IT was 20 years ago today, on Thursday, June 1, 2000, that Martin O’Neill stood on the steps outside Celtic Park and promised that he would do everything he could to bring success to the football club.

The Irishman had just been officially unveiled as the new Celtic manager, having moved from Leicester City, and he was addressing the thousands fans who had gathered at the stadium.

“It's an absolute honour for me to be the manager here, an absolute honour,” Martin O’Neill said. “I will do everything I possibly can to bring some success to this club.”

The Irishman brought in John Robertson and Steve Walford as his coaching staff, while there were new arrivals in the shape of Chris Sutton and Joos Valgaeren. They were later joined by Alan Thompson, Didier Agathe, Rab Douglas and, of course, Neil Lennon, who also moved from Leicester to Paradise in December 2000.

Martin O’Neill’s impact was immediate… who could forget the 6-2 demolition derby in August which signalled that Glasgow was going green and white.

That first season, the Irishman delivered Celtic’s first domestic treble in 32 years, with Henrik Larsson leading the way with 53 goals, including 35 in the league which saw him win Europe’s Golden Boot Award.

The following season, as the league was retained, the Hoops reached the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club’s history, while in 2002/03, the disappointment of being knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers was more than compensated by the incredible UEFA Cup run which saw Celtic reach the final before narrowly losing 3-2 after extra-time to Porto in Seville.

Some 80,000 Celtic supporters made that journey to the Spanish side for that game – Celtic’s first appearance in a European final since 1970 – and they remain forever grateful to Martin O’Neill and his Celtic team for those memories, despite the heartache of the defeat in the final.

The Hoops were dominant domestically, impressive on the European stage, with famous European wins over Juventus at home (4-3), knocking Barcelona out of the UEFA Cup, and a green and white wash over city rivals, Rangers, witih five wins out of five in the 2003/04 season.

By the time Martin O’Neill bid farewell to Paradise in June 2005, he had lifted the League title three times, the Scottish Cup three times and the League Cup once, not forgetting the nine Manager of the Month awards, four Manager of the Year awards and that remarkable run to the UEFA Cup final in 2002/03.

He had said he would do everything he could to bring success to the football club, and he was certainly true to his word.

It was 20 years ago today... Martin O'Neill arrives at Paradise