Tommy Burns is an iconic Celtic figurehead. Often thought of as Mr Celtic, Burns lived and breathed the club.
Today, on the anniversary of Tommy’s death, his former teammate Brian McClair has revealed an amusing story of how Tommy made his nickname, Choccy stick.
McClair said [FourFourTwo], “It came about during pre-season with Celtic. We were in Switzerland, playing Basel on a baking hot day.
“These two Celtic supporters on the terrace were dressed inappropriately – long trousers, jumpers, scarves, hats and big coats, when it was 90 degrees in the shade – and one of them shouted, ‘On you go, Chocolate McClair.’
“Tommy Burns decided he liked that and it annoyed me, so he kept calling me Chocolate and it stuck, then got abbreviated. But I like it, because of its uniqueness.”
Brian McClair played for Celtic between 1983 and 1987. He, alongside Tommy, helped Celtic win the Scottish Cup in 1985.
McClair and Tommy were also part of that famous title win in 1986 when Celtic won the league on the very last day of the season.
Hearts were on top and just needed to avoid defeat on their visit to Dundee. Celtic had to win by three clear goals at St Mirren and hope that the Dens Park side could pull off a result.
In a day that is labelled Happy Albert Kidd Day by the Celtic fans, Celtic went on to win 5-0 and Hearts lost 2-0 to an Albert Kidd Dundee double.
McClair started and finished the rout after opening the scoring on the 6th minute in Paisley and scoring his second, Celtic’s fifth on the 54th minute.
Celtic commemorated the 15th anniversary of the passing of Tommy today with a lovely tribute on Instagram this afternoon.
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