Veteran midfielder Billy Stark joined Celtic in a surprise move in the summer of 1987.

Newly returned Bhoys boss Billy McNeill paid just £70,000 to bring Stark to Glasgow from Aberdeen where he had enjoyed much success since moving north from St Mirren in June 1983.

The former Buddie was however deemed to be past his best by the time he pulled on the Hoops but the capture of the veteran was to prove inspirational as Celtic went on to record a famous league and cup double in the club’s centenary season.

The wily and energetic Stark produced some wonderful displays that season and any doubts about his potential value to the team were demolished on August 29th when he scored the only goal to defeat Rangers at Parkhead.

Billy Stark eventually left Celtic in July 1990 to join Kilmarnock but he was to return to the club four years later as assistant to new manager Tommy Burns.





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Stark reality of historic Old Firm battles
(Billy Stark on his firm Celtic V Rangers games).
17/12/06
Rodger Baillie

Billy Stark enjoyed instant hero status in his first Old Firm game for Celtic — but he also feels for under-pressure Paul Le Guen at Rangers

BILLY STARK knows the joy of scoring the winner in an Old Firm match, but his goal almost became a postscript as in the madcap Old Firm world he was hailed a hero by the Celtic support — as he was involved in the sending-off of Graeme Souness.

The beanpole midfielder was 30 when Billy McNeill, starting his second spell as Parkhead manager, snapped him up from Aberdeen. Stark made his Old Firm debut at Celtic Park in August 29, 1987, scoring the decisive goal after five minutes in a 1-0 victory. But it was a clash in the 54th minute with the Rangers player-manager that gave him a footnote in Old Firm history.

“I slid into a tackle which people who remember me as a player will find hard to believe,” recalls Stark. “My boot came off and I was still holding it when Peter Grant passed to me and Graeme Souness went to win the ball. I managed to see him coming and dodged his challenge. It was worth a booking, but referee Davie Syme wasn’t his pal. He’d had his name taken earlier for mouthing at the ref, so he was sent off.

“Graeme was a magnificent player, but he didn’t like getting beaten. In the heat of the moment you go for the ball, and if you mistime it then it looks bad and he was full value for that ordering-off. Some Celtic fans were more chuffed that Souness was sent off than the fact we won, which tells you everything about the rivalry.”

Stark, now in charge of Queen’s Park, has been named the Third Division manager of the month for November. He was No2 at Celtic under Tommy Burns and admits, as yet another confrontation looms against Rangers, that he retains a keen interest. “Everyone is force-fed the daily Old Firm diet and I still get a tingle when these games come round, even though I’m not involved now. That special edge would be there even if they played every week. “If you’re unlucky enough to be on the heavy end of a defeat, and I was in the Celtic side beaten 5-1 at Ibrox (in August 1988), you just go home and shut the door for a week. Well, apart from Frank McAvennie but he operated under different rules from the rest of us. Conversely, an Old Firm win is great for the winner’s confidence and Rangers will believe they still have a chance in the league if they win this one, which is why it is so important.”

Stark sees similarities in the reign of Burns as Celtic manager with Paul Le Guen at Rangers, and the Frenchman faces another searching test today in his first Old Firm game on home ground. “The new Rangers manager is just like Tommy, it’s a transitional time for his club and he’s had to build a new team. I know how intense it was for Tommy, he was up against arguably the best Rangers team ever, as they went for nine in a row. We operated at Hampden for one season with Celtic Park being rebuilt. He had as much on his shoulders as anyone could bear, and the problems are magnified a million times as an Old Firm manager but it makes you a better man.

“The job changes everyone who does it, at Celtic and Rangers. If you take all the criticism personally then you’re not able to function. Paul Le Guen is a proven manager, I’ve been impressed with the way he conducts himself. He’s an intelligent, measured individual and it doesn’t look as if he gets caught up in the madness. But I’m sure he’s still found it a culture shock becoming part of the Old Firm.”

Stark also admires the way Gordon Strachan, his former Aberdeen teammate, has recovered from the black start of that defeat by Artmedia Bratislava in the Champions League qualifier. “Nobody could have envisaged Celtic being where they are now in such a short space of time. It showed great strength of character on his part to overcome all the early criticism.”