They played for Celtic – Billy Stark
When Billy Stark signed for Celtic in the summer of 1987, at 30 he was very much in latter stages of his career. However the talented midfielder soon made his presence felt in Billy McNeill’s new look Celtic side in the club’s centenary season…
The Glasgow born midfielder who was destined to join the now defunct Rangers as a teenager, before being persuaded to sign for St Mirren by Alex Ferguson, was a highly experienced player, having played just under 500 games and scoring over 100 goals combined for the Buddies and then Aberdeen.
It was with the latter that Stark enjoyed his greatest success, under his old mentor Alex Ferguson, winning a European Super Cup, two league titles, two Scottish Cups, and a league cup to bolster his medal collection.
Stark became Billy McNeill’s first signing in his second spell as Celtic manager, as he looked to bolster his midfield which was a bit light after the influential Murdo MacLeod was transferred to Borussia Dortmund.
For a fee of £75,000, and a one year contract, it looked as if Stark was just at the club to see out his impressive and underrated career, but he soon showed that he still possessed that knack of scoring from midfield, with his ability to ghost into the box still evident as he scored on his league debut in a 4-0 win over Morton at Cappielow.
A few weeks later, he further endeared himself to the Celtic supporters by scoring the only goal in a vital 1-0 win over Rangers at Celtic Park.
Billy was also the victim of a brutal challenge/assault in the same game by Ibrox player manager Graeme Souness, who rightly saw red for his wild and thuggish aggression.
Thankfully Billy came out the incident without serious injury, and would go on to become a vital cog in Billy McNeill’s fairytale Iconic centenary double winning squad, scoring several important goals as he formed a terrific partnership with Chris Morris on the right hand side of the park.
The following campaign was a disappointing one for the club, but Billy again scored a few notable strikes, and added yet another Scottish Cup gong to his collection as the Hoops beat Rangers at Hampden to win the Scottish Cup, and stop the Ibrox club winning a treble in the process.
The 1989/90 campaign clearly saw Celtic suffer a dramatic decline, with the big spending Ibrox club becoming the country’s dominant force, with Aberdeen even regarded as a better team than Celtic.
Billy too suffered, as he was a regular on the treatment table, and his swan song as a Celtic player was an appearance in the 1990 Scottish cup final against former club Aberdeen, with the Dons prevailing in a 9-8 penalty shootout win.
Billy would depart the club that summer to join former teammate Tommy Burns at Kilmarnock, and four years later would return to Celtic Park as assistant manager to the legendary TB.
All in all Billy Stark won three major honours for the club making 74 appearances, and scoring 25 goals. Billy will always be remembered for his part in the iconic centenary double win and it was his goal in the Old Firm match at the start of the season that gave that Celtic team the belief that they could go on and achieve success in that wonderful season for Celtic supporters.
