Aitken, Roy

Biog

Robert Sime ‘Roy’ Aitken (born November 24, 1958) had a glowing playing career with Celtic and played 57 games for the Scotland national football team. An uncompromising defender, he was easily a favourite with the fans and was a stalwart in the Celtic side throughout the 1980s, and later a captain. His most memorable season was by far the Centenary season, where he more than played the captain’s part.

His style was hard but fair, and even his harshest critics would concede that he is a difficult man to dislike at all. Some though found him a bit clumsy, and pace was not his strong point but he more than made up for it with his other qualities. He always led by example, and pushed everyone around him to give that bit more than they thought they could.

Always a down to earth guy, he used to spend one-two days a week in the the summer breaks at Butlins where he helped to coach and play football with the youngsters! Can’t imagine many (if any) top club players doing that now at all.

Billy McNeill Era (first tenure)
Roy made his debut on 10th September 1975 against Stenhousemuir in the League Cup but it was not until 21st February 1976 that he made his league debut at centre half at Pittodrie in Celtic’s 1-0 victory, after Roddy MacDonald had lost form and from that day onwards Roy Aitken was a Celtic regular.

In March 1976 Celtic had to ‘adopt’ Roy in order for him to gain entry into communist East Germany to play against Sachsenring Zwickau in a ECWC quarter final game as he was only 17 years old and not considered an adult by the East German authorities..

Sean Fallon had initially given Roy his break in Jock Stein’s absence but when Stein returned to the helm in the summer of 1976 Roy was pushed into a holding midfield role which suited his strength, pace and enthusiasm. This gave Ronnie Glavin and Kenny Dalglish more scope to attack and Celtic had an enormously successful season winning the League and Cup double. On March 19th he memorably scored both Celtic’s goals in the 2-2 draw at Ibrox, the second a spectacular volley from a John Doyle free kick.

The 1977/78 was a disaster for Celtic and due to a plague of injuries Roy was played at right back, left back, sweeper, centre half and midfield. In spite of constantly changing positions Roy was one of the few Celtic successes that season and the experience was to serve him well in the future. Due to a terrible injury list Roy was even made captain on occasions during that season and he was only 19 years old.

Billy McNeill took over in the summer of 1978 and made Roy the mainstay of the centre of the Celtic midfield. Roy responded to his new responsibility and he was instrumental in Celtic’s dramatic league title win on the 21rst of May 1979 when Celtic’s ten men beat Rangers 4-2. Aitken scored Celtic’s first goal that night and was arguably the best man on the park. From that day on Roy Aitken was a Celtic legend in the eyes of the fans.

At this point in his career the fans were undecided about Roy’s best position, some preferring him in a rampaging midfield role and others preferring him in a central defensive role. Because of his versatility his game sometimes suffered although he made his Scotland debut against Peru in September 1979 in a midfield role. In May 1980 he was a tower of strength in the Celtic defence in the Scottish Cup final against Rangers and played a huge part in Celtic’s 1-0 win, being a great assistance to the inexperienced Mike Conroy alongside him at centre half.

In August 1980 McNeill decided to keep Aitken in a sweeper role alongside either McAdam or MacDonald at centre half. He settled well into this role and played a huge part in the 1981 title win and was now playing the best football of his career. On February 21rst 1981 he scored a spectacular goal in the vital 3-1 win over Rangers when he ran from his own half and brushed several Rangers defenders away before scoring. At this stage Roy displayed a tremendous level of consistency and performed to a remarkably high level week after week.

Celtic regained the their title in 1982 and Roy Aitken was again to the fore. Along with Danny McGrain and Tommy Burns Roy was one of Celtic’s most experienced players and deputised for Danny McGrain as captain in his absence. Despite playing in defence Roy was always keen to come forward and was always a threat at corners and free kicks. He had become a huge favourite with the Celtic fans who fondly nicknamed him ‘The Bear’ and would constantly chant ‘Feed the Bear’ in praise of their favourite.

