TODAY, October 19, marks a very sad date in Celtic’s history, because it was on this day 30 years ago that Johnny Doyle died in a tragic accident. He was just 30-years-old. Johnny Doyle was a Celtic supporter. He remained so throughout his all-too-short life, never forgetting this fact or that he felt proud and privileged to wear the green and white Hoops. He was a player of undoubted quality, while his evident passion for the cause was there for all to see – sometimes he would see red because of it – and he was always a favourite with the Celtic fans for those reasons and, more importantly, because they recognised in him one of their own. If he hadn’t been playing for the team, he would have been standing alongside them on the terraces. Indeed, Doyle would go to games, as a Celtic player, wearing a Celtic scarf, so that if he wasn’t selected, he could join his fellow fans in cheering on the team. Davie Provan said of his friend and former team-mate: “Doyley played for the jersey and it genuinely meant so much to him to put on that jersey on a Saturday afternoon. “There are none of these type of players left in the game today, and when you hear the phrase ‘he would have played for nothing’, Johnny Doyle was one of the few who probably would have played for nothing.” Johnny Doyle was a Viewpark Bhoy, born on May 11, 1951, and like another famous Viewpark winger, Jimmy Johnstone, Doyle would also wear the green and white Hoops. His route to Paradise was not a straight one, however. He joined Ayr United in 1968 and spent eight years at Somerset Park before he got his move to Celtic Park. He joined his boyhood heroes on March 15, 1976, and made his debut just five days later at Dens Park in a 1-0 victory for Jock Stein’s side, the only goal of the game coming from Kenny Dalglish. It would be the following season that he began to establish himself in the first-team, and he netted the first of 37 goals in a 3-0 League Cup sectional win over Dumbarton. He was a regular in the side as Stein steered the club to an impressive league and Scottish Cup double, with Doyle and Tommy Burns the substitutes in the Cup final victory over Rangers. Burns, another true Celtic great who was taken from us far too soon when he passed away in 2008 at the age of just 51, once said of Doyle that, “He always played for the team and he wanted the supporters to go home having seen Celtic win rather than him just being concerned with how he’d played.” Between 1976 and 1981, Johnny Doyle made 143 appearances for Celtic, scoring 37 goals including, perhaps most memorably a header in the 2-0 victory over Real Madrid in the European Cup quarter-final in 1980. He was only 30-years-old when he died, on October 19, 1981, the result of a tragic accident while he was working in his house. He was mourned as a husband, father, brother, friend and team-mate by all who knew him, while the Celtic support mourned his loss as a fellow Celt. On the 30th anniversary of his death, we remember a Celtic supporter who was lucky enough to wear the Hoops. And the words of Tommy Burns, speaking to the Celtic View in 2005 about his friend, have a particular poignancy. “It was a tragedy when Doyley died, and it makes you realise just how fortunate you are when there are people who come into this world and then leave it so suddenly.”
TODAY (Friday) a Celtic legend should be celebrating his 55th birthday as Tommy Burns was born on December 16, 1956.
However, he was tragically taken from us on May 15, 2008, when he passed away. He was just 51 years old.
The loss was one felt by the whole Celtic family though, of course, the greatest loss belonged to his wife, Rosemary and his four children, Emma, Jenna, Michael and Jonathan. And on the week which should have been so special to his family, our thoughts and prayers remain with them. Tommy Burns was a public figure, known and loved by Celtic supporters young and old, but he was a husband and father, and also a grandfather, and his family miss him in ways that we can’t begin to imagine or understand. In his all-too-short life, Tommy did extraordinary things for our football club. He spent 14 years as a player, making his debut against Dundee in April 1975 and bowing out in a friendly match at Celtic Park against Ajax in December 1989. The Celtic View interviewed him on many occasions over the years, and at one point he was asked what his greatest achievement had been as a player. As far as he was concerned, it was staying at the club for such a long time “because bad players don’t play for Celtic for 14 years.” That has always been the same at the club and it is testament to his ability that Tommy did manage to last so long. During that time he won six league championships, five Scottish Cups and one League Cup medal. It was an impressive tally for a player who made 503 appearances for his beloved green and white Hoops. Tommy Burns seemed fated to play for Celtic. The boy from the Calton, born almost in the shadow of Celtic Park, grew up following the club and progressed on to the hallowed turf. As he always said, he considered himself to be no more than a supporter who got lucky. It was always a way of reminding people, and perhaps himself, that he was one of them, and it offers a perfect illustration of his humility. Having left the club, he returned in 1994 as manager, and was instrumental in restoring our pride on the pitch. His team always tried to play football ‘the Celtic way’, and everyone who watched the Hoops at that time still speak with great affection and enthusiasm about what they saw. While he did win the Scottish Cup in 1995 – Celtic’s first trophy in six years – a league title eluded him. It would have been a fitting reward for Tommy and his team but sadly it was not to be and he left in 1997. Thankfully, however, it wasn’t for long and when he returned, it was like he had come home. Our Youth Academy, which has produced a whole host of first-team players in recent seasons, is testament to his hard work in setting it up, while the Lennoxtown Training Centre is a great legacy. And Tommy’s contribution to the club’s success under Gordon Strachan cannot be underestimated. The league triumph at Tannadice in 2008, which made it three-in-a-row, was dedicated to Tommy by a group of players still mourning the loss of an influential figure within their ranks. Throughout the battle he fought with skin cancer, Tommy showed great courage and fortitude, while taking great solace from the Catholic faith which had been a central tenet of his life. Supporters always loved Tommy Burns because he was one of us – a Celtic fan who was lucky enough to live the dream that we’ve all harboured at one time in our lives. And the sea of tributes which were laid outside the front of Celtic Park after Tommy’s passing, was the most visible sign of the unique place he held in the hearts of the entire Celtic family. So this week is a sad time for everyone. It’s still hard to believe that Tommy’s no longer with us, and every memory will be tinged with sadness. But we should also remember the great things he did for our club, the goals he scored, the trophies he lifted, the players he brought to the club and the example he set of what it means to be a good Celtic man. We believe that Celtic is more than a football club – our roots, our character and our ethos set us apart, and Tommy Burns embodied everything that is good about Celtic. He was one of the greats who passed through Parkhead’s gates and he will never be forgotten.
