Jay Beatty
| Jay Beatty | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 December 2003 |
| Known for | Supporter of Celtic F.C. |
Jay Beatty (born 23 December) AKA Wee Jay Celtic Bhoy.
He received worldwide attention thanks to his friendship with former Celtic player Georgios Samaras, and became an ambassador for the Celtic F. C. Foundation charity. He has become known as a "SuperFan" and receives support and recognition from other football clubs and their fans.
On 11 May 2014, he was picked up by Samaras and carried around the pitch in front of 52,400 supporters at Celtic Park. Beatty stayed with Samaras while Samaras gave his interviews, and Beatty lovingly rubbed Samaras' beard. Celtic manager Neil Lennon gave Beatty (then 10 years old) his League Winners medal. Beatty was born with Down syndrome.
In July 2013 Beatty was invited to join Celtic on the team bus after training with them that day. He sang "Hail Hail the Celts are here" with the first team players. This was prior to the Champions League qualifier match in Belfast where Clifftonville faced Celtic FC. Celtic came out on top on the night with Celtic winning 2-0 (agg 5-0)
Beatty also received a Christmas present from Celtic rivals Hamilton Academicals Football Club, and was invited to watch the two teams play. At half time, he was invited onto the pitch and was given the chance to take a penalty. Beatty scored and celebrated with both sets of fans. Beatty's goal at Hamilton was later included in the SPFL's "Goal of the Month" contest. He received 97% of all votes, beating all the professional players nominated for goals in the same month (January 2015) He was advised that he had won by Georgios Samaras via a video link from Saudia Arabia where Samaras currently plays for Al Hilal.
On December 23, 2015, Jay received a video that included birthday wishes from past and present Celtic Players (Nadir Çiftçi, Carlton Cole, James Forrest, Kieran Tierney, Stefan Johansen, Emilio Izaguirre, Craig Gordon, Dedryck Boyata, Paul Byrne, Bobby Petta and Harald Brattbakk) and the Celtic management team of Ronny Deila, John Collins and John Kennedy. The music was performed by Robert J. Smith (Singer/Songwriter from Dunoon, Argyll) and the video created and produced by John C. Knight (From Dunoon, Argyll and currently living on America's East Coast).
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