Until the arrival of Artur Boruc, Donegal-born Packie Bonner was unarguably regarded as the best Celtic goalkeeper since the great Ronnie Simpson.

Hailing from a county which has strong links to the Bhoys and is a hotbed of Celtic support it is perhaps not surprising that Bonner should make a name for himself in Glasgow’s east end.

The big keeper joined Celtic in 1978 from his local side Keadue Rovers and somewhat appropriatly made his debut on St Patrick's day 1979 in a 2-1 win at home to Motherwell. Brave, athletic and a superb shot-stopper Packie was to become a mainstay of the Celtic team throughout the 1980s and the early years of the 90s.

A popular character with team-mates and supporters, his form for the Hoops saw him also establish himself as first choice keeper for the Republic of Ireland and in winning 80 caps he produced some great performances for his country at the 1988 European Championship and the 1990 World Cup.

Indeed at Italia 90 he became a national hero when during a second round clash with Romania in Genoa, Packie’s saves helped his county to a penalty shoot-out victory. The big man also enjoyed plenty of success at Celtic Park and throughout his time at the club Bonner picked up 4 league championship winners medals plus 3 Scottish Cup and 1 League Cup..Cup.

The only real weakness to Bonner’s game was the odd handling error and the tendancy to on occasion flap at corners and crossballs. On the whole though the man from Donegal was a superb servant to the Hoops and it says much about his ability that Celtic struggled for years to find a keeper of equal class.

A string of injuries saw his Celtic career fade out but with an awesome 641 appearances to his name it was always guaranteed that the name Packie Bonner would be fondly and longly remembered by Celtic followers. After his departure for the club Packie became involved in coaching and he was part of the Republic coaching team that travelled to the World Cup in 2002.

Traditionally Celtic have never been blessed with great keepers. There have been plenty of good keepers but few who could be regarded as being truly great. He may not have been as highly regarded as legends such as Johnny Thomson and Ronnie Simpson but Bonner’s achievements for club and country mean he is certainly worthy of being classed as a great.