Lou Macari has talked about his tumultuous transfer from Celtic to Manchester United.
The Quality Street gang member, alongside Kenny Dalglish and Danny McGrain, was a massive Celtic supporter. However, after the death of his father, and with a family on the way, Macari needed a bump in his pay packet. Earning £55 a week at the time, Macari asked manager Jock Stein for an extra tenner to make ends meet.
As he told the Undr the Cosh podcast yesterday, that exchange didn’t go so well. And Macari detailed the unquestioned respect players had for Stein.
Macari said [Undr the Cosh]:
“A tenner would’ve been a big deal, I’d have gone out the office thinking ‘I’ve hit the jackpot!’.
“I had the courage – I don’t know how I plucked up the courage – I said to him ‘look, I’m going to have to move, I’m going to have to go someone else’. I’m Celtic mad, I didn’t want to move anywhere, I was hoping he’d give me the tenner.
“I was waiting for the phone to ring at home, going to training every day, getting home, hoping the phone would ring. I can remember looking at it and saying ‘come on, please ring!’
“The first time I did ring… it was the manager. ‘Get ready, in the morning you’re going to England’. He put the phone down on me. Of course the most vital thing I wanted to know was where I’m going! There was no way I was going to pick the phone up and ring him back.
“You just didn’t do that!
“My missus said to me ‘where are you going?’ I say I don’t know, she says ‘what do you mean you don’t know?’, I said ‘well he put the phone down on me!’. She says ring him back, I said ‘you [expletive] ring him back!'”
Lou Macari details Celtic to Manchester United transfer with hilarious panache
As stressful as it must’ve been, it’s hilarious that Jock Stein didn’t even bother telling Macari where he was going. The former midfielder was shown around Anfield by Bill Shankly, convinced he’d be joining the Reds. Then, a chance meeting in the Director’s box for an FA Cup replay with Pat Crerand changed everything.
Macari continued:
“I am 21, I’m now heading for England not knowing where I’m going. Only been in England four or five times in my life.
“I had no idea what level of footballer people thought I was. So I never seen myself ended up at Liverpool, smuggled down because somebody else might’ve thought I was ok. When I said I’d leave, I had no idea whether I’d get a new job. I knew where I could get more money, which was England.”
After being offered a deal by legendary Liverpool boss Bill Shankly, Macari was told to reject it.
“Paddy Crerand says ‘don’t sign – we’ll sign you at Manchester United’.”
It’s a fascinating listen with a man who has done excellent work in his community. The Macari Centre in Stoke-on-Trent has been housing the homeless, and winning the ex-Celtic man plaudits.
Alongside his charity work, Macari’s stories about Stein, Ferguson and Shankly make for great entertainment.
READ MORE: Into dramatic transfer stories? Here’s one involving an Australian ex-Celt
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
