Celtic was probably the be-all and end-all for a lot of people growing up in Glasgow. Football’s such a big part of the city: it’s either Celtic or Rangers and that’s the way you grow up. At school, almost everything is about football and, from a very early age, I just wanted to play the sport as much as I could. I would come in for school and I just went outside to play with the football. It was a good release, and I think it is for a lot of people in Glasgow.
The legend of Celtic was in my family, especially my mum’s side. They were massive Celtic fans, my gran was a massive Celtic fan, so as a young boy signing for the academy – eight years old, nine years old – that was what everybody just wanted to talk about every time we sat down for a family meal. To be honest, that’s all we still talk about – football and Celtic. So, it’s become a massive part of my life and a massive part of my family’s life as well.
Stories about the 1967 team were the ones that mostly made their way around my family. The European Cup final in Lisbon was around about my gran’s era and my mum’s as well. A lot of that was passed down from them and, obviously, that was probably the most famous Celtic team there’s been, so it’s quite a good education when you look at those guys and what they achieved.
I spent my whole young life looking at Celtic Park. The Celtic academy base is at Barrowfield, so it was in the background when we were training. The coaches used to reference it all the time: “You’re obviously training here today, but in the future you want to be playing over there in front of 60,000.” That was a big driver for all the kids and especially myself – could you transport yourself from that training pitch onto the first-team pitch at Celtic Park?
“To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club... it’s what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing”
Being a ballboy at Champions League games was a highlight for all the kids at that time. As a first-team player now, we try to use the ballboys to speed up the tempo of the game. So, actually, from nine, 10, 11, 12 years old, you’re a part of the game because you have to be reading it. You’re not just sitting there watching – you’re trying to read the game and help the players. The ballboys play such a big part, which is brilliant for the kids because it makes them think about football. On these big, big nights, they’re trying to light the fire inside you to propel you on to, hopefully, one day set foot out there as a Champions League player for the club.
There’s a famous picture of me as a ballboy after the injury-time winner against Shakhtar in 2007. Every now and again, it gets pulled up from the archives and I think it’s a great picture as well because you can see the excitement in our faces. Much like the whole stadium, we were fans, we wanted the team to do well, and to be so close to it, you can feel the energy, you can feel the buzz from the players. There aren’t many things in life which can give you that type of energy and, of course, you feel it tenfold when you’re actually playing the game.
My goalscoring debut against Reykjavík was probably as big a turning point as you can get – your first game, early rounds of the Champions League, and you come into the team for the first time. When it’s the first time people see you in a Celtic jersey, you want to make an impact and you want to be remembered. You want to stay involved as much as you possibly can. So, that was obviously a big night, and it was as much a moment for my parents and family as it was for me. They put so much effort into me when I was growing up to be able to achieve that. My parents stayed up until four in the morning to welcome me back from the game, and it was just a brilliant family moment.
To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club is brilliant. I experienced those links I was talking about as a ballboy and, now, I’m on the other side of that with a lot of responsibility, which is what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing football. It’s just been a building process to this point, and every time you put on the Celtic jersey, you feel that responsibility, but also the excitement of what you can try to achieve.
Being here would be a “pinch me” moment for my younger self. Obviously, you have all the ambition in the world – that’s why you get to where you’ve got to, because you want to work hard as much as you can, and you have the ambition to go and push and push and try to get to the point no one else has got to. So, it’s not totally surprising, but I think for your younger self to go on and achieve what you’ve done, then it would be a “pinch me” moment, for sure. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved but, hopefully, I’ve still got a lot more to come as well.
Celtic was probably the be-all and end-all for a lot of people growing up in Glasgow. Football’s such a big part of the city: it’s either Celtic or Rangers and that’s the way you grow up. At school, almost everything is about football and, from a very early age, I just wanted to play the sport as much as I could. I would come in for school and I just went outside to play with the football. It was a good release, and I think it is for a lot of people in Glasgow.
The legend of Celtic was in my family, especially my mum’s side. They were massive Celtic fans, my gran was a massive Celtic fan, so as a young boy signing for the academy – eight years old, nine years old – that was what everybody just wanted to talk about every time we sat down for a family meal. To be honest, that’s all we still talk about – football and Celtic. So, it’s become a massive part of my life and a massive part of my family’s life as well.
