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Seeing Red: The Chic Charnley Story

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I concocted some sort of story that went along the lines of me making my own way to Old Trafford and catching up with the rest of the team before the game. Celtic accepted my explanation and I breathed a sigh of relief. My mates and I had already arranged to go down to the game, anyway, to support Celtic. As much as Weir, and the Saints fans, would have liked the scoreline to finish 7-1, in the grand scheme of things giving Jerry O’Driscoll the opportunity to reduce the margin of victory from six to five (still the highest between the two sides) isn’t the Young decision that has entered into Saints folklore and Dundee infamy. There’s a photograph of me running away from Eric Cantona with a broad smile on my face that evening I’ve been asked countless times what I was laughing at. Eric, a genuine world famous superstar, had tried to play the ball through my legs, a nutmeg as it’s known in football. I wasn’t having any of that. I snapped my legs shut, got the ball under control and swerved past the Frenchman.

When Billy McNeill went through his quadruple heart bypass in the mid-nineties I sent him a message, saying, ‘You could have had that operation years ago if you had signed me.’ I hope he saw the funny side. They’ve watched on laptops and phones as Charlie Adam’s penalty was kept out by Zander Clark and their Tayside neighbours were beaten en route to completing a cup double. As a team we have to work at making chances and while you don’t like to lose you can learn from this for the next game.” Tommy, a true Celtic legend who lost his gallant battle against cancer in 2008, was an elegant left-sided midfielder during his glorious playing days. I know he appreciated my style of play. He said: "I'd have been afraid to earn the kind of money that's going about today. I'd have gone out on the batter and treated football like a job on the oil rigs.Aged 25, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 7th January, 1989, in a 1-1 draw at home to Raith Rovers in the SFL First Division. Gottskalksson; W Miller, Hughes, Welsh, Boco; Rougier, McGinlay, Charnley, Dow; Power (G Miller 82), Crawford (Tosh 89). I don’t think Liam Brady fancied me, either. Well, his missus certainly didn’t. John Lambie and Gerry Collins went to the World Cup Finals in America in 1994 and were sitting in the stand beside Brady and his wife watching one of the games.

How did it come to this? Well, 17 sending –offs provides a hint. Just ponder that for a second: 17 dismissals. It’s just a few behind the British record held by another brilliant but flawed flair player, Willie Johnston. Duncan Ferguson has a bad boy reputation but was only dismissed eight times. Messi’s been sent off just once and never for Barcelona.Chic Charnley doesn’t have a cabinet full of medals or a cupboard full of international caps. Players with a fraction of his ability have both and bank accounts to match. My son Gary had asked me before the game to get Ryan Giggs’s autograph as he was a big fan of the Welsh ace. His request popped into my head with about ten minutes to go and I went over to Ryan to ask him if he would exchange shirts with me at the end. He very kindly agreed and, sure enough, we traded our jerseys on the pitch at full-time.

Jansen was well known to older Celtic fans who recalled him as a vital part of the Feyenoord side which had defeated Celtic in the 1970 European Cup final in the San Siro stadium in Milan. He had previously enjoyed some success with Feyenoord as manager, although the Scottish press chose to concentrate more on the mediocre spell he had recently had in Japan with Hiroshima. Suddenly I was aware the Celtic support were chanting, ‘There’s only once Chic Charnley…there’s only one Chic Charnley.’ To be absolutely honest, I was so overcome I started to cry. I couldn’t prevent the tears from streaming down my face.

This was Larsson’s infamous debut when he came on as a sub and with his first touch of the ball gave it away to Charnley who scored.

It is testament to Chic’s ability as a footballer that Thistle felt the gamble was worth taking with a player who would return to Maryhill for a fourth time and play a final Premier League game in the red and yellow when he was fast approaching his 40th birthday. He only played two games in this stint but his final one, fittingly perhaps at Easter Road, ended in a 3-2 victory over Hibs with Chic coming on as a sub. In his mid-40s, he even scored a 30-yard screamer against Celtic to rescue a draw in the testimonial for Thistle keeper Kenny Arthur just as time was running out. Watch it on You Tube and enjoy the sight of the mad Chic dash to take the deserved applause of a grateful and loving Firhill faithful. No-one exemplified it more than Chic Charnley. Not only did he contribute the winning goal with 15 minutes remaining but he was the outstanding player afield. Celtic's luminous shirts always make them difficult to miss but it was the ageing Hibs midfield player who shone like a beacon. I WAS still bubbling with enthusiasm and emotion afterwards when Lou Macari pulled me aside and asked me if I wanted to go on tour with Celtic. I never, ever had another situation like it when two players on the same team were effectively having a fight. Somehow the conversation came round to yours truly when Mrs Brady chimed in with, ‘Chic Charnley? He’s just a pub team player.’Like that other great Celtic number 7, Jimmy Johnstone, Henrik was to endure a miserable debut but would then go on to enjoy massive individual and collective success during his duration at Celtic Park.

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