Comparing Celtic FC Greatest XI v Rangers FC Greatest XI Of All Time
CDM – Paul McStay
Paul McStay 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.
McStay was appointed club captain in 1990, a position he retained until his retirement following the 1996–97 season. In his time with the club, Celtic won the League title three times, the Scottish Cup 4 times and the League Cup once. Although the second half of McStay’s career coincided with a time when Celtic were in turmoil and were overshadowed by rivals Rangers, in 2002 he was voted a member of Celtic’s greatest ever team by the club’s fans.
Unquestionably one of the finest, most talented and most respected Celtic players ever. He is also a member of the Scotland Football Hall of Fame, which honours the best players to play in Scotland and is located in the Scottish Football Museum.
CM – Charlie Tully
Charlie Tully needs no introduction. This Celtic legend is known worldwide for this effortless aptitude to slide past the opposition players, as if the ball was magnetically connected to his feet. With his extraordinary football talent and a rare abundance of skill Tully was the darling of the Hoops fans for over a decade and his cheeky approach to football has made him one of the best-loved Celtic icons of all time.
Tully moved to Parkhead in June 1948 from his hometown side Belfast Celtic where he had been idolised by the support. His journey across the Irish Sea – for a then sizeable fee of £8,000 – triggered a frenzied response from fans in Glasgow. Celtic were really in the doldrums at this point in their history and Charlie with his magical skills and ‘Cheeky’ personality lifted the whole club and helped Celtic to start winning honours again. There is a strong case for claiming that Charlie was really the first “Celebrity” footballer long before the arrival of George Best, David Beckham and such like.
On his game, Tully would relentlessly tease the opposition with his outrageous ability and his ball skills would bamboozle opposing defenders and thrill the crowd. In a League Cup match at Parkhead in September 1948 Tully’s skill simply savaged the feared Rangers rearguard whose brute force was simply no match for an on-song Charlie. He played a total of 319 matches for Celtic, scoring 47 goals, throughout his career, which spanned 11 years.
CM – Bobby Murdoch
Murdoch was one of the Lisbon Lions, the Celtic team who won the European Cup in 1967. Murdoch signed for Celtic in August 1959 as a £3-a-week part-timer while working as a sheet metal worker. He gained experience playing for junior side Cambuslang Rangers before joining the Parkhead club permanently in 1961 and made his First Team debut against Hearts on 11th August 1962.
During his time at Celtic, he won eight Scottish League titles, four Scottish Cups and five League Cups, as well as the 1967 European Cup Final winners’ medal. Murdoch’s shot was deflected by Stevie Chalmers to score Celtic’s winning goal. Murdoch also played in the 1970 European Cup Final, when Celtic lost 2–1 to Feyenoord. In total, he made over 500 appearances for Celtic and scored approximately 100 goals.
Formed a rock-solid partnership with Bertie Auld in midfield that proved even more watertight than the catenaccio of Inter. Plagued by injuries in his career, his importance to Celtic was highlighted by Jock Stein’s response to the question of when Celtic might next win the European Cup: “When Bobby Murdoch is fit”.