Paul McStay
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul Michael Lyons McStay | ||
| Date of birth | 22 October 1964 | ||
| Place of birth | Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1997 | Celtic | 515 | (56) |
| National team | |||
| 1978–1980 | Scotland U16 | 16 | (5) |
| 1980–1982 | Scotland U18 | 14 | (5) |
| 1983 | Scotland U20 | 7 | (3) |
| 1982–1984 | Scotland U21 | 5 | (1) |
| 1983–1997 | Scotland | 76 | (9) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Paul Michael Lyons McStay MBE, nicknamed the Maestro (born 22 October 1964, Hamilton), is a former football player who spent his entire career with Scottish team Celtic, making his debut in 1982 and retiring in 1997. He captained both Scotland and Celtic at all age levels. He was capped 76 times for his country and scored nine goals. He helped Celtic win three league titles, the last one in 1988 and remains a popular figure amongst Celtic's fans.
As a youth, McStay first came to prominence in June 1980 in a Schoolboy International match where Scotland played England at Wembley. Then 15, he was the captain. He scored two goals in the match and was awarded the Man of the Match award after Scotland ran out 5–4 winners.
McStay signed for Celtic aged sixteen from Celtic Boys Club in 1981. He made his first team debut for Celtic on 23 January 1982 in a 4–0 win over Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup. A week later on 30 January, he made his first league appearance in 3–1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie. He scored the third goal, taking a pass from George McCluskey, running through the Aberdeen defence and strking a left foot shot past Jim Leighton in goal.
Season 1982-83 saw the young midfielder establish himself as a first team regular, and he picked up his first winners medal on 4 November 1982 in Celtic's 2–1 win over Rangers in the League Cup Final. His performances resulted in media speculation that Inter Milan were considering making a £2 million bid to take him to Italy, a rumour that was emphatically dismissed by the Celtic Chairman, Desmond White.
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