was special and the two of us scoring in the one game just made it more so," he added. "I still remember the buzz we had after the game, not just during it. We deliberately didn't go straight home that night. We went into the town and waited for the papers to be printed and then got the morning papers before we went home."

The game has now gone down in history as the only Old Firm match in which two brothers scored for Celtic, while the newspaper cuttings take pride of place in a bulging family scrapbook which contains the career highlights of Willie, Paul and youngest brother Raymond (who went on to play for Hamilton and Cardiff City after Celtic).

But in terms of 'personal triumphs' there is one particular trophy and achievement that stands at the very forefront of McStay's memories. "As a personal triumph it would have to be the 1985 cup final," he explained "In my first full season we had lost to Aberdeen in my first final so to win what was the 100th Scottish Cup was an unbelievable achievement."

"It was the focal day, all eyes were on us, it was live on TV and to go and be part of that was a fantastic memory. And in the true Celtic tradition, we were 1-0 down to Dundee Utd, it looked as if it might be slipping away, but then we rallied.

"I just remember that mid-way through the second half the crowd just gave this roar for no apparent reason. There was this huge roar, the players and crowd lifted at the same time and Davie Provan and Frank McGarvey got the goals for us."

Willie added: "As we were running around Hampden with the cup, we saw the Larkhall Celtic Supporters' Club in the North Enclosure. To see them jumping about, people from our town, people who had actually been on the supporters' bus with me and Paul and there we were, out on the park, holding the cup aloft - that was another special moment."

"Then, coming out of Hampden, through the main doors, my Mum and Dad were standing there. I don't know how they did it, but they were at the doors and what a proud, proud moment it was for them, standing waiting on their two boys coming out with their medals."

"I have a lot of great memories from that night, even from the after-match party at the Grosvenor, when Jimmy Johnstone was there, singing away on the piano. Moments like that are special. Those things live with you and it's that old saying, once you have done something, no one can take it away from you."