It was 39 years ago today that Paul McStay made his Celtic debut before going on to have a magnificent career in the Hoops.

It was on January 23, 1982 that the teenager took his bow in a 4-0 Scottish Cup win over Queen of the South and the following week he scored on his league debut as Celtic beat Aberdeen 3-1 at Pittodrie.

DEBUT BHOY
Celtic faced Queen of the South in the third round of the Scottish Cup on January 23, 1982, and it was the first time that Paul McStay’s name appeared on a Celtic team-sheet, the teenager making his debut alongside another young Celt, John Halpin. A crowd of 24,000 watched the match, with Celtic winning 4-0. This milestone day in Celtic’s history, with the debut of a player who would go on to become a club legend, was also notable for a rare Danny McGrain goal. The defender scored one of Celtic’s four goals, alongside, Frank McGarvey, George McCluskey and John Halpin, who marked his debut in spectacular style, completing the scoring with five minutes of the match remaining. McStay only had to wait a further week before he scored the first of his 72 goals for the club when he scored at Pittodrie in an impressive 3-1 victory for the Hoops, receiving the ball on the edge of the 18-yard box before wiggling past two Aberdeen defenders and lashing the ball in with his left foot.

CAPTAIN’S CALL
Between 1982 and 1997, Paul made 678 appearances for his beloved Celtic. A one-club man, Paul seemed destined to play for the Hoops from an early age and retired as the esteemed captain of Celtic. In total, Paul won eight trophies for Celtic – three league titles, four Scottish Cups and one League Cup. Highlights include the last-day league triumph in 1986, the centenary season double and the Scottish Cup win in 1995 under Tommy Burns, which allowed him to win a trophy as Celtic captain. That game against Airdrie wasn’t a classic but Paul was the happiest man inside Hampden when he climbed the steps to lift the trophy.

FAMILY CLUB
This is the number of McStay family members who have played for the Celtic first-team. In chronological order, they are Willie McStay (1912-29), Jimmy McStay (1920-34), Willie McStay Jnr (1977-87) and Paul McStay (1981-97). In addition to that, Raymond McStay, the younger brother of Paul and Willie Jnr, played for the reserves during the 1990s and captained the side, without ever playing for the first-team.

A PLACE AMONG EQUALS
In 2002, Celtic fans were asked to choose the best 11 players to ever play for the club. Naturally, the Lisbon Lions dominated the line-up but there was space left for a select few and it was no surprise that Paul McStay featured. With Ronnie Simpson, Tommy Gemmell, Billy McNeill, Bobby Murdoch, Bertie Auld, Jimmy Johnstone and Bobby Lennox all chosen, there were four places up for grabs. Danny McGrain was given the nod at right-back, while Henrik Larsson and Kenny Dalglish were chosen to lead the attack. It left one place in central midfield and Paul was the man chosen by the fans – a proud moment for the Celtic great.

THE BENCHMARK
For a man who spent the best part of two decades gracing the Hoops, you would imagine that Paul McStay would have racked up a fair number of substitute appearances. This isn’t a slight on his ability, just that when you play with one club for over 15 years, it’s natural that you find yourself on the bench from time to time, especially when you first break into the team or have a spell on the sidelines injured. Yet, McStay wasn’t your average player. When fit, half-fit or even quarter-fit, Paul played. During his Celtic career, he made a total of only six substitute appearances.

ON THE MOVE
It’s almost unheard of nowadays but Paul McStay spent his entire career at Celtic. During his time in Glasgow he became one of the most capped players in Celtic’s history, earning 76 over 14 years. He represented Scotland in the 1986 and 1990 World Cups and won the only major SFA trophy to date when he captained the U18s to UEFA European Championship glory. Since leaving Celtic, he has been named in the club’s Greatest Ever Team as well as the Scotland Hall of Fame. And his legacy lives on amongst the Celtic faithful as he is celebrated in The Willie Maley Song along with other Hoops legends.

Read our more about the man they called 'The Maestro' in the legends section of CELTICFC.COM and within the History section of the website.

The day the Maestro took his first bow in the Hoops