In September 1982 he scored two spectacular goals at Fir Park against Jock Wallace’s Motherwell in Celtic’s fine 7-0 victory, both goals being thrilling, powerful runs straight through the centre of the Motherwell defence. On 4th December 1982 he had a fine game in Celtic’s League Cup final victory over Rangers at Hampden in the driving rain and awful conditions.

David Hay Era
In 1983 McNeill departed for Manchester City and David Hay replaced him as manager. Celtic were now under pressure from Aberdeen and Dundee United for Scottish honours and their defence was weak and this put a huge pressure on Aitken who at times seemed to do the work of two men. On May 19th he was sensationally sent off in the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen and the behaviour of several Aberdeen players in influencing the referee, including Gordon Strachan and Mark McGhee, leaves a bad taste with Celtic fans to this very day.

Roy recovered from the experience and scored a vital first goal against Motherwell in the 1985 Scottish Cup semi final replay to ensure Celtic made it to another final against Dundee United. With Celtic 1-0 down and playing poorly with twenty minutes remaining, David Hay gambled by throwing Roy forward into midfield. It was an inspirational move and was perhaps Roy’s finest moment as a Celtic player as he almost single handedly dragged Celtic to victory. It was from Roy’s determined run and cross that Frank McGarvey scored Celtic’s spectacular winner with a diving header. Almost a year to the day after his disappointment at being ordered off Roy Aitken was the man of the match on Celtic’s glory day.

Exactly a week after that cup final win Roy helped to create Richard Gough’s winning goal against England at Hampden Park, giving Scotland their first home win over England since 1976.

Celtic had another dramatic title win in 1986 when they won it at Love Street on the final day of the season with Roy again being a mainstay in the side. By this time Roy had become Celtic captain as Danny McGrain was phased out of the side. He played for Scotland in the 1986 World Cup finals and played well in the Scottish midfield despite Scotland not winning a game.

Return of Billy McNeill (second tenure)
In 1987 Hay was sacked and McNeill returned as manager. He quickly regrouped the Celtic team and with Roy as captain he led Celts to a richly deserved league and cup double. In February 1988 he assumed a captain’s responsibility by scoring a 90th minute penalty against Morton at Parkhead to give Celtic a 1-0 win and two vital league points. Dundee United were again defeated 2-1 in the Scottish Cup final and Aitken made history as Celtic’s captain in their centenary season.

In 1989 he captained Celtic to victory against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final but by this time it was clear that all was not well at Parkhead. By the Autumn of 1989 he was receiving huge criticism in the press for his Scotland performances for which he was now captain. Despite Scotland qualifying for the 1990 World Cup finals the criticism continued much of it vitriolic and personal especially from the gutter press journalist Gerry McNee. Despite huge backing from the Celtic support Roy asked for a transfer and was sold to second division Newcastle United for £500,000 in early January of 1990. Despite his huge successes as a Celtic player, a great number of Celtic fans felt dismayed by his departure at such short notice and his absence left a huge void for many years that Celtic struggled to fill.

Roy Aitken is a Celtic great who, when in full flow charging forward through the centre of the field, was a spectacular sight. He had been the rock in Celtic’s defence in many successes from 1977 until 1989 and a fine Celtic captain. An inspirational player, he was always able to motivate those around him and Roy Aitken’s true value to Celtic was never fully appreciated by many until he left. Many would even argue that the barren years to 1995 really sunk in and began when Roy Aitken left the club, as Celtic were left rudderless thereafter for many years.

Post-Celtic
Things didn’t work out at Newcastle (often a dead-end for many footballers), and he later moved on to St Mirren and Aberdeen.

