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Fullname: Owen Moffat
aka: –
Born: 6 January 2002
Birthplace: Stirling
Signed: 1 July 2019 (turned professional)
Left: 30 August 2021 (to Blackpool)
Position: Midfielder, Winger
Debut: Celtic 3-1 Sheffield Wednesday, Friendly (scored)
Debut (competitive): 2021-12-15: Ross County 1-2 Celtic, League
Squad No.: 73
Internationals: […]
International Caps: [TBC at end of career]
International Goals: [TBC at end of career]
Biog
“It is a dream… I couldn’t believe it, but it was brilliant.”
(Owen Moffat on his debut)
Owen Moffat was another young player who came out of the blue from the youth systems and pleasantly surprised everyone at what was then a demoralised Celtic. His debut was in a friendly v Sheffield Wednesday in July 2021 (also the debut for new manager Ange Postecoglou) and Moffat stole the headlines with a man of the match performance and a fine goal in a 3-1 victory.
He’d been long on Celtic’s books, joining Celtic at the age of 8, developing over the years and then signed professional in 2019.
He was a skillful wee red headed player on the wing, but comparisons to Jimmy Johnstone on a playing front were a little too premature and probably unhelpful. Nevertheless he’d caught the eye and many saw him as a good prospect.
He made his debut away v Ross County in a dramatic 2-1 win, Moffat admittedly winning his place in the side due to a large spate of injuries to key players, but he took his chance well. He then won a couple of games for the first team, including coming on late as a sub in the exciting 2-1 league cup final winning match v Hibernian which was the inaugural title for new manager Postecoglu. It was actually a key time in the season and showed the new mettle of the squad under Postecoglu. It helped turned the season & the league title campaign to Celtic’s favour, so Moffat’s small part in this was appreciated and at least gave him a taste of what could be for him at Celtic.
The Celtic B team manager, Tommy McIntyre commented that Owen Moffat’s competitive debut with the first team was the perfect example of how the club’s Youth Academy worked:
“To me that’s the golden ticket, going from the B Team to the First Team. Owen Moffat’s worked really hard, and the opportunities have arisen for him. He was ready and he jumped right in.”
However, to the surprise and disappointment of some, Owen Moffat moved to Blackpool in August 2022. It wasn’t expected by the general support but then he had been out of the first team picture for a while. He had become generally sidelined in the process for first team team picks even though the reports from the reserve sides on him were always bullish on his future prospects.
With the huge raft of players brought in to the first team squad under Postecoglu, Owen Moffat’s first team opportunities were expected to become increasingly rare in the near-future at least. The competition for places in midfield was intense even for the more experienced & proven players, and as Celtic had set a new domestic record with a 9-0 away win the weekend before he left, it demonstrated the difficult challenge in front of players like Moffat if he had stayed to try to win a place. Quite a turnaround from the days around his first team debut (friendly match) when Celtic were a shambles.
He wasn’t the only youngster in the same predicament, and successful youth prospects to the first team were still a rare achievement, although some great successes too (e.g. Ralston and Welsh). Other youth players had also had moved on due to the intense competition at Celtic, including the previously highly feted Karamoko Dembele.
We wished him the best, and he at least got to play for Celtic at the start of a new era in a league & league cup winning double squad in season 2021/22, fulfilling a boyhood dream.
Post-Celtic
[….]
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 202`1-22 | 1(1) | 0 | (1) | 0 | 1(2) |
| Goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
(Honours are marked below in which the player has played in at least one of the matches in the campaign.)
Scottish League
Scottish League Cup
Pictures
Articles
Owen Moffat’s delight at goalscoring start for Celtic
By Paul Cuddihy, Celtic View Editor
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2021/july/Owen-Moffat-s-delight-at-goalscoring-start-for-Celtic/
Celtic’s opening pre-season friendly against Sheffield Wednesday presented many of the young players at the club the opportunity to impress Ange Postecoglou, and Owen Moffat certainly did just that.
The 19-year-old produced an excellent performance as the Hoops beat the English League One side 3-1, capping it off with a superb goal midway through the match.
Moffat and many of his Academy team-mates have been training under the watchful eye of the new Celtic manager since the players reported back at Lennoxtown for pre-season, and they have continued that at the team’s training camp in South Wales.