Stories about the 1967 team were the ones that mostly made their way around my family. The European Cup final in Lisbon was around about my gran’s era and my mum’s as well. A lot of that was passed down from them and, obviously, that was probably the most famous Celtic team there’s been, so it’s quite a good education when you look at those guys and what they achieved.
I spent my whole young life looking at Celtic Park. The Celtic academy base is at Barrowfield, so it was in the background when we were training. The coaches used to reference it all the time: “You’re obviously training here today, but in the future you want to be playing over there in front of 60,000.” That was a big driver for all the kids and especially myself – could you transport yourself from that training pitch onto the first-team pitch at Celtic Park?
“To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club... it’s what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing”
Being a ballboy at Champions League games was a highlight for all the kids at that time. As a first-team player now, we try to use the ballboys to speed up the tempo of the game. So, actually, from nine, 10, 11, 12 years old, you’re a part of the game because you have to be reading it. You’re not just sitting there watching – you’re trying to read the game and help the players. The ballboys play such a big part, which is brilliant for the kids because it makes them think about football. On these big, big nights, they’re trying to light the fire inside you to propel you on to, hopefully, one day set foot out there as a Champions League player for the club.
There’s a famous picture of me as a ballboy after the injury-time winner against Shakhtar in 2007. Every now and again, it gets pulled up from the archives and I think it’s a great picture as well because you can see the excitement in our faces. Much like the whole stadium, we were fans, we wanted the team to do well, and to be so close to it, you can feel the energy, you can feel the buzz from the players. There aren’t many things in life which can give you that type of energy and, of course, you feel it tenfold when you’re actually playing the game.
My goalscoring debut against Reykjavík was probably as big a turning point as you can get – your first game, early rounds of the Champions League, and you come into the team for the first time. When it’s the first time people see you in a Celtic jersey, you want to make an impact and you want to be remembered. You want to stay involved as much as you possibly can. So, that was obviously a big night, and it was as much a moment for my parents and family as it was for me. They put so much effort into me when I was growing up to be able to achieve that. My parents stayed up until four in the morning to welcome me back from the game, and it was just a brilliant family moment.
To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club is brilliant. I experienced those links I was talking about as a ballboy and, now, I’m on the other side of that with a lot of responsibility, which is what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing football. It’s just been a building process to this point, and every time you put on the Celtic jersey, you feel that responsibility, but also the excitement of what you can try to achieve.
Being here would be a “pinch me” moment for my younger self. Obviously, you have all the ambition in the world – that’s why you get to where you’ve got to, because you want to work hard as much as you can, and you have the ambition to go and push and push and try to get to the point no one else has got to. So, it’s not totally surprising, but I think for your younger self to go on and achieve what you’ve done, then it would be a “pinch me” moment, for sure. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved but, hopefully, I’ve still got a lot more to come as well.
Celtic was probably the be-all and end-all for a lot of people growing up in Glasgow. Football’s such a big part of the city: it’s either Celtic or Rangers and that’s the way you grow up. At school, almost everything is about football and, from a very early age, I just wanted to play the sport as much as I could. I would come in for school and I just went outside to play with the football. It was a good release, and I think it is for a lot of people in Glasgow.
The legend of Celtic was in my family, especially my mum’s side. They were massive Celtic fans, my gran was a massive Celtic fan, so as a young boy signing for the academy – eight years old, nine years old – that was what everybody just wanted to talk about every time we sat down for a family meal. To be honest, that’s all we still talk about – football and Celtic. So, it’s become a massive part of my life and a massive part of my family’s life as well.
Stories about the 1967 team were the ones that mostly made their way around my family. The European Cup final in Lisbon was around about my gran’s era and my mum’s as well. A lot of that was passed down from them and, obviously, that was probably the most famous Celtic team there’s been, so it’s quite a good education when you look at those guys and what they achieved.
I spent my whole young life looking at Celtic Park. The Celtic academy base is at Barrowfield, so it was in the background when we were training. The coaches used to reference it all the time: “You’re obviously training here today, but in the future you want to be playing over there in front of 60,000.” That was a big driver for all the kids and especially myself – could you transport yourself from that training pitch onto the first-team pitch at Celtic Park?