After his playing career he had a short unsuccessful spell in management at Aberdeen, before turning his attention to coaching. He went on to become a highly respected coach with Leeds United before rejoining former Leeds coach David O’Leary at Aston Villa and later Birmingham under ex-Rangers manager Alex McLeish. He later had a spell in Dubai with Al-Ahli again working with David O’Leary.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League

• 1976-77, 1978-79, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1985-86,
• 1987-88

Scottish Cup

• 1977, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1989

Scottish League Cup

• 1982-83

Articles

• Big Interview (2006)

Pictures

• Picture Gallery

Books

• Feed The Bear – Roy Aitken’s Own Story (1987) by Alex Cameron

Forum Threads

• How good was Roy Aitken? (March 2007)

Quotes

“As someone who went through secondary school with him and consider myself a friend of the big man’s here’s my opinion. “He was approached to go and play for Celtic Boys Club when he was 14. He played for our school team on Saturday mornings and then rushed off to Glasgow or wherever to play for the boys club. He trained with them at least two nights a week and we started to see a difference in his play as a result. “At 16 he made his first team debut against Stenhousemuir. He basically never looked back from there. To say he was slow is ridiculous. To say he lost Celtic “big” games is even more ridiculous. His abilities technically as a football player were good, his drive and passion for Celtic Football Club, unquestioned. “There was not one game that he came off the park where he could have offered any more than he gave. Legend..of course.”
TorCelt of KDStreet forum

‘I only know the first two lines of ‘The Sash’ because after that we’ve usually scored.’
Roy Aitken on Celtic v Rangers games in the 1980s

Articles

The Bhoy In The Picture – Roy Aitken

Written by St Anthony
Source: http://celticunderground.net
Sunday, 20 November 2011 21:15

t’s strange to say it but Willie Pettigrew is ultimately responsible for the advent of Roy Aitken’s Celtic career. In January 1976 Motherwell came from 2-0 down to sensationally knock Celtic out of the Scottish cup by 3-2. Pettigrew had run riot with the Celtic central defenders Pat McCluskey and Roddy MacDonald and shortly after a very young Roy Aitken was thrown into the Celtic team as a raw 17 year old and he was to stay there for the next 14 years.

In his time as a Celt Roy was to divide the Celtic supporters as to what his best position was. Some swore that he was better as a rugged centre back and there were others who thought that he was used to much better effect as a marauding midfield player. Roy was to provide great service to Celtic in both roles during his time at Parkhead.

Although his first few games were as a centre half Jock Stein initially played Roy in midfield in an effort to improve his all round game. For a big man he had great technique and a delicate touch and was also blessed with a turn of pace to go with his greatest asset – his strength. It was said that young Celtic players usually have technical ability and normally have to build up their physique for the professional game but with Roy he already had the build of a man but he was required to brush up on the more technical side of his game.

He learned quickly and before long he had added goal scoring to his growing repertoire. In March 1977 he was the Celtic hero in a 2-2 draw at Ibrox by scoring twice, the second of which was a never to be forgotten spectacular crashing volley from a John Doyle free kick as Rangers fans were singing prematurely of a 2-1 victory.

Roy’s early days in the hoops were sometimes difficult as Celtic went through a period of transition but he cemented his place in Celtic folklore when he was one of the 10 men who won the League by beating Rangers 4-2 in May 1979. It’s no exaggeration to say he covered every blade of grass that night, scoring once and creating two others. If Roy Aitken had never played for Celtic again he would still have been remembered as a legend solely on that performance.

One of the most spectacular sights during Celtic games in the 1980’s was Roy Aitken’s regular dynamic, powerful bursts from defence or midfield. This was best demonstrated against Rangers in 1981 when he broke from defence and powered down the right flank, easily brushing two Rangers players aside in the process. When his first shot was blocked by a defender he still had the presence of mind to send a glorious shot high past Peter McCloy and into the net. It was a magnificent goal and he had ran three quarters of the pitch to score it in the process.

In 1982 Jock Wallace was the newly appointed manager of Motherwell when Celtic came to trounce his new charges by 7-0 much to the delight of the huge Celtic support inside Fir Park. Aitken scored twice that day and they were almost identical goals as he spectacularly raced forward from midfield past the challenges of several Motherwell players before calmly scoring with all the aplomb of a centre forward.

Celtic fans loved big Roy’s effort and commitment and when he went on these thrusting runs the fans would respond with a rousing chorus of ‘Feed the Bear, Feed the Bear, Feed the Bear’, which was reference to Roy’s nickname that the fans had given him. Roy Aitken, in full flow, was a remarkable sight.

