Full Name: Robert Sime 'Roy' Aitken
Born:November 24, 1958
Caps: 57 games for Scotland
NickName: The Bear, Shirley (because of his curly hair when he was a teenager)

Summary
Robert Sime 'Roy' Aitken (born November 24, 1958) had a glowing playing career with Celtic and played 57 games for the Scotland national football team. An uncompromising defender, he was easily a favourite with the fans and was a stalwart in the Celtic side throught the 80s, and later a captain. His most memorable season was by far the Centenary season, where he more than played the captain's part.

His style was hard but fair, and even his harshest critics would concede that he is a difficult man to dislike at all. Some though found him a bit clumsy, and pace was not his strongpoint but he more than made up for it with his other qualities. He always led by example, and pushed everyone around him to give that bit more than they thought they could.

Always a down to earth guy, he used to spend one-two days a week in the the summer breaks at Butlins where he helped to coach and play football with the youngsters! Can't imagine players doing that now at all.

There were lows as well though with a sending off in a Scottish Cup final, but also that he was an easy target for the press who ultimately hounded him out of Celtic, where he ended up in an unhappy playing stint at Newcastle. A practise that continues to this day by the press.

One thing that isn't mentioned enough is that when Rangers won their 9 in a row league titles, the rot at Parkhead actually happened when Roy Aitken left Celtic. He was a rock in the Celtic defence, in many ways irreplaceable, and it wasn't until the late 90s that we finally found a suitable replacement to get our defensive frailties sorted out. He was one of those players which some didn't realise the value of until he'd left.

After his playing career he had a short unsuccessful spell in management at Aberdeen, before turning his attention to coaching. He went on to become a highly respected coach with Leeds United before rejoining former leeds coach David O'Leary at Aston Villa.

He also played for St Mirren.



Articles
Pictures

• Picture Gallery

Forum Threads

• How good was Roy Aitken? (March 2007)

Quotes
"As someone who went through secondary school with him and consider myself a friend of the big man's here's my opinion. "He was approached to go and play for Celtic Boys Club when he was 14. He played for our school team on Saturday mornings and then rushed off to Glasgow or wherever to play for the boys club. He trained with them at least two nights a week and we started to see a difference in his play as a result. "At 16 he made his first team debut against Stenhousemuir. He basically nevre looked back from there. To say he was slow is ridiculous. To say he lost Celtic "big" games is even more ridiculous. His abilities technically as a football player were good, his drive and passion for Celtic Football Club, unquestioned. "There was not one game that he came off the park where he could have offered any more than he gave. Legend..of course. "
(TorCelt of KStreet forum) Quotes

'I only know the first two lines of 'The Sash' because after that we've usually scored.'
Roy Aitken on Old Firm games in the 1980s