Paul McStay

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Paul McStay
Personal information
Full name Paul Michael Lyons McStay
Date of birth (1964-10-22) 22 October 1964 (age 59)
Place of birth Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1997 Celtic 515 (56)
International career
1978–1980 Scotland U16 16 (5)
1980–1982 Scotland U18 14 (5)
1983 Scotland U20 7 (3)
1982–1984 Scotland U21 5 (1)
1983–1997 Scotland 76 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Paul Michael Lyons McStay MBE, nicknamed the Maestro (born 22 October 1964, Hamilton), is a former football player who spent his entire career with Scottish team Celtic, making his debut in 1982 and retiring in 1997. He captained both Scotland and Celtic at all age levels. He was capped 76 times for his country and scored nine goals. He helped Celtic win three league titles, the last one in 1988 and remains a popular figure amongst Celtic's fans.

Club career

As a youth, McStay first came to prominence in June 1980 in a Schoolboy International match where Scotland played England at Wembley. Then 15, he was the captain. He scored two goals in the match and was awarded the Man of the Match award after Scotland ran out 5–4 winners.[1][2]

McStay signed for Celtic aged sixteen from Celtic Boys Club in 1981. He made his first team debut for Celtic on 23 January 1982 in a 4–0 win over Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup. A week later on 30 January, he made his first league appearance in 3–1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie. He scored the third goal, taking a pass from George McCluskey, running through the Aberdeen defence and strking a left foot shot past Jim Leighton in goal.[1]

Season 1982-83 saw the young midfielder establish himself as a first team regular,[1] and he picked up his first winners medal on 4 November 1982 in Celtic's 2–1 win over Rangers in the League Cup Final. His performances resulted in media speculation that Inter Milan were considering making a £2 million bid to take him to Italy, a rumour that was emphatically dismissed by the Celtic Chairman, Desmond White.[3]

McStay continued to progress at Celtic,[1] and he scored Celtic's equaliser in the 1984 Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen to take the match into extra time. However, Celtic played most of the match with 10 men after Roy Aitken had been sent off in the first half, and Aberdeen scored in extra time to win 2–1.

In December 1987, during Celtic's centenary season, McStay signed a five-year contract at Celtic. He went on to enjoy his finest season,[2] winning both the SPFA and Scottish Football Writers player of the year awards as the club clinched a League and Cup double in 1988.[1]

When Roy Aitken left Celtic Park in 1990, McStay was appointed club captain, a position he retained until his retirement following the 1996–97 season. In his time with the club, Celtic won the League title three times, the Scottish Cup 4 times and the League Cup once. Although the second half of McStay's career coincided with a time when Celtic were in turmoil and were overshadowed by rivals Rangers, in 2002 he was voted a member of Celtic's greatest ever team by the club's fans. He is also a member of the Scotland Football Hall of Fame, which honours the best players to play in Scotland and is located in the Scottish Football Museum. [4]

McStay's great-uncles, Jimmy and Willie McStay, were former Celtic captains, and his brothers Willie and Raymond also played for Celtic. His nephew, John, played with Celtic Boys Club before moving onto Motherwell under 19s and now plays for Ayr United as a defender.[5]

International career

McStay made his full national team debut in 1983 and represented Scotland 76 times, including appearances at two World Cups in 1986 and 1990, during a 14-year international career. In mid-1982 he captained Scotland to victory in the UEFA European Under-18 Championship. This is the only major trophy to date, won by the Scottish Football Association. He captained each of the Scotland teams from under-16 level through under-18, under-20, under-21 and at full National team level.

International goals

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 October 1984 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Iceland 1–0 3–0 WCQG7
2 2–0 3–0
3 28 January 1986 National Stadium, Ramat Gan  Israel 1–0 1–0 Friendly
4 1 April 1987 Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels  Belgium 1–1 1–4 ECQG7
5 14 October 1987 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Belgium 2–0 2–0 ECQG7
6 14 September 1988 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Norway 1–0 2–1 WCQG5
7 13 November 1991 Hampden Park, Glasgow  San Marino 1–0 4–0 ECQG2
8 25 March 1992 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Finland 1–0 1–1 Friendly
9 18 June 1992 Idrottsparken, Norrköping  CIS 1–0 3–0 ECGB

Personal life

In 2010 he moved to live in Sydney, Australia with his wife Anne Marie and their six children.[6] McStay now runs Maestro Sports, a startup software company specialising in sport coaching and management.[6][7]

Career statistics

    Club     Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Celtic 1981–82 Scottish Premier
Division 		10 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 12 1
1982–83 36 6 4 0 9 1 4 0 53 7
1983–84 34 3 5 2 8 2 6 0 53 7
1984–85 32 4 7 3 2 0 5 1 46 8
1985–86 34 8 2 0 2 1 2 0 40 9
1986–87 43 3 4 0 5 1 4 0 56 4
1987–88 44 5 6 0 2 0 2 0 54 5
1988–89 33 5 5 0 3 0 4 0 45 5
1989–90 35 3 6 1 4 1 2 0 47 5
1990–91 30 2 5 0 5 1 0 0 40 3
1991–92 32 7 4 0 0 0 2 0 38 7
1992–93 43 4 3 0 3 0 4 1 53 5
1993–94 35 2 1 0 4 0 4 0 44 2
1994–95 29 1 4 0 5 0 0 0 38 1
1995–96 30 2 4 0 1 0 3 0 38 2
1996–97 15 1 4 0 1 0 1 0 21 1
Total 515 57 66 6 54 7 43 2 678 72
Career total 515 57 66 6 54 7 43 2 678 72

Honours

Club

International

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "The Bhoy in the Picture - Paul McStay". The Celtic Underground. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b Gallagher, Hugh (18 March 2015). "Celtic's one club men, No.4 – Paul McStay". CQN Magazine. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  3. ^ Young, Chick (18 January 1984). "Paul must stay". Evening Times. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  4. ^ Scottish Football Hall of Fame – 2010 Inductees
  5. ^ David W Potter, "And they gave us James McGrory and Paul McStay" Retrieved 21 June 2007.
  6. ^ a b Macpherson, Graeme (5 September 2014). "It's all about the greats". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  7. ^ "About Us | Maestro - Maestro". Maestrosports.com.au. Retrieved 16 April 2016.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Celtic captain
1989–1997 		Succeeded by

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