A Celtic State of Mind returns for a live event like no other at Grace’s in Glasgow next week, with our latest guest being former club captain, Jackie McNamara.
Jackie played over 350 games in the hoops, appearing in a European final and winning every domestic honour, including a treble under Martin O’Neill.
It’s easy to forget just how difficult his signing became for Tommy Burns back in 1995, due in no small part to the exceptional form Jackie showed as a right-back at East End Park.
Jackie’s performances at full-back for Dunfermline Athletic during the 1994/95 season resulted in interest from a number of clubs both north and south of the border, with Arsenal and Leicester City both making enquiries. The then manager at Filbert Street, Mark McGhee, had a £250,000 bid knocked back by the Pars at the beginning of May 1995.
By the time of Dunfermline’s promotion play-off second leg against Aberdeen at East End Park later that month, Rangers scout Ewan Chester took a seat in the stand to cast his eye over the Scotland under-21 international. Despite the Pars failing to win the play-off and missing out on promotion to the top tier, Scotland boss Craig Brown went so far as to name-check Jackie as a player he’d like to see pushing for a place in the Scotland squad for the Euro ’96 finals in England the following summer.
Despite plenty of interest in Jackie, Dunfermline were able to fend off his suitors throughout the pre-season of 1995/96, but it was only a matter of time before more clubs joined the race for the right-back’s signature. The next ex-Celt to make an enquiry was Aberdeen boss Roy Aitken, who had been impressed by the performances of his ex-team-mate’s son when the Dons beat Dunfermline in the previous season’s play-off.
In late September 1995, Celtic became the latest club with an interest in Jackie. This meant Tommy Burns joined his centenary double-winning team-mates, Mark McGhee and Roy Aitken, in the chase for the most sought-after youngster in Scottish football.
Burns had been pursuing Sheffield Wednesday’s Chris Waddle earlier that month, with Wednesday boss David Pleat accepting a bid of £800,000, only for Waddle to knock back the £8,000-a-week offer because his wife didn’t want to move to Scotland. Burns decided instead to sign John Hughes from Falkirk for £380,000 before having a £400,000 bid for Jackie McNamara promptly rejected by the Fifers.
East End Park boss, Bert Paton, slapped a £750,000 price tag on Jackie’s head, and it looked as though Celtic could miss out as four other English clubs were still in the chase – Arsenal, Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton and Newcastle United.
“Jackie won’t be going cheap,” Paton vowed. “What we are looking for is the best possible deal for the player and the club”.
By the beginning of October, Blackburn’s Kenny Dalglish – another ex-team-mate of Jackie’s dad – watched McNamara’s performance against St Johnstone. McNamara spoke after the game about how the transfer talk was affecting him. “The constant speculation is unsettling,” explained Jackie. “I’m in no rush to leave Dunfermline but if a big club is going to come in I hope they don’t leave me hanging on.”
Celtic knew that time was running out, which prompted them to up their initial bid to £600,000. That price did the trick, and the signing of Jackie McNamara was a real coup for Tommy Burns, who said of the transfer at the time, “I’m delighted to have Jackie here. We looked at him last year and again at the start of this season and have really been after him for the last ten days. It took a lot of negotiating but I believe both parties are happy with the deal.
Whilst Jackie was at Celtic Park signing on the dotted line, his father’s car was broken into outside the stadium with Jackie’s one-and-only pair of boots being stolen. Jackie was set to make his debut that night against Falkirk and had to wear someone else’s boots! “I’m still shocked about the whole day,” explained Jackie. “I don’t know whose boots I borrowed, but after a slow start I was happy to settle down a bit and the experienced players around me talked me through the game.
“This is a great chance for me, something I dreamt about as a youngster while my dad, who played for Celtic, is delighted. I didn’t realise just how big a club Celtic was until I saw the stadium this afternoon.”
Dunfermline’s assistant manager, Dick Campbell, said of the move, “He definitely wanted to sign for Celtic and, in fact, didn’t want to speak to any other club.”
Just consider for a moment that Scotland’s most sought-after talent had the opportunity to speak to the English Premier League champions, managed by his dad’s ex-team-mate Kenny Dalglish, but he turned them down to sign for Celtic. His signing was a masterstroke by Tommy Burns, who beat King Kenny, Roy Aitken and Mark McGhee in the race for a player who went on to captain the club and earn a Testimonial match for his services to Celtic.
His name is McNamara, and he’ll be live with A Celtic State of Mind next week. There are still a few tickets available HERE.
BOBBY GORDON
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