The highly rated Stuart Slater arrived in Glasgow in August 1992 following a £1.5 million transfer from West Ham United.

Sudbury-born Slater had been an exciting talent with the Hammers although critics pointed out he didn’t score anywhere near enough goals for an attacking midfield.

Quick with exceptional ball control Slater had shown on many occasions at Upton Park that he had the ability to run at and beat defences. Consequently when signed by Liam Brady he was warmly welcomed by a Celtic support which had traditionally cherished such entertainers and were now desperately seeking a new hero.

Sadly that hero was not to be Slater who while in Glasgow never once looked like the talent he had been with at West Ham. There were rare flashes of his once undoubted ability but it was all too apparent that this big money buy was an expensive luxury who couldn’t be carried by a toiling Celtic side.

He was too often a passenger in games and seemed to lack the physical or mental strength to cope with the demands of Scottish football. It was no surprise then that when Ipswich bid £750,000 for the player in September 1993 Slater returned south after making 55 appearances and scoring 3 goals.

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