Fanatical Celtic functions, awesome Paul McStay and 11,000 keepie-uppies - Stuart Slater Big Interview

Unlucky for some. Not for him. Three decades on, the 53-year-old still waxes lyrical about his time in Glasgow's east end.

There will always be plenty of what if's when it comes to Slater and Celtic. He was the very definition of the right player at the wrong time for the club.

Slater was an incredibly gifted and talented attacking midfielder. Alongside club legend Paul McStay and the wonderful John Collins that midfield triumvirate - certainly on paper at least - should have dominated Scottish football for years and been the bedrock for an era of Celtic success.

Sadly it wasn't. Slater left Parkhead empty-handed as a player but that was microcosmic of the time and the dreadful way that the club was almost run into the ground in the early 1990s under the Kelly and the White families.

Slater, alongside others, was collateral damage at the club long before Fergus McCann rolled into town, tore everything up and established the business blueprint for the modern-day Celtic.

Ultimately, Slater deserved better than he got at Parkhead.

He's not bitter though. Far from it.

His Celtic connection and story go back to when he broke through the ranks at Upton Park as a 17-year-old apprentice at West Ham United in 1986 and was genuinely tipped to be the next big thing in English football. He even once did 11,000 keepie-uppies!

Slater featured in the same Hammers team as the man who would go on to become his Hoops manager Liam Brady.

He replaced club legend Ray Stewart for his debut and the rest is history as he went on to play for six years in the West Ham first team.

Brady took a shine to the youngster and even became his shop steward as the legendary Irish midfielder did his bidding for him and negotiated a better wages deal on his behalf not once but twice.

"I broke into the West Ham first team at 17 under John Lyall," the three-times capped England Under-21 international told The Celtic Way. "I got real belief from him that I was going to be a top player and that is what I wanted at the time.

"Liam Brady was in that West Ham team and what a great footballer he was. It is one of my greatest career accolades that I played with Brady for three years at Upton Park. I mean Brady it doesn't get much better than that.

"He was such a respected person. He played all over the world and played with top, top players and he took a shine to me as well. When Liam left Juventus, it was Michel Platini who inherited his number 10 jersey. That is where our connection started. 

"It was actually Brady who got me a raise in my wages. It was unheard of. I was on about £140 a week when I broke into the first team and he had that aura and respect and he went in batting for me in order to get me a better deal.

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"He told me he couldn't and wouldn't get me the top dollar because I had to earn that kind of money but he did that a couple of times and my wages rocketed to £350-400 a week and then up to £800. He was a senior pro who looked after me as a kid."

Brady also put Slater in touch with Fintan Drury, who looked after all of Brady's affairs.

It wasn't long after the Irishman hung up his boots as a player that he got the call to become the boss of Celtic in 1991.

Within a year of being appointed in Paradise, Brady cast his eye down south and Slater was ripe for the picking after knocking back a new deal with West Ham.

An old Hammers apprentice pal of Slater's cast doubt on whether the Englishman should sign on the dotted line or not for the Hoops in the first place.

"I had a good friend John Strain who I was an apprentice with for three years at West Ham," he said. "He was Scottish and a big Celtic man, a Celtic fanatic.

"I spoke to him when the club came in for me, he was my first port of call. My deliberation was down to the fact that John advised me that it was not the best time to sign for Celtic. He told me that he wanted me to play for Celtic and that it was a wonderful club but he had reservations. They were only attracting crowds of just 26,000 and they hadn't won anything for a few years.

"The Kellys and the Whites were the families in charge at the boardroom level and there was real turmoil in the background. I don't want to be negative but that is what John told me and he knew me inside out as I had roomed with him at West Ham.

"He told me there and then it was not the right time to sign for Celtic and that they were going through a difficult period. If I did not hit the ground running it was going to be a tall order. The information that John passed on to me weighed heavily on my mind and that is why it took me a couple of days to commit to Celtic."

Slater did commit. In August 1992, he became Celtic's record signing of £1.5million and was reunited with Brady.

He was unveiled on the same day as striker Andy Payton and Albanian utility man Rudi Vata.

However, the Hoops were up against a rampant Rangers side who domestically were sweeping all before them and in 1992 came within 90 minutes of reaching the inaugural Champions League final.

Strain's advice was coming to pass. It was just such a tall order for them to halt the Rangers juggernaut.

By then Slater's injuries started to flare up and become more and more frequent. A troublesome Achilles tendinitis problem had begun in his final season at West Ham but he was to be plagued by a recurrence of it in his next 12 months in Paradise.

Slater said: "I had no injuries in my first five years at West Ham and in the final year my Achilles problem started.

