Paul McStay

Paul Michael Lyons McStay, MBE, nicknamed the Maestro, (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish former footballer who spent his entire career with Celtic, making his senior debut in 1982 and retiring in 1997. He captained both Scotland and Celtic at all age levels. He was capped 76 times for his country and scored nine goals. He helped Celtic win three league titles, the last in 1988.

Paul McStay
MBE
Personal information
Full name Paul Michael Lyons McStay[1]
Date of birth (1964-10-22) 22 October 1964
Place of birth Hamilton, Scotland
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Celtic Boys Club
1981–1982 Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1997 Celtic 515 (57)
National team
1978–1980 Scotland U16 16 (5)
1980–1982 Scotland U18 14 (5)
1982–1984[2] Scotland U21 5 (1)
1983–1984 Scotland U20 7 (3)
1983–1997 Scotland 76 (9)
1990[3] SFA (SFL centenary) 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

As a youth, McStay first came to prominence in June 1980 in a schoolboy international match when Scotland played England at Wembley. Then 15, he was the captain. He scored two goals and was awarded the Man of the Match award after Scotland ran out 5–4 winners.[4][5]

McStay signed for Celtic aged sixteen from Celtic Boys Club in 1981. He made his first team debut on 23 January 1982 in a 4–0 win over Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup. A week later on 30 January, he made his first league appearance in 3–1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie. He scored the third goal, taking a pass from George McCluskey, running through the Aberdeen defence and striking a left foot shot past Jim Leighton in goal.[4]

Season 1982–83 saw the young midfielder establish himself as a first team regular,[4] and he picked up his first winners medal on 4 November 1982 in Celtic's 2–1 win over Rangers in the League Cup Final. His performances resulted in media speculation that Inter Milan were considering making a £2 million bid to take him to Italy, a rumour that was emphatically dismissed by the Celtic chairman, Desmond White.[6]

McStay continued to progress at Celtic,[4] and he scored Celtic's equaliser in the 1984 Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen to take the match into extra time. However, Celtic had played most of the match with 10 men after Roy Aitken was sent off in the first half, and Aberdeen scored in extra time to win 2–1.

In December 1987, during Celtic's centenary season, McStay signed a five-year contract at Celtic. He went on to enjoy his finest season,[5] winning both the SPFA and Scottish Football Writers player of the year awards as the club won a League and Cup double in 1988.[4]

When Roy Aitken left Celtic Park in 1990, McStay was appointed club captain, 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 four times and the League Cup once. Although the second half of McStay's career coincided with a time when Celtic performed poorly and struggled financially, in 2002 he was voted a member of Celtic's greatest ever team by the club's fans. 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.[7]

International career

In 1982 he captained Scotland to victory in the UEFA European Under-18 Championship, the only major trophy won by any Scottish national football team. He captained each of the Scotland teams from under-16 level through under-18, under-20, under-21 and senior level. McStay made his full national team debut in 1983. He represented Scotland 76 times, including appearances at two World Cups in 1986 and 1990, during a 14-year international career. McStay was also selected for two UEFA European Championships in 1992 and 1996, but withdrew from the latter because of an ankle injury.[8]

Personal life

In 2010, he moved to live in Sydney, Australia with his wife Anne Marie and their six children.[9] McStay now runs Maestro Sports, a startup software company specialising in sport coaching and management.[9][10] McStay attempted to raise $100,000 AUD to fund an autobiography through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.[11] The project was unsuccessful, with just 24% of the funding ($24,593 AUD) pledged by the closing date.[12]

McStay's great-uncles Jimmy and Willie McStay were former Celtic captains, and his brothers Willie and Raymond also played for Celtic. Their father John worked as a scout for the club.[13]

One of his sons, Chris, has played football for Sutherland Sharks in Australia and for Clyde in Scotland.[14][15] His nephew John (Willie's son) played with Celtic Boys Club before moving onto Motherwell under-19s and later played for Ayr United as a defender[16][17] before becoming a Celtic academy coach.[18]

