On this Day in 1998, Lubo Moravcik made his Celtic debut | OneFootball

On this day 26 years ago, Lubo made his Celtic debut. The rest as they say is history…

Lubomir Moravcik Glasgow Celtic FC November 1998: Mary Evans Allstar Richard Sellers.

26 years ago today the Celtic support witnessed  the debut of the one and only Lubo Moravcik. The Slovakian was famously written off and disrespected by most of the media.

Described as some as ‘a 33 year old has been’ and ‘one of Dr Jo’s auld pals’ with one newspaper claiming that Celtic had signed a ‘Dud Czech’ , wrong on both counts he’s Slovakian and he was as far as you could possibly be from being a dud. A more accurate headline would have been Celtic sign Slovakian genius but let’s face it, they were never going to write that.

Lubomir Moravcik Glasgow Celtic FC November 1999: Photo Mary Evans Allstar Richard Sellers

Lubo, a seasoned international with World Cup experience actually had nothing to prove, and his undoubted ability would shine through on the pitch pretty much immediately.

His debut was against Dundee at Celtic Park on a day that the atmosphere was turned up a notch due to the earlier news that General Manager Jock Brown had decided to stand down. Incidentally, Jock Brown’s interview on The Celtic Exchange podcast earlier this year is well worth a watch.

The players reacted to that positive atmosphere by putting in an excellent display on the pitch as they thumped the Dens side 6-1. Hat trick hero Henrik Larsson and a teenage Mark Burchill who grabbed a brace naturally hogged the headlines, but Lubo showed he was more than just the washed up player that some had him down as.

Lubo’s first involvement was to give away a free kick in a dangerous area with a rash tackle, but after that he asserted his authority on the game with his crisp passing and elegance on the ball.

Lubomir Moravcik, Celtic FC November 1998 Mary Evans Allstar RichardSellers

He laid on a brilliant assist for the fifth goal that saw Henrik Larsson grab his hat trick. An exquisite outside of the foot cross was perfect executed by the King of Kings gave us a glimpse of what to expect from the Slovakian genius.

Lubo was substituted for youngster John Paul McBride soon after Simon Donnelly grabbed the sixth and final goal, but we’d seen enough to know that Lubo was a special player. Actual a very special player, as he would prove over the next three years. The Celtic support called him a gift from god and that summed up the little genius from Slovakia perfectly.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

Press Cutting, Celtic v Dundee, 7th November 1998. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Celtic in the Thirties, Volumes One & Two by Matt Corr – out now on Celtic Star Books.

Celtic in the Thirties, Volumes One & Two by Matt Corr – out now on Celtic Star Books.

CELTIC IN THE THIRTIES, VOLUMES ONE & TWO BY MATT CORR – OUT NOW! Order your signed copies below…

Celtic in the Thirties by Celtic Historian Matt Corr is published in two volumes by Celtic Star Books. OUT NOW!

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