"From that last season at West Ham and signing for Celtic and throughout the rest of my career, I missed big chunks of seasons through the injury. My asset was pace and I could drop a shoulder but I couldn't get away.

"I lost my pace due to that injury. That was a bit disappointing and it's not an excuse because it actually happened. After I left Celtic, I had five operations on my Achilles and I was never the same player.

"I came to Celtic and there was a massive expectation of me as the club's record £1.5million signing. They had offered more for me but I think the injury meant that they got me a little bit cheaper. It's a massive club. You do not realise how big it is until you get there.

"You do get to hear about it but you have no conception at all into you are in that building and you see for yourself the sheer size and magnitude of Celtic and Rangers. They are both huge clubs with unbelievable histories and great fanbases.

"There was a bit of apprehension as there was a disconnect between the supporters and the board and we hadn't won anything for a few years. I still had faith in my ability to succeed at Celtic."

Slater's faith and resolve were also strengthened by the calibre of players that Celtic still had at the club - McStay, Collins and Charlie Nicholas for a start. He admits that he still reveres the Maestro to this day.

"Paul, John and Charlie - now they were proper footballers," he said. "Packie Bonner and Peter Grant too. I was in awe of them when I walked into that Celtic dressing room.

"Thirty years down the line and I am still proud and privileged to say that I played for Celtic alongside a club legend like McStay. This guy that I played with is up there in terms of the greatest players to play the game.

"On my first day at the club, I was sandwiched in between McStay and Nicholas. I was in my element. I remember thinking 'wow! What have I joined here?'

"What a humble and beautiful man McStay is."

Despite winning nothing, Slater has some wonderful memories of games which left their mark on the Hoops faithful.

There was the infamous comeback from 2-0 down against Cologne in September 1992 when Celtic overturned the deficit with a memorable 3-0 win in the second leg at Parkhead.

Slater was also the star turn against a Borussia Dortmund team that succumbed to a slender 1-0 away defeat in the UEFA Cup to a goal from Swiss ace Stephane Chapuisat in the Westfalen Stadion the following month.

He played in five Old Firms - losing two, drawing two and winning one. 

It was during a match against Rangers that the Celtic supporters took Slater to their hearts. He ran the show but somehow as was the norm back then the Light Blues snatched a narrow 1-0 win courtesy of Ian Durrant's goal.

In fact, Slater who hit the crossbar could have helped himself to a hat-trick had it not been for the excellence of Goram between the sticks and he could have entered Celtic's hall of fame and historic record books.

However, he recalls how the Celtic supporters nearly stripped him naked at a fans function in the aftermath of a 2-1 win over Rangers back in March 1993 when Collins and Payton were on the scoresheet.

Slater said: "The Cologne and Borussia Dortmund games in Europe spring to mind. I got man of the match after the Dortmund game. God bless Andy Goram but he prevented me from getting a hat-trick against Rangers in a derby! He was just outstanding that day.

"Rangers were a regimented side back then but they got results because they had the likes of Richard Gough, John Brown, Mark Hateley and Ally McCoist in the team. Rangers had a great mixture of brawn and brain and they were able to grind out results.

"Celtic tended to sign technical players under Liam Brady and we had too many of them in the team at that time. I remember one game against Falkirk when we won 5-4 and we were so soft-centred but we got the job done that day. There weren't enough Peter Grant's in the Celtic team, to be honest.

"I played in five derbies against Rangers and I tasted victory just once. That night we went to a supporter's function and the Celtic fans were ripping my shirt and tie off.

"They were just so happy and delirious and delighted that we managed to beat Rangers. I couldn't help thinking what it would have been like if we had actually achieved something and won silverware during my time at the club. That would have been really special."

Slater doesn't have time for regrets. He still loves being part of the Celtic family.

"I have a lot of good Celtic-supporting friends in the Alloa/Sauchie areas," added Slater, who currently runs a football academy at Billericay FC in partnership with Chelmsford College.

"They always said to me that I wore that famous hooped Celtic jersey and I was one of them. That meant so much to me. Celtic never saw the best of me and that was unfortunate.

"The club never saw the player that was being tipped to be a regular England international after my first five years at West Ham. By my own admission, I should have done better than what I did at Celtic and I am the first to admit that.

"It is still on my bucket list to come and watch a Celtic v Rangers game or a midweek European match in the Champions League as you cannot begin to describe that atmosphere to anybody else.

"Celtic is a family club and once it grips you it never leaves you. I know that it will never leave me. I am extremely grateful to have worn that world-famous hooped jersey and to have played for such a fantastic football club."

An unlucky 13 months at Celtic? On the contrary, Slater feels very lucky indeed.