It’s enabled the manager to see the talent coming through the ranks at the club, and they did well against a Sheffield Wednesday side who took an early lead in the game at Dragon Park. Showing great character, the Hoops played themselves into the game, and goals from Albian Ajeti, Owen Moffat and Odsonne Edouard gave Celtic a well-deserved victory in a match that was played in three 30-minute periods.
Owen Moffat
And Moffat, who played for the first hour of the match, was delighted with the experience and his goal.
Speaking to Celtic TV after the game, the young Celtic player said: “It was good. The first 10-15 minutes we struggled a bit, but once we got past that we were alright and it was good that we were only 1-0 down when we went in at the first break.
“The gaffer spoke to us and said he wanted us to up the intensity and calm down on the ball, and I thought we did that.”
And as for his superb goal, Moffat added: “I just remember the ball ricocheting to me and I caught it on the swivel well – I actually never saw it go in, I think I fell, but it was good.
“It is a dream. I only found out that was starting an hour or so before the game, and as soon as I found out, I was texting my family telling them that I was starting. I couldn’t believe it, but it was brilliant.”
Tommy McIntyre: Owen Moffat’s debut is perfect example for young Celts
By Louise Gould
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Celtic B team manager, Tommy McIntyre said that Owen Moffat’s competitive debut with the first team this week is the perfect example of how the club’s Youth Academy works.
Getting the call-up is not an inevitable thing, McIntyre said, and the players need to be performing at high levels in every single training session and game.
Speaking to the official Celtic website, he said: “To me that’s the golden ticket, going from the B Team to the First Team.
‘Owen Moffat’s worked really hard, and the opportunities have arisen for him. He was ready and he jumped right in.’
The 19-year-old came on as a substitute in Wednesday night’s game against Ross County, replacing another Academy graduate in Adam Montgomery just after the hour mark. And the young Celt was involved in the build-up to Anthony Ralston’s dramatic 97th-minute winner for the Hoops.
“It was a great three points for the club,” said Tommy McIntyre. “Owen’s come on and he did well, which it’s great for him, us and the Academy.”
And McIntyre also explained that he saw an old clip of Owen Moffat the other day when he was on the ‘Football’s Next Star’ TV show with Westlife’s Nicky Byrne, which captured nine-year-old Owen scoring a goal at Barrowfield.
“When you put it into perspective and when you look at that, how far he’s come and making his debut, that’s the perfect example to other young players,” the Celtic B team manager said.
Ahead of this Saturday’s match against Bo’ness United at the Penny Cars Stadium (KO: 1pm), the manager said that preparations have been going well. The last time the sides met back in August, the young Hoops claimed a 2-0 win.
“What I’ve liked about the training and the players is that there’s one or two younger ones who have been working hard to get game-time and they have pushed themselves into the team,” he said.
“It’s really important that they understand there’s a pathway for them. It also gives us a bigger pool to choose from as well.
“Bo’ness was a tough game over there when we played them and they’ll be a bit hurt from not taking anything from that game. I see them being organised and they have had some good results this year as well.”
The B team have a busy schedule through the Christmas season, playing East Kilbride on Tuesday December 21, only a few days after the Bo’ness fixture, and then building up to a Hogmanay Glasgow derby at Ibrox.
“We are trying to prepare them for not just these games but the general step up in intensity with the way we train and how we train,” McIntyre said.
“We’re focusing on making sure they’re at it every day, that they’re really preparing their bodies for development, whether that’s going up and training with the first team or playing with the first team.”
OWEN MOFFAT
from Celticfc.net
The promising forward has progressed to the reserves from the club’s Under-17s having started to play for the Hoops from the age of eight.
Season 2020/21 saw the youngster training with the first team and he also signed a new contract at the start of the term.
Moffat made his first impact for the first during the Hoops 2021/22 pre-season camp in Wales producing an excellent performance as the Hoops beat the English League One side 3-1, capping it off with a superb goal midway through the match.
Owen made his first-team debut under Ange Postecoglou during a 2–1 Scottish Premiership win over Ross County on 15 December 2021, coming on as a substitue for Adam Montgomery on 63 minutes.
In the following game Moffat helped the Bhoys lift the League Cup in a 2-1 victory over Hibs at Hampden after coming as a second-half substitute.
His first start for Celtic’s first-team came against St Mirren in December 2021.