New Bhoy Hooieveld Proclaims Delight at Joining Celtic

Last updated : 12 January 2010 By Clydebuilt

Celtic’s latest recruit Jos Hooiveld has stated that he is ecstatic to have earned himself a move to the Parkhead Club. The 6’3” defender was part of the AIK defence that was nicknamed “The Berlin Wall” due to its uncompromising impregnability and comes to Glasgow with personal endorsements from none other than Johan Myallby.

“It’s a boy’s dream,” Hooiveld enthused. “Especially if you see where I am coming from. I’m really proud of myself that I came up again.”

Hooiveld started his career at Heerenven in Holland, playing mostly as a full back prior to moving to Zwolle, however problems with the manager at that Club led him to a dramatic loss of form, and almost resulted in the player leaving football altogether.

However a bit of sage advice led him to accept a move to Finnish minnows FC Inter Turku where he relearned his trade and established himself as a no-nonsense defender. This reputation opened doors for the player and he moved on to AIK Stockholm.

This is the kind of back story I respect from a player. He is not a player who will take form for granted and knows that he has to work hard both physically and mentally to be at the top of his game.

“I will always do my best. I will always give 200%,” he said. “Sometimes I will give a terrible game but I hope most of the time it will be great.”

Jos spoke highly of the man who had a hand in his move to Glasgow, none other than former Celtic great Johan Myallby.

“Yes, it’s true,” said Hooiveld. “I played in his old club, AIK, and they compared me with him.

“I said to him ‘It would be great if I could join a club like that one day'. Now, it seems to be happening.”

"I'm extremely happy everything is done as this is an opportunity to which you cannot say no. You may never get another chance to play for Celtic in all of your life, so why not jump on the train!

"Celtic is a huge club and I am really looking forward to having the chance to play in the Old Firm derby. I have heard a lot about that match and it will be a dream come true.

"I can't wait to get started."

Yours in Celtic

Clydebuilt