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Personal

Fullname: Paul Michael Lyons McStay MBE
aka: Paul McStay, Maestro
Height: 5.10
Weight:10.07
Born: 22 Oct 1964
Birthplace: Hamilton
Position: Midfielder
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 76
International Goals: 9

Biog

Paul Michael Lyons McStay MBE was born on October 22 1964 in Hamilton, Lanarkshire.
Nephew of former manager Jimmy McStay, playing for Celtic was in the family blood. A hotly tipped youth prospect Paul was a member of Celtic Boys Club who burst onto the football scene in remarkable style when he hit two goals and was man of the match as Scotland schoolboys defeated their English counterparts at Wembley in front of a live TV audience in June 1980.

He signed for Celtic aged seventeen and made his senior Celtic debut in a 4-0 home Scottish Cup win over Queen of the South on January 21st 1982. Part of a great Celtic dynasty - his Great Uncle's Jimmy and Willie were both Hoops greats while brothers Willie and Raymond also played for the club - Paul seemed almost destined to write his name into Celtic folklore.

In mid-1982 he captained Scotland to victory in the UEFA European Under-18 Championship. This is the only major trophy to date, won by Scotland.

Despite his tender years McStay had a talent so significant he was simply too good to sit on the bench or learn his trade with the reserves. A key man under Billy McNeill and then Davie Hay, the precocious youngster soon earned international recognition with Scotland and by the end of season 1985-86 – at the age of 21 - he had collected two league titles plus a Scottish Cup and a League Cup winners medals.

A trophyless campaign followed but during the course of Celtic’s wonderful Centenary season of 1987-88 McStay was at his magnificent best. Throughout the course of a truly memorable season the man affectionately christened ‘The Maestro’ by the Bhoys support was a class apart from anyone else in Scotland.

At his best McStay was a peerless performer in Scotland and among the very finest midfielders in Europe. He had it all – wonderful touch and footwork, composed and elegant in possession and with the vision and ability to dissect any defence with a single pass. He would pick the ball up and glide effortlessly pass opponents before delivering an inch perfect killer pass.

A fine performance in the 1989 Scottish Cup final against Rangers saw McStay add another winners medal to his list but it would be some time before any more silverware came his way. By the early 1990s McStay had the burden of captaining one of the worst Celtic sides in history. Years of under-investment on the playing squad saw the Hoops struggle badly to compete with big-spending Rangers. McStay's talent remained undoubted but many of those who played beside him simply didn't deserve that privilege.

It seemed inevitable that the Bhoys would lose their one true class act and at the end of season 1991-92 McStay would throw his shirt into the Jungle in a gesture which all but signaled the end of his time at Parkhead. He was easily the stand-out performer for Scotland at Euro 92 (where he scored a great goal v CIS (ex-Soviet Union)) and subsequently Inter Milan were rumoured to be keen to take him to Italy.

However McStay performed a dramatic U-turn and to the surprise and delight of the support he remained at Celtic Park (although on the one hand ex-Celtic director Michael Kelly says no offers came in for him, but McStay says there was interest for him). Celtic continued to struggle and it was only natural that Paul himself would suffer a loss of form. In November 1994 he missed a decisive penalty in a shoot-out as Celtic blew a golden chance to claim their first major trophy since 1989 as Raith Rovers won the League Cup thanks to a shock spot-kick shoot-out victory.

Such heartbreak was a cruel injustice for a player who had given everything he could to the Celtic cause so it was with extra glee that the support finally witnessed McStay lift a major trophy when the Bhoys defeated Airdrie in the 1995 Scottish Cup final and end their trophy drought.

Paul was a revived character under Tommy Burns but an ankle injury forced his surprise retirement at the end of the 1996-1997 season. It says everything about his immense talent and commitment to the Celtic cause that despite the second half of his career being at a time when the Bhoys were overshadowed by rivals Rangers, in 2002 he was voted in as one of Celtic's greatest players ever into the greatest Celtic team by the club's fans.

Unquestionably one of the greatest, most talented and most respected Celtic players ever.

Must be mentioned that he was not without his critics. He could have been more direct in his general play; ex-Celtic director Michael Kelly childishly said "McStay could not shoot for toffee"; others said that McStay did not score as much as he could have. John Collins on various occasions was overshadowed by McStay when he could be the far more productive player on the pitch. McStay as a quiet man also could be not the imposing player that a captain should be, and many openly said that it was a burden he found difficult to carry. His prodigious talent had suffered greatly by staying at Celtic through the worst of times, and for a player with the talent to become world class, he likely never reached that due to the environment that Celtic were in during the barren years.

Truth is though that his ability elsewhere more than made up for these criticisms, and especially during the darkest days watching him play made up for all the dirge dug up by much of the rest of the team at the time.

A true Celtic great and wonderful gentleman.

Playing Career

Club	From	To	Fee	League		Sc Cup		Lge cup		Other
Celtic	20/02/1981	31/05/1997	Youth	511 (2)	57	7 (0)	0	1 (0)	0	3 (0)	0
			goals / game	0.11		0		0		0
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League Championships

• 1981-82,
• 1985-86,
• 1987-88,

Scottish Cups

• 1985,
  
• 1988,
• 1989,
• 1995,

Scottish League Cup

• 1982-83

Pictures

• Picture Gallery

Articles'

• 'Shoot' magazine - Super Focus (30/07/1983)

Banners & Tributes

• Paul McStay Banner

Video

• The Maestro (Celtic Underground)

Song

• Paul McStay Song

Quotes

"Celtic Football Club is the fans, without them there is no club."
Paul McStay

'The game was ninety minutes longs but for me the game lasted as long as my five years as captian and six years without a trophy'
Paul McStay speaking after beating Airdrie in the 1995 Scottish Cup Final

"I had the privilege of playing against Van Basten and Maradona, but in terms of my most talented team-mates, there was a Brazilian called Carlos Verri, better known as Brazilian legend Dunga and Paul McStay at Celtic."
Paul Elliott (link)
I remember Paul McStay saying to Krankl, in very clear English, ' You're a cheat'. The bottle had landed 20 yards away from their player.'
Peter Grant, 2003, on the Rapid Vienna fiasco. Krankl was Vienna's captain.