Celtic have a long and proud history of promoting youngsters to the first-team squad from within.
The most famous examples, of course, are the 1967 European Cup winning squad who were all local lads born within a 30-mile radius of Celtic Park.
Celtic legends Jimmy Johnstone, Tommy Gemmell, Bertie Auld and more all came through the Hoops youth ranks to become Lisbon Lions.
And ever since, it’s the path every young Celtic academy star dreams of walking down – it’s absolutely no different for Jude Bonnar, who has been on the books at Parkhead since he was just seven years old.
Bonnar has been in the news of late having made his Celtic first-team debut in the 5-1 thrashing of Aberdeen on Tuesday evening.
The 19-year-old entered the field as an 80th minute substitute as Rodgers gave him a sample of what could come for him in the future.
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Rodgers discusses Celtic youngster Jude Bonnar after debut
Bonnar received congratulations from ex-Celtic kid Ben Doak while current teammate Daizen Maeda gave his reaction as well.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was quizzed over Bonnar at his Friday press conference and gave the midfielder a glowing appraisal.
Rodgers has noticed the extra work Bonnar puts in at the gym to build his physical presence, while also hailing the kid’s technical and tactical skills.
The Bhoys boss said: “I’m passionate about young players and every club I’ve been at I’ve always played young players and put them in. So yes, it’s a nice reward for Jude.
“The path into any first team is not meant to be easy. It’s not just something that you go through your age groups – you have to earn the right to come in.
“But at the same time I’m always looking for the opportunity to put in young players and we have to have space for them. I think that’s what’s important. So it’s nice for Jude.
“He’s done very well with the second team. But not only that, he’s working very, very hard, which I notice. I see him in the gym a lot, doing his extra to get himself physically ready.
“He’s technically very good in the game. Like I said, he’s improving his physicality. He’s improving the competitive side to his game. Tactically, he understands how we work and for him to get that feeling of coming in.
“For me, what he also showed was personality, because I like my players – especially young players – to have the personality to come into the arena and play for Celtic.
“He showed all of that, so it should hopefully give him that bit of motivation now to push on.”
How Bonnar reacted to his Celtic debut
Bonnar spoke to Celtic TV after his debut against the Dons and says being amongst the first-team recently has made him feel ‘class’.
The starlet said: “It’s hard to put into words. It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was wee. So just getting the call up and being able to come on is just class.
“It’s crazy, you know, training with them, being up recently every day, just seeing what they’re all about, and then being amongst it just makes you feel class.
“It just motivates me even more, especially training with them, the quality of them, being able to keep up. It’s just a good confidence boost.
“They were unreal, they don’t stop so it makes it easier coming on with the pace they’re playing at. It’s hard to break the other team down but it makes it easier with how good they’re playing.”
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