In my opinion Roy had his best ever Celtic game in October 1986 when Celtic travelled to Dens Park. Dundee had a decent side at that time and in the first half they had Celtic under constant pressure and had it not been for Roy, playing at centre back alongside a young Derek Whyte, then the game would have been over at half time. Celtic weathered the storm and in the second half romped home with a 3-0 win. I can still recall travelling home on the Govan Emerald bus singing the old song:

#We’re on the top of the League
Looking down on the Rangers
And the only explanation I can find
Is the team that we’ve got
Is the best team of the lot
And they’ve put us on the top of the League#
(To the tune of the Carpenters’ ‘we’re on top of the world)

It has to be said there were other songs sung on that trip home that the SNP’s ‘charming’ Christine Grahame would have had us banged up for.

Roy Aitken was occasionally branded a dirty player in certain circles which was totally unfair to the big man’s reputation. Roy was always whole hearted and committed but I would defy anyone to label him a dirty player because there is no evidence of this at all.

He was of course sent off in the 1984 Scottish cup final against Aberdeen (for his first tackle) but the sending off was more to do with over acting on the part of the injured Mark McGhee and the disgraceful hounding of referee Bob Valentine by several Aberdeen players, most notably one Gordon Strachan. Roy remained very friendly with both these characters on Scotland duty which says a lot for his forgiving personality and it is ironic that both McGhee and Strachan were to turn up at Parkhead in later years in different capacities. Personally I would never have let the two of them into Celtic Park as paying customers, never mind employing them, after their antics on that day at Hampden in 1984.

Aitken managed to put the misery of the 1984 final behind him exactly one year later to the day when Celtic faced Dundee United at Hampden in the 1985 SCF. With 20 minutes remaining United were well worth their 1-0 lead when David Hay took off Paul McStay to put on defender Pierce O’Leary in his place. Quite frankly we all thought Davie had lost the plot but his ploy was to release Roy into midfield for some much needed drive and urgency.

The turnaround was astonishing as Celtic, driven on by big Roy, threw everything at the United defence. Davie Provan’s free kick brought the equaliser and with minutes remaining Aitken powered down the right hand side to cross for Frank McGarvey to score with a diving header. The atmosphere in Hampden was amazing in that last 20 minutes as the Celtic fans sensed United’s hesitancy and roared their team to victory. Hampden wasn’t a salubrious arena in those days (it still isn’t) but it was far better than the impotent effort that the SFA have foisted on us now. The exciting finish in the 1985 final compares most favourably with the similarly dramatic endings in the 1931 and 1965 finals and it could not have been won without the strength and courage of Roy Aitken.

In 1988 Roy had the honour of captaining Celtic in their highly successful centenary season. Most people remember the landmark games that season but we should also recall Roy’s courage in taking a last minute penalty against Morton at Parkhead in February 1988. Such was the tension that day many fans could barely watch when Celtic were awarded the spot kick but Roy remained cool under pressure and stuck it away.

The only blot on Roy Aitken’s Celtic career was the nature of his departure in January 1990. In the autumn of 1989 Andy Roxburgh had made Roy Scotland captain and this had not gone down well with certain members of the Scottish press, particularly Gerry McNee, whose criticism was often over the top and bordered on the vitriolic.

With Scotland’s place in the 1990 World cup finals now assured Roy became desperate to retain his place in the national team and also the captaincy. He asked Celtic for a transfer on the grounds that he was under pressure from the Scottish media and that a move to England would help him overcome his problems.

Billy McNeill reluctantly agreed to the demand and Roy was transferred to Newcastle United in the English second division. Celtic were going through a difficult period at this time and Celtic fans felt that Roy had betrayed them by asking to leave. Given the fact that he had been given a lucrative testimonial when 40,000 fans had turned up for his financial gain they may have had a point and thus one of Celtic’s greatest sons departed from Parkhead. He was a hard man to replace and it was not until the arrival of Johan Mjallby many years later that Celtic could say they had another such powerful presence in defence.

However despite the nature of his departure Roy Aitken should be remembered for the best reasons, for his six League medals, five Scottish cup medals and one League cup medal as well as a host of great memories.

Roy Aitken is an all time Celtic great.