“To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club... it’s what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing”
Being a ballboy at Champions League games was a highlight for all the kids at that time. As a first-team player now, we try to use the ballboys to speed up the tempo of the game. So, actually, from nine, 10, 11, 12 years old, you’re a part of the game because you have to be reading it. You’re not just sitting there watching – you’re trying to read the game and help the players. The ballboys play such a big part, which is brilliant for the kids because it makes them think about football. On these big, big nights, they’re trying to light the fire inside you to propel you on to, hopefully, one day set foot out there as a Champions League player for the club.
There’s a famous picture of me as a ballboy after the injury-time winner against Shakhtar in 2007. Every now and again, it gets pulled up from the archives and I think it’s a great picture as well because you can see the excitement in our faces. Much like the whole stadium, we were fans, we wanted the team to do well, and to be so close to it, you can feel the energy, you can feel the buzz from the players. There aren’t many things in life which can give you that type of energy and, of course, you feel it tenfold when you’re actually playing the game.
My goalscoring debut against Reykjavík was probably as big a turning point as you can get – your first game, early rounds of the Champions League, and you come into the team for the first time. When it’s the first time people see you in a Celtic jersey, you want to make an impact and you want to be remembered. You want to stay involved as much as you possibly can. So, that was obviously a big night, and it was as much a moment for my parents and family as it was for me. They put so much effort into me when I was growing up to be able to achieve that. My parents stayed up until four in the morning to welcome me back from the game, and it was just a brilliant family moment.
To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club is brilliant. I experienced those links I was talking about as a ballboy and, now, I’m on the other side of that with a lot of responsibility, which is what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing football. It’s just been a building process to this point, and every time you put on the Celtic jersey, you feel that responsibility, but also the excitement of what you can try to achieve.
Being here would be a “pinch me” moment for my younger self. Obviously, you have all the ambition in the world – that’s why you get to where you’ve got to, because you want to work hard as much as you can, and you have the ambition to go and push and push and try to get to the point no one else has got to. So, it’s not totally surprising, but I think for your younger self to go on and achieve what you’ve done, then it would be a “pinch me” moment, for sure. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved but, hopefully, I’ve still got a lot more to come as well.
Celtic was probably the be-all and end-all for a lot of people growing up in Glasgow. Football’s such a big part of the city: it’s either Celtic or Rangers and that’s the way you grow up. At school, almost everything is about football and, from a very early age, I just wanted to play the sport as much as I could. I would come in for school and I just went outside to play with the football. It was a good release, and I think it is for a lot of people in Glasgow.
The legend of Celtic was in my family, especially my mum’s side. They were massive Celtic fans, my gran was a massive Celtic fan, so as a young boy signing for the academy – eight years old, nine years old – that was what everybody just wanted to talk about every time we sat down for a family meal. To be honest, that’s all we still talk about – football and Celtic. So, it’s become a massive part of my life and a massive part of my family’s life as well.
Stories about the 1967 team were the ones that mostly made their way around my family. The European Cup final in Lisbon was around about my gran’s era and my mum’s as well. A lot of that was passed down from them and, obviously, that was probably the most famous Celtic team there’s been, so it’s quite a good education when you look at those guys and what they achieved.
I spent my whole young life looking at Celtic Park. The Celtic academy base is at Barrowfield, so it was in the background when we were training. The coaches used to reference it all the time: “You’re obviously training here today, but in the future you want to be playing over there in front of 60,000.” That was a big driver for all the kids and especially myself – could you transport yourself from that training pitch onto the first-team pitch at Celtic Park?
“To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club... it’s what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing”
Being a ballboy at Champions League games was a highlight for all the kids at that time. As a first-team player now, we try to use the ballboys to speed up the tempo of the game. So, actually, from nine, 10, 11, 12 years old, you’re a part of the game because you have to be reading it. You’re not just sitting there watching – you’re trying to read the game and help the players. The ballboys play such a big part, which is brilliant for the kids because it makes them think about football. On these big, big nights, they’re trying to light the fire inside you to propel you on to, hopefully, one day set foot out there as a Champions League player for the club.
There’s a famous picture of me as a ballboy after the injury-time winner against Shakhtar in 2007. Every now and again, it gets pulled up from the archives and I think it’s a great picture as well because you can see the excitement in our faces. Much like the whole stadium, we were fans, we wanted the team to do well, and to be so close to it, you can feel the energy, you can feel the buzz from the players. There aren’t many things in life which can give you that type of energy and, of course, you feel it tenfold when you’re actually playing the game.
