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Pat Stanton was a Hibernian legend when he signed for the Bhoys in a shock move in September 1976.

The veteran had spent 13 years with the Edinburgh side – his first and true love - and was just a couple of weeks short of his 32nd birthday when he made the surprise switch to Parkhead. The signing would prove to be a Jock Stein masterstroke.

As a Hi-Bee he played mostly in midfield and was named Scotland's Player of the Year in 1970, the season Celtic made it to a second European Cup final. He had played briefly under Stein at Easter Road, captained the club for six years and scored in the 2-1 League Cup final victory over Celtic in 1972.

Stanton was a class performer. Stein deployed him in a sweeper role and his quality and experience would prove invaluable to a young Celtic side desperately struggling to reach the standards and expectations set by the Lisbon Lions. A decade after European Cup glory the Celts’ had failed to qualify for the European Cup for the secon succesive season. After years in the shadow of Stein rivals Rangers were now top of the tree. Thankfully Stanton’s impact and influence was immediate.

The classy centre-half brought a calm assurance to the Hoops’ defence. Leading by example, Stanton encouraged the Bhoys to play a confident passing game. Suddenly players who had struggled just months before were turning in accomplished performances. With Stanton marshalling the defence and Kenny Dalglish inspirational in attack Celtic fans began to wonder if Stein had built another side capable of challenging in Europe.

The Bhoys won back the championship and then underlined their domestic dominance by completing a League and Scottish Cup double and with a 1-0 victory over Rangers at Hampden. Sadly for the Celtic support it would prove to be a false dawn. Dalglish departed for Liverpool on August 10th 1977 and just three days later at Tannadice Stanton suffered an injury which would eventually end his career. It was a double blow which destroyed the Bhoys season.

Pat Stanton retired a year after sustaining that injury at Dundee United having played 44 times for Celtic. He will always rightly be remembered first and foremost as a true Hibernian hero but the wonderful talent he displayed in his Celtic cameo will ensure a deserved place in the history of the Bhoys.



Pat On Signing For Celtic

"I was at home, resting before an evening derby with Hearts, when I got a call from Eddie Turnbull ," recalls Stanton. "Eddie had Jock with him, and he came on and said: 'Would you like to join my team?' I said yes, and travelled to Parkhead that night. I found out later that Celtic had tried to buy me a few times."

So Stanton signed on September 1 - with Jackie McNamara moving in the opposite direction - and was introduced to his new teammates wearing a classic Arthur Montford-style checked jacket ("It was so loud you needed volume control, but I was proud of it").

Generally a midfielder at Hibs, Stein told him to play sweeper, and three days later he made his debut against Rangers at Parkhead. "All I could think was: 'Please don't make a mistake', but the game ended 2-2 and it was a great experience."