Celtic captain Callum McGregor has been recalling his interactions with the legendary Tommy Burns when coming through the Bhoys academy as a kid.
Burns, who sadly passed away in 2008, was a giant at Celtic Park long after he was a player and manager, becoming part of the coaching set-up under Gordon Strachan and heavily involved with youth development.
It seems like a lifetime ago, but Burns even had a hand in bringing current Celtic players through the age groups and the current captain is no different.
Speaking on Celtic TV this week, McGregor shared a brilliant story about how Burns would urge the groundsman to keep the lights on at Barrowfield.
The Celtic midfielder also shared the advice from Burns that helped mould him into a professional.
McGregor said: “Tommy, God bless him, used to say ‘Just watch people and follow everything they do.’ That was the example. Guys like Aiden McGeady had made the step up and had what it took. It was just trying to watch them as much as we could to see what they did off the park and on it to have that impact.
“Tommy was a real role model for the academy. He was the first-team coach, but he would come down to Barrowfield at 5pm. Jimmy the groundsman would be saying ‘right, lights off, the boys have school in the morning.’ But Tommy would go ‘no, more corners, more free-kicks.’ He just wanted to be on the training pitch constantly, and for us, who better to be coaching you and watching your session?
“At 10 or 11, you didn’t want to come off the pitch anyway, but especially when someone like Tommy Burns is coaching the session. I’d say ‘this is amazing, I’m staying all night.’ At Barrowfield you could see Celtic Park in the background as well and that’s where you had to aspire to get to.
“Tommy was a huge, huge part of that. His enthusiasm for football, he was putting in all those hours as a first-team coach then more, coming down to watch the youth team at 10 years old. He didn’t have to do that but that’s how special he was. He wanted to let everyone know he was watching us, and it gave me belief that I had a real chance of making it.”
To this day then, the legacy of Tommy lives on. It’s wonderful to hear the current captain talk about the influence a club great had on him personally.
McGregor is now the example for other youngsters coming through having taken the armband from Scott Brown. He’s a homegrown hero who has experienced both highs and lows at the club. He’s made his own mistakes but has grown into a favourite of the support.
Every Bhoy in the Celtic youth set-up has to follow his example both in the way he plays the game and how he conducts himself as an ambassador of the club off of it.
In other news, “In the presence of greatness”; Opposition coach stunned by interaction with Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou.
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