My goalscoring debut against Reykjavík was probably as big a turning point as you can get – your first game, early rounds of the Champions League, and you come into the team for the first time. When it’s the first time people see you in a Celtic jersey, you want to make an impact and you want to be remembered. You want to stay involved as much as you possibly can. So, that was obviously a big night, and it was as much a moment for my parents and family as it was for me. They put so much effort into me when I was growing up to be able to achieve that. My parents stayed up until four in the morning to welcome me back from the game, and it was just a brilliant family moment.
To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club is brilliant. I experienced those links I was talking about as a ballboy and, now, I’m on the other side of that with a lot of responsibility, which is what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing football. It’s just been a building process to this point, and every time you put on the Celtic jersey, you feel that responsibility, but also the excitement of what you can try to achieve.
Being here would be a “pinch me” moment for my younger self. Obviously, you have all the ambition in the world – that’s why you get to where you’ve got to, because you want to work hard as much as you can, and you have the ambition to go and push and push and try to get to the point no one else has got to. So, it’s not totally surprising, but I think for your younger self to go on and achieve what you’ve done, then it would be a “pinch me” moment, for sure. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved but, hopefully, I’ve still got a lot more to come as well.
Celtic was probably the be-all and end-all for a lot of people growing up in Glasgow. Football’s such a big part of the city: it’s either Celtic or Rangers and that’s the way you grow up. At school, almost everything is about football and, from a very early age, I just wanted to play the sport as much as I could. I would come in for school and I just went outside to play with the football. It was a good release, and I think it is for a lot of people in Glasgow.
The legend of Celtic was in my family, especially my mum’s side. They were massive Celtic fans, my gran was a massive Celtic fan, so as a young boy signing for the academy – eight years old, nine years old – that was what everybody just wanted to talk about every time we sat down for a family meal. To be honest, that’s all we still talk about – football and Celtic. So, it’s become a massive part of my life and a massive part of my family’s life as well.
Stories about the 1967 team were the ones that mostly made their way around my family. The European Cup final in Lisbon was around about my gran’s era and my mum’s as well. A lot of that was passed down from them and, obviously, that was probably the most famous Celtic team there’s been, so it’s quite a good education when you look at those guys and what they achieved.
I spent my whole young life looking at Celtic Park. The Celtic academy base is at Barrowfield, so it was in the background when we were training. The coaches used to reference it all the time: “You’re obviously training here today, but in the future you want to be playing over there in front of 60,000.” That was a big driver for all the kids and especially myself – could you transport yourself from that training pitch onto the first-team pitch at Celtic Park?
“To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club... it’s what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing”
Being a ballboy at Champions League games was a highlight for all the kids at that time. As a first-team player now, we try to use the ballboys to speed up the tempo of the game. So, actually, from nine, 10, 11, 12 years old, you’re a part of the game because you have to be reading it. You’re not just sitting there watching – you’re trying to read the game and help the players. The ballboys play such a big part, which is brilliant for the kids because it makes them think about football. On these big, big nights, they’re trying to light the fire inside you to propel you on to, hopefully, one day set foot out there as a Champions League player for the club.
There’s a famous picture of me as a ballboy after the injury-time winner against Shakhtar in 2007. Every now and again, it gets pulled up from the archives and I think it’s a great picture as well because you can see the excitement in our faces. Much like the whole stadium, we were fans, we wanted the team to do well, and to be so close to it, you can feel the energy, you can feel the buzz from the players. There aren’t many things in life which can give you that type of energy and, of course, you feel it tenfold when you’re actually playing the game.
My goalscoring debut against Reykjavík was probably as big a turning point as you can get – your first game, early rounds of the Champions League, and you come into the team for the first time. When it’s the first time people see you in a Celtic jersey, you want to make an impact and you want to be remembered. You want to stay involved as much as you possibly can. So, that was obviously a big night, and it was as much a moment for my parents and family as it was for me. They put so much effort into me when I was growing up to be able to achieve that. My parents stayed up until four in the morning to welcome me back from the game, and it was just a brilliant family moment.