His cousin Jock McStay played for Raith Rovers during the 1990s,[19] and Jock's son Jonny played at Junior level in the 2010s.[20][21]

Career statistics

Club
    Club     Season League Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Celtic[22] 1981–82 Scottish Premier
Division		 101200000121
1982–83 366409140537
1983–84 343528260537
1984–85 324732051468
1985–86 348202120409
1986–87 433405140564
1987–88 445602020545
1988–89 335503040455
1989–90 353614120475
1990–91 302505100403
1991–92 327400020387
1992–93 434303041535
1993–94 352104040442
1994–95 291405000381
1995–96 302401030382
1996–97 151401010211
Total 5155766654743267872
Career total 5155766654743267872

International appearances
Scotland national team[23]
YearAppsGoals
198340
198452
198540
198651
198782
198871
198980
199090
199131
1992102
199350
199430
199510
199610
199730
Total769

International goals
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
117 October 1984Hampden Park, Glasgow Iceland1–03–0WCQG7
22–03–0
328 January 1986National Stadium, Ramat Gan Israel1–01–0Friendly
41 April 1987Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels Belgium1–11–4ECQG7
514 October 1987Hampden Park, Glasgow Belgium2–02–0ECQG7
614 September 1988Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Norway1–02–1WCQG5
713 November 1991Hampden Park, Glasgow San Marino1–04–0ECQG2
825 March 1992Hampden Park, Glasgow Finland1–01–1Friendly
918 June 1992Idrottsparken, Norrköping CIS1–03–0ECGB

Honours

Club

International

Individual

See also

References
  1. A Record of Post-war Scottish League Players 1946/47 to 2017/18. 7. John Litster and Scottish Football Historian magazine. 2018.
  2. Scotland U21 player Paul McStay, FitbaStats
  3. On this day, back in 1990, a Scottish League XI beat Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park in the SFL Centenary match with the goal coming from then Aberdeen Football Club star Hans Gillhaus, Scottish Professional Football League via Facebook, 18 August 2016
  4. "The Bhoy in the Picture – Paul McStay". The Celtic Underground. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  5. Gallagher, Hugh (18 March 2015). "Celtic's one club men, No.4 – Paul McStay". CQN Magazine. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  6. Young, Chick (18 January 1984). "Paul must stay". Evening Times. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  7. "Scottish Football Hall of Fame – 2010 Inductees". Archived from the original on 30 November 2010.
  8. "Scotland's squad for Euro `96 all in US". Irish Times. 30 May 1996. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
    "May 1996". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  9. Macpherson, Graeme (5 September 2014). "It's all about the greats". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  10. "About Us | Maestro – Maestro". Maestrosports.com.au. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  11. "Paul McStay to self-publish his autobiography The Maestro". Glasgow Evening Times. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  12. ""The Maestro" Paul McStay Autobiography". Kicktraq. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  13. Tributes to Celtic scout and true gent John McStay, Evening Times, 10 July 2017
  14. "New Signing: Chris McStay". Clyde FC. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  15. Sons of Celtic legends Paul McStay and Peter Grant on handling the pressure and building their own careers at Clyde, Daily Record, 22 February 2018
  16. David W Potter, "And they gave us James McGrory and Paul McStay" Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 21 June 2007.
  17. Ayr United land defender McStay, BBC Sport, 16 January 2007
  18. Academy Coaches, Celtic FC
  19. Pattullo, Alan (7 November 2015). "From infamy to Hall of Fame, Jock McStay finds peace". The Scotsman. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  20. Glenafton 2 Lesmahagow 1, Glenafton Athletic FC, 12 January 2019
  21. We're lovin it as Jonny decides on McKenna Park, St Anthony's F.C., 28 June 2019
  22. Celtic player Paul McStay, FitbaStats
  23. National Football Teams profile
  24. Paul, Ian (14 May 1982). "Glasgow Cup for Celtic". Glasgow Herald. p. 17. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  25. "New Addition: Stanley Rous Cup-Part 1 (1985)". Soccer Nostalgia. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  26. "European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or) 1984". RSSSF. 26 March 2005. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
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