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Packie Bonner made his debut for Celtic on St. Patrick's Day in 1979

Irish goalkeeping legend Packie Bonner made his debut for Glasgow Celtic on St. Patrick's Day in ...



Packie Bonner made his debut f...
Soccer

Packie Bonner made his debut for Celtic on St. Patrick's Day in 1979

Irish goalkeeping legend Packie Bonner made his debut for Glasgow Celtic on St. Patrick's Day in 1979.

He would go on to play 641 times for the Scottish giants and he also holds the title of being Jock Stein's last signing for the Glasgow club. 

He is fifth on the club's all time appearance list and of course starred for the Republic of Ireland at international level, particularly at the 1988 European Championships and the 1990 World Cup in Italy. 

Picture by: Neal Simpson/EMPICS Sport

The former Irish international sat down with the club's official magazine to talk about his career in Scotland. 

He spoke fondly of being in the same team as Paul McStay saying: "You could give the ball to Paul McStay in the middle of the pitch at any time, marked or unmarked, and he would take it. He, for me, typified what a Celtic player should have in the middle of the pitch. The only downside to Paul was that he maybe didn’t score enough goals but he had a huge part to play."

His favourite match for the Bhoys was against the great Ajax team of the 1980s and he said: "One game that always stands out in my memory for a number of reasons was Ajax away in 1982. We were up against a fantastic Ajax team who were just starting to develop with all those young players like Jesper Olsen, Marco van Basten and Soren Lerby – they were a magnificent team. We were up against it but we went out there and beat them. For me, it was a special night because I played well and Eoin Hand, the Irish manager, was watching me in the stand."

You can read the full interview here.

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