| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul Michael Lyons McStay[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1964-10-22)22 October 1964 (age 60) | ||
| Place of birth | Hamilton, Scotland | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Celtic Boys Club | |||
| 1981–1982 | Celtic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1997 | Celtic | 515 | (57) |
| International career | |||
| 1978–1980 | Scotland U16 | 16 | (5) |
| 1980–1982 | Scotland U18 | 14 | (5) |
| 1982–1984[3] | Scotland U21 | 5 | (1) |
| 1983–1984 | Scotland U20 | 7 | (3) |
| 1983–1997 | Scotland | 76 | (9) |
| 1990[4] | SFA (SFL centenary) | 1 | (0) |
Medal record | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Paul Michael Lyons McStay,MBE (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish former professionalfootballer who spent hisentire career withCeltic, making his senior debut in 1982 and retiring in 1997. He captained bothScotland 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 in 1988.
As a youth, McStay first came to prominence in June 1980 in a schoolboy international match when Scotland played England atWembley. Then 15, McStaycaptained the Scotland team, scored two goals and was awarded Man of the Match after Scotland ran out 5–4 winners.[5][6]
McStay signed forCeltic aged sixteen fromCeltic Boys Club in 1981. He made his first team debut on 23 January 1982 in a 4–0 win overQueen of the South in theScottish Cup. A week later on 30 January, he made his first league appearance in 3–1 win over Aberdeen atPittodrie. He scored the third goal, taking a pass fromGeorge McCluskey, running through the Aberdeen defence and striking a left foot shot pastJim Leighton in goal.[5]
Season 1982–83 saw the young midfielder establish himself as a first team regular,[5] and he picked up his first winners medal on 4 November 1982 in Celtic's 2–1 win overRangers in theLeague Cup Final. His performances resulted in media speculation thatInter 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.[7]
McStay continued to progress at Celtic,[5] and he scored Celtic's equaliser in the1984 Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen to take the match into extra time. However, Celtic had played most of the match with 10 men afterRoy Aitken was sent off in the first half, and Aberdeen scored in extra time to win 2–1.
In December 1987, during Celtic's centenary season, McStay signed a five-year contract at Celtic. He went on to enjoy his finest season,[6] winning both theSPFA andScottish Football Writers player of the year awards as the club won a League and Cupdouble in 1988.[5]
When Roy Aitken leftCeltic Park in 1990, McStay was appointed club captain, a position he retained until his retirement following the1996–97 season. In his time with the club, Celtic won the League title three times, theScottish Cup four times and theLeague Cup once. Although the second half of McStay's career coincided with a time when Celtic performed poorly and struggled financially, in 2002 he was voted a member of Celtic'sgreatest ever team by the club's fans. He is also a member of theScotland Football Hall of Fame, which honours the best players to play in Scotland and is located in theScottish Football Museum.[8]
In 1982 he captainedScotland national U19 team to victory in theUEFA European Under-18 Championship, the only major trophy won by any Scotland national team. He captained each of the Scotland teams from under-16 level through under-18, under-20, under-21 and senior level. McStay made his full international debut forScotland in 1983. He represented Scotland 76 times, including appearances at twoWorld Cups in1986 and1990, during a 14-year international career. McStay was also selected for twoUEFA European Championships in1992 and1996, but withdrew from the latter because of an ankle injury.[9]
In 2010, McStay moved to live inSydney, Australia with his wife Anne Marie and their six children.[10] He now runs Maestro Sports, a startup software company specialising in sport coaching and management.[10][11] McStay attempted to raise $100,000 AUD to fund an autobiography through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.[12][13]
McStay's great-unclesJimmy andWillie McStay were former Celtic captains, and his brothersWillie andRaymond also played for Celtic. Their father John worked as ascout for the club.[14]
One of his sons, Chris, has played football forSutherland Sharks andRockdale Ilinden in Australia and forClyde in Scotland.[15][16] His nephew John (Willie's son) played with Celtic Boys Club before moving ontoMotherwell under-19s and later played forAyr United as a defender[17][18] before becoming a Celtic academy coach.[19]
His cousinJock McStay played forRaith Rovers during the 1990s,[20] and Jock's son Jonny played atJunior level in the 2010s.[21][22]
| Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Celtic[23] | 1981–82 | Scottish Premier Division | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| 1982–83 | 36 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 4[a] | 0 | 53 | 7 | ||
| 1983–84 | 34 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 6[b] | 0 | 53 | 7 | ||
| 1984–85 | 32 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5[c] | 1 | 46 | 8 | ||
| 1985–86 | 34 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2[c] | 0 | 40 | 9 | ||
| 1986–87 | 43 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4[a] | 0 | 56 | 4 | ||
| 1987–88 | 44 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 54 | 5 | ||
| 1988–89 | 33 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 45 | 5 | ||
| 1989–90 | 35 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2[c] | 0 | 47 | 5 | ||
| 1990–91 | 30 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | – | 40 | 3 | |||
| 1991–92 | 32 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 38 | 7 | ||
| 1992–93 | 43 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[b] | 1 | 53 | 5 | ||
| 1993–94 | 35 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4[b] | 0 | 44 | 2 | ||
| 1994–95 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | – | 38 | 1 | |||
| 1995–96 | 30 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 38 | 2 | ||
| 1996–97 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 21 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 515 | 57 | 66 | 6 | 54 | 7 | 43 | 2 | 678 | 72 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland[24] | 1983 | 4 | 0 |
| 1984 | 5 | 2 | |
| 1985 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1986 | 5 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 8 | 2 | |
| 1988 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1991 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 10 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 76 | 9 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 October 1984 | Hampden Park,Glasgow |  Iceland | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1986 World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 2–0 | |||||
| 3 | 28 January 1986 | National Stadium,Ramat Gan |  Israel | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 4 | 1 April 1987 | Constant Vanden Stock Stadium,Brussels |  Belgium | 1–1 | 1–4 | UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying |
| 5 | 14 October 1987 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | Belgium | 2–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying |
| 6 | 14 September 1988 | Ullevaal Stadion,Oslo |  Norway | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 7 | 13 November 1991 | Hampden Park, Glasgow |  San Marino | 1–0 | 4–0 | UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying |
| 8 | 25 March 1992 | Hampden Park, Glasgow |  Finland | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 9 | 18 June 1992 | Idrottsparken,Norrköping |  CIS | 1–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 1992 |
Celtic
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Scotland U18
Scotland U16
Individual
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