Roy Aitken

Roy Aitken was 75 days short of his 17th birthday when he made the first of 670 appearances for Celtic in September 1975.

He might only have been a teenager but Roy Aitken was always a man, a strong, fearless and imposing character, with an incredible will to win that did, on more than one occasion, snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. While he would only make three appearances in his first season, the next season he was an established first-team player and would remain so until he left in 1990.

He began life in midfield, a combative presence in a team that was still adjusting to life without Davie Hay, who had departed for Chelsea, but as his career progressed, he took a step back into the heart of the defence.

‘Feed The Bear! Feed The Bear! Feed The Bear!’

He was ‘The Bear’, and the chant that would build up round the stadium, centred on The Jungle, was an indication of Aitken’s place in the affections of his fellow fans. ‘Feed The Bear! Feed The Bear! Feed The Bear!’

Roy Aitken was fortunate enough to play with three generations of Celtic greats – Bobby Lennox from the Lions' era, Kenny Dalglish and Danny McGrain from the Quality Street Gang, and then contemporaries like Tommy Burns and later Paul McStay. Aitken could stand shoulder to shoulder with any of these men as a legend of the club, and he played a pivotal role in many Celtic successes in the 1970s and ‘80s.

PRELUDE TO PARADISE
A highly-studious pupil at St Andrew’s Academy in Saltcoats, this aspiring teenager could have followed a musical career as a pianist or have taken up one of a range of sports including basketball rather than football but thankfully, the magical lure of Celtic proved too great and he played for the Hoops rather than trying to score them with slam dunks. It was obvious even from his early days that he was a natural-born leader who could turn the tide of games with verbal and physical motivation as much as he could with his undoubted footballing skills.

DEBUT BHOY
It was on September 10, 1975, at the age of 16 years and 290 days that Roy Aitken made his debut, the youngest to do so for Celtic at that time.. Ochilview was the venue as Celtic took on Stenhousemuir in the League Cup quarter-final first-leg and the 4,701 crowd saw goals from Bobby Lennox and Kenny Dalglish give Celtic a 2-0 win. It was in the second-half that Aitken replaced Johannes Edvaldsson. Amazingly, of his 670 Celtic games he only made one other substitute appearance and that was also in a League Cup quarter-final, a year later in October 1976.

HIGHLIGHTS
There were doubles in 1977 and 1988, of which the latter was particularly special, given that it was Celtic’s centenary season and Roy Aitken was the captain, while the title success in 1986 was also memorable. Yet, there are two games which stick out as great triumphs and perfect examples of just what Aitken brought to the team.

He grabbed the Celtic team by the scruff of the neck when they were trailing 1-0 to Dundee United and hauled them back into the game.

There was the 1985 Scottish Cup triumph, when he grabbed the Celtic team by the scruff of the neck when they were trailing 1-0 to Dundee United and hauled them back into the game, with Davie Provan and Frank McGarvey scoring the goals to win the 100th Scottish Cup final, the latter heading home an Aitken cross. And then there was the night that ’10 men won the league’. That 1979 triumph truly was the stuff of legend. Celtic needed to beat Rangers to win the title, and when they found themselves trailing 1-0 and reduced to 10 men following Johnny Doyle’s dismissal, it looked like an impossible task.

Aitken, along with a team of inspirational characters all wearing green and white hooped jerseys, refused to accept defeat and eventually ran out 4-2 winners to become Scottish champions.

Yet Aitken, along with a team of inspirational characters all wearing green and white hooped jerseys, refused to accept defeat and eventually ran out 4-2 winners to become Scottish champions. Indeed, it was his goal on 66 minutes which was Celtic’s first of the night, and drew the team level, though there were to be many more twists and turns before the final whistle sounded and Celtic were confirmed as league winners once again.

BOWING OUT
Roy Aitken missed only four of the 26 league and League Cup games played by Celtic in season 1989/90 up until his last game on January 6, 1990. It was an away match and Love Street was the venue with goals by Dariusz Dziekanowski and Joe Miller giving Celtic a 2-0 victory over St Mirren in a game watched by a crowd of 14,813. After 670 games for Celtic, ‘The Bear’ was leaving Paradise, moving south to join Newcastle United. There have been many great players who’ve walked through ‘Parkhead’s gates’, including Roy Aitken, but few could match his determination and dedication to the cause.

Few could match his determination and dedication to the cause.

CELTIC FAMILY
Perhaps the most bizarre tale of Roy Aitken’s Celtic career centres around the club’s European Cup Winners’ Cup trip behind the Iron Curtain in 1976 to take on East German side Sachsenring Zwickau in a third-round, second-leg tie. During those times, strict rules applied to minors being brought into the country and, with Aitken still under 18, the only way Celtic could get him over the border was by adopting the defender as the club’s ‘child’.

Aitken explained: “We were going to the old East Germany and the club simply had to fill in an adoption form in order to be able to play me. There was no other way. It was amazing. There I was, still at school, travelling to East Germany and having to go through all this. It was really strange and I can remember it made a few headlines at the time."

CENTENARY CAPTAIN
Roy Aitken took over as Celtic captain in 1987, succeeding Danny McGrain, who had left the club in the summer. It was an important season for the new skipper, given that Celtic were celebrating their centenary, and with Billy McNeill back in charge of the team, it was the perfect double act to deliver success in such an important year.

672 CELTIC CAREER APPEARANCES
League: 483, Scottish Cup: 55, League Cup: 84, Europe: 50

52 CELTIC CAREER GOALS
League: 40, Scottish Cup: 2, League Cup: 6, Europe: 4

12 CELTIC CAREER HONOURS
League Titles: 6, Scottish Cup: 5, League Cup: 1