To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club is brilliant. I experienced those links I was talking about as a ballboy and, now, I’m on the other side of that with a lot of responsibility, which is what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing football. It’s just been a building process to this point, and every time you put on the Celtic jersey, you feel that responsibility, but also the excitement of what you can try to achieve.
Being here would be a “pinch me” moment for my younger self. Obviously, you have all the ambition in the world – that’s why you get to where you’ve got to, because you want to work hard as much as you can, and you have the ambition to go and push and push and try to get to the point no one else has got to. So, it’s not totally surprising, but I think for your younger self to go on and achieve what you’ve done, then it would be a “pinch me” moment, for sure. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved but, hopefully, I’ve still got a lot more to come as well.
Celtic was probably the be-all and end-all for a lot of people growing up in Glasgow. Football’s such a big part of the city: it’s either Celtic or Rangers and that’s the way you grow up. At school, almost everything is about football and, from a very early age, I just wanted to play the sport as much as I could. I would come in for school and I just went outside to play with the football. It was a good release, and I think it is for a lot of people in Glasgow.
The legend of Celtic was in my family, especially my mum’s side. They were massive Celtic fans, my gran was a massive Celtic fan, so as a young boy signing for the academy – eight years old, nine years old – that was what everybody just wanted to talk about every time we sat down for a family meal. To be honest, that’s all we still talk about – football and Celtic. So, it’s become a massive part of my life and a massive part of my family’s life as well.
Stories about the 1967 team were the ones that mostly made their way around my family. The European Cup final in Lisbon was around about my gran’s era and my mum’s as well. A lot of that was passed down from them and, obviously, that was probably the most famous Celtic team there’s been, so it’s quite a good education when you look at those guys and what they achieved.
I spent my whole young life looking at Celtic Park. The Celtic academy base is at Barrowfield, so it was in the background when we were training. The coaches used to reference it all the time: “You’re obviously training here today, but in the future you want to be playing over there in front of 60,000.” That was a big driver for all the kids and especially myself – could you transport yourself from that training pitch onto the first-team pitch at Celtic Park?
“To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club... it’s what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing”
Being a ballboy at Champions League games was a highlight for all the kids at that time. As a first-team player now, we try to use the ballboys to speed up the tempo of the game. So, actually, from nine, 10, 11, 12 years old, you’re a part of the game because you have to be reading it. You’re not just sitting there watching – you’re trying to read the game and help the players. The ballboys play such a big part, which is brilliant for the kids because it makes them think about football. On these big, big nights, they’re trying to light the fire inside you to propel you on to, hopefully, one day set foot out there as a Champions League player for the club.
There’s a famous picture of me as a ballboy after the injury-time winner against Shakhtar in 2007. Every now and again, it gets pulled up from the archives and I think it’s a great picture as well because you can see the excitement in our faces. Much like the whole stadium, we were fans, we wanted the team to do well, and to be so close to it, you can feel the energy, you can feel the buzz from the players. There aren’t many things in life which can give you that type of energy and, of course, you feel it tenfold when you’re actually playing the game.
My goalscoring debut against Reykjavík was probably as big a turning point as you can get – your first game, early rounds of the Champions League, and you come into the team for the first time. When it’s the first time people see you in a Celtic jersey, you want to make an impact and you want to be remembered. You want to stay involved as much as you possibly can. So, that was obviously a big night, and it was as much a moment for my parents and family as it was for me. They put so much effort into me when I was growing up to be able to achieve that. My parents stayed up until four in the morning to welcome me back from the game, and it was just a brilliant family moment.
To go from a boy in the academy to captain of the club is brilliant. I experienced those links I was talking about as a ballboy and, now, I’m on the other side of that with a lot of responsibility, which is what I’ve wanted since the day I started playing football. It’s just been a building process to this point, and every time you put on the Celtic jersey, you feel that responsibility, but also the excitement of what you can try to achieve.
Being here would be a “pinch me” moment for my younger self. Obviously, you have all the ambition in the world – that’s why you get to where you’ve got to, because you want to work hard as much as you can, and you have the ambition to go and push and push and try to get to the point no one else has got to. So, it’s not totally surprising, but I think for your younger self to go on and achieve what you’ve done, then it would be a “pinch me” moment, for sure. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved but, hopefully, I’ve still got a lot more to come as well.