TOMMY BURNS FACTFILE Player August 1973 – December 1989
LEAGUE: 357 appearances, 52 goals LEAGUE CUP: 71 appearances, 15 goals SCOTTISH CUP: 43 appearances, 12 goals EUROPE: 32 appearances, three goals TOTAL: 503 appearances, 82 goals DEBUT: v Dundee, April 19, 1975
And as a Lisbon Lion, the answer is probably obvious, but what is your enduring highlight of your Celtic career? That was such an iconic game for Celtic. At that moment we stamped Celtic Football Club’s name in history, not just in Scottish history but in European history. As soon as we won that game and showed people that a team outside of the Latin countries could win, and apart from AC Milan two years later, for the next 17 yeas all the winners came from northern Europe. It seemed we had been the catalyst for this amazing transformation. When you see it in those terms it was a wonderful game to be involved in and it’s amazing that 44 years later I still get stopped in the street, asking how it was to run out in Lisbon.
IT was six years ago today, on March 13, 2006, that the player voted the Greatest Ever Celt by supporters passed away after a long and courageous battle with Motor Neurone Disease. James Connolly Johnstone, known to his friends as Jimmy and to the wider footballing world as Jinky, was born in Viewpark on September 30, 1944, and he remained immensely proud of where he came from throughout his whole life. He signed for Celtic in November 1961 and made his debut for his beloved Hoops on March 27, 1963. It was a less than auspicious start to what would become a glorious career – Celtic lost 6-0 against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park – but it did not deter or dishearten the diminutive winger. Like many of his contemporaries, it was the arrival of Jock Stein at Celtic Park in 1965 which galvanised his career, and Jinky would go on to play a pivotal role in the unprecedented success Celtic enjoyed at home and in Europe over the next few years. The pinnacle of that was, of course, the European Cup triumph on May 25, 1967 when Celtic beat Inter Milan 2-1. Jinky, however, wasn’t content with just making his mark on that prestigious competition, and on Wednesday, June 7, 1967, in the Bernabeu Stadium, he and his team-mates provided the opposition for the great Alfredo Di Stefano’s testimonial. The legendary Read Madrid player may have been the focus of the night, but it was Jinky who grabbed all the headlines with a breathtaking display that had the Madrid fans shouting ‘Ole!’ at his every touch. Jinky stayed at Celtic until 1975, and made a total of 515 appearances for the club, scoring an impressive 130 goals. He remained an immensely popular figure amongst the Celtic support who, in 2003, voted him the Greatest Ever Celt. By that time, however, he was suffering from Motor Neurone Disease. He faced that battle against the toughest of opponents with incredible bravery and courage, always strengthened by the support of his family and the convictions of his faith. Sadly, Jimmy Johnstone passed away on March 13, 2006, and the Celtic support, as well as the wider footballing world, mourned his passing. A statue of Jinky stands outside the front of Celtic Park, alongside those of Brother Walfrid and Jock Stein, as a permanent memorial and a reminder to future generations of a wonderful player. And on this day, the Celtic family will say a prayer for the loss while also remembering the unique talents of a player who was always proud to wear his beloved green and white Hoops – Jimmy ‘Jinky’ Johnstone, the Greatest Ever Celt.
Former Celt Stan Petrov has been diagnosed as suffering from acute leukaemia.
The shock news was revealed by Aston Villa in a statement on the club website this afternoon.
Petrov was signed by John Barnes in 1999 and left Celtic in 2006 to link up with Martin O’Neill at Villa Park.
The Bulgarian won every domestic honour with O’Neill at Celtic and starred in the clubs run to the UEFA Cup Final in Seville alongside the current management team of Neil Lennon, Johan Mjallby and Alan Thomson.
The Villa statement read: “The Villa Board received news today that our long-standing captain Stiliyan Petrov has been diagnosed with Acute Leukaemia.
“Stiliyan developed a fever following the Arsenal game last Saturday and subsequently underwent tests conducted by Dr Ian McGuinness.
“Haematology experts confirmed the diagnosis today.
“We expect to learn more about Stiliyan’s situation in due course and we have moved quickly to support him and his family.
“During this time we ask that Stiliyan’s privacy is placed ahead of all inquiries and trust that we will share information as we receive it.
“Stiliyan is cherished by many and he will get from Villa every ounce of love and support that we have to help bring this to a positive conclusion.”
The best wishes of all Celtic supporters go to Stan and his family.
Fuck off, all the best big Stan.
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von Big John » Sa 8. Okt 2011, 10:11 
RIP 
