roy aitken: a bhoy's own story

Gregor Kyle
AS part of a series taken from the Celtic View, we have been taking a trip down memory lane with a host of past Celtic favourites to get their own personal take on what it was like to pull on a Celtic shirt. Next up is the legendary 'Bear', Roy Aitken.

THERE are few players in the history of any football club who have looked so adept on making their first team debuts.

Despite being just 17, Roy Aitken was a veritable boy-mountain, a hulking presence in defence who was well-equipped to cope with the rough and tumble of the professional game.

As he quickly gained experience, Aitken was moved by manager Jock Stein from defence into the centre of midfield, where his combative talents and driving presence was utilised to the full.

In the seasons that followed he became fittingly known as ‘The Bear’ by the Celtic supporters, while his team-mates took one glance at his curly locks and christened him ‘Shirley’, after the child-actress Temple.

Aitken’s ability to inspire and frighten in near-equal measures saw him crowned Celtic captain and he became a central player in the late 1970s and throughout the '80s, with his personal highlight, leading the team to a historic centenary year double.

Here, Roy looks back on his ‘Bhoy’s Own Story’.

My first memory of Celtic was coming here to sign as a schoolboy. Growing up, I didn’t go to many games here, simply because I was playing on a Saturday morning and afternoon as a schoolboy. I was a Celtic supporter, but I signed my S-form when I was 13-years-old. I still remember myself and my Dad coming up on the train and then getting the No.64 Auchenshuggle bus up to Celtic Park. Sean Fallon was mainly in charge of the youth set-up then, but it was a guy called John Murray, from Saltcoats, who actually signed me. That was my first personal memory of the football club, although I do remember the 1967 European Cup-winning team and my Dad did go to see the final against Feyenoord in 1970 with a few of his mates. A lot of people went over for that game, even if they weren’t out and out, every week Celtic supporters. The feeling was that if you missed out on the win in Lisbon you went to the Feyenoord one. Two years after that final I had signed on an S-form.

It’s difficult to pick just one highlight from my playing career here, I was fortunate enough to enjoy a lot of happy memories here. But I suppose my proudest moment was captaining the team that won the league and cup double in the 1988 centenary season. I was captain of the club and we won that double against all odds, in what was a very special year for the club. I think that team will always be remembered. The final was a great occasion, because we had already won the league a few weeks beforehand and everyone was looking forward to that final. It meant so much to everyone involved in the club that season. I had been there for 12 seasons prior to that year and had been fortunate enough to win a lot of things and although I wouldn’t say that the leagues and cups that we had won before then paled into insignificance, they just came second best to that season. The pressure was on us as a group of players and everyone was aware of the importance of that year to the supporters, but handling that kind of pressure is what being a Celtic player is all about. The achievements of that season showed that that team had terrific character, combined with the ability to beat a Rangers team who were by that stage spending millions of pounds.

Football is a roller-coaster, right from the start, but I was so fortunate in what I achieved and the times I enjoyed as a player, but I can’t say that I have any regrets. You can look back on individual games and say, ‘I wish I had done better there’, but like I said, I have been very, very fortunate in what I have experienced. I think it would be greedy if I was to look back on individual matches and say that I wished this or that had happened. I suppose I’m like many players at that time in that I wish we had succeeded in reaching a European Cup final and we came close on a couple of occasions, against Madrid in the quarter-finals and later, against Rapid Vienna. But like I said, that’s me being greedy. Over the course of my career, winning what I won at Celtic, I can’t say that I have any real regrets. Individual games, I can name a few, but I wouldn’t want to go down that road and you have to balance things up and I enjoyed every minute of my career at Celtic.

Apart from Celtic Park, I always loved going up to play at Pittodrie. I loved the atmosphere up in Aberdeen and not only were you playing against a very good team, it was a tough place to go and get a result. Over the years we had good results and bad results, but I always enjoyed the trip. It was one of the few games that we went away overnight and in those days it was different, we never stayed over for our games against Dundee and the like. That little change from the routine made things a bit more interesting. We were away in the lead-up to European games, we often went to Seamill to prepare for those matches, but in terms of domestic matches, the trips up to Pittodrie were a wee break from the norm.

Looking back on the 1980s, at the teams that were playing well and were successful the Aberdeen team stands out for me. In terms of my toughest opponent, Mark McGhee was always a nightmare to play against and he had a very good partnership with Eric Black, another talented player. There was also Paul Sturrock at Dundee United and he was a right handful, as were the likes of Derek Johnstone, Ally McCoist and latterly, Mark Hateley at Rangers. But the Aberdeen and Dundee United teams of the 80s were right good sides, teams who would put you under a lot of pressure. Gordon Strachan was another great player for Aberdeen at the time. There were loads of players over the years that could all be mentioned as tough opponents, whether I was playing at the back or in the midfield. In fact, there were probably too many to mention.

I was still at school when I first made my debut as a 17-year-old and I used to travel in to Celtic Park and would only really see my team-mates on a Saturday. I played against Stenhousemuir in the cup, got into the team for the game against Aberdeen in the February and was in fairly regularly after that. I was mainly in alongside big Johannes Edvaldsson at the back. I trained twice a week with John Clark, who was in charge of the reserve team and on a Friday, he would tell me whether or not I had to report with the first team. Looking back now it’s hard to remember exactly what I felt going into those games, I was still at school and I remember that I just loved playing the games. I saw it as a challenge and a dream come true. There were surreal moments though, because the year before I had been playing for the boys’ club and the school team and the next I was playing regularly in front of around 50,000 supporters at Celtic Park and playing in Europe. The following season I started as a full-timer and travelled with Bobby Lennox. He was great company, a great character and great player, but he was also a fantastic source of advice. He was a great professional and I would pick up things along the way that helped me become a Celtic player.

I was fortunate, as a player, to have had a lot of great advice and a lot of positive influences in the background. My Dad was fantastic and took me to every game - he was always there for me. He would pick me up from school for training and games. I then got a great introduction to the club through the boys’ club and then stepped into the professional world and that’s where people like Bobby Lennox really had an influence. I was so fortunate. Jock Stein was there at the time and had worked wonders with generations of young players. My peer group included people like Tommy Burns, George McCluskey, Jim Casey and others. We came through together and played in the first team around the same time, we all worked well together and were friends. The top team also included the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain and Pat Stanton, who were all great influences, not only terms of the advice they gave, but also in their standing within the game and the performances they gave, week-in, week-out.

I was able to play in either of the full-back positions, as centre-back or in the centre of midfield, although mainly I played through the middle. I think my athleticism helped me a lot in that respect - it allowed me to adapt and play in different places. In my first season Jock Stein played me at the back, but in my next year he told me that I now had a bit of experience and that he wanted me to play in what would now be known as the holding midfield role. Back then it wasn’t really recognised as a position as such, but that’s the job I was asked to do. I was in alongside Ronnie Glaven, Kenny, Doyley (Johnny Doyle), Paul Wilson and I think I was viewed on as the safety valve for their attacking talents. We won the double that year in 1976/77 and should really have won the treble. Aberdeen beat us in the cup final, but we absolutely hammered them. That was a defining season for me, in that it was my first full season at the club, even though I had played around 20 games the season before. It showed I could be trusted to play in a forward position. I enjoyed being involved in games and even when I played at the back I would step forward as best I could. I was never content to let things happened and my speed and athleticism helped me to do that.

I was studying for my Highers in my first year as a professional and had I not made it as a player I had a career in mind. I got my ‘O’ Grades, studied for four Highers and attended Jordanhill College to see about becoming a Physical Education teacher. I went through all the formalities and was accepted, pending the results of my Highers. Now because of the demands that were placed on me in the team that year I lost sight of that particular goal and only ended up getting two Highers - English and Maths. But had I not been playing I would have definitely applied myself and gone for a career as a PE teacher. But it was big Jock who actually told me at the end of that debut 1975/76 season, ‘you can’t do both and are going to have to make a decision’. I either had to go full-time or go down the other road, but obviously there wasn’t much of a choice to make. I had already tasted life in the first team and the decision was made for me. However, my Mum and Dad had always pushed me down the road of getting an education as a back-up.

IT’S really hard to give just one piece of advice to a young player who wants to make the grade at Celtic, so I’ll try and include a few ideas. You have to ensure that you give your profession 100 per cent. Now, as a coach you look for four criteria so to speak - the first is professionalism, doing the right thing and looking after yourself. The next is reliability, turning up every week and giving everything you have got and not being half-hearted. Then there is technique and a player must be committed on working on their technique. The fourth is fitness, something that is so vital in the modern game. If you don’t have all four of those criteria, you will fall short and you must work on your discipline. At some clubs you can get by without them, but at a club like Celtic you need to have at least three and at the same time, be working very hard to improve on the fourth. There are a lot of distractions for players nowadays, in terms of agents and the lifestyle that goes with the game, but you cannot lose your focus or discipline.