🍀 Paddy McCourt exclusive: 'That was my moment to never forget' | OneFootball

Paddy McCourt’s Celtic career lasted five years and 88 appearances.

Despite that relatively short period and the limited time on the field, the Derry native will go down in Celtic folklore as one of the great cult heroes and to this day, seven years after leaving, he remains a beloved figure among the support.

Given the excitement he invoked any time he picked up the ball for his ability to weave magic patterns through any defence, that is understandable.

A collection of his best goals for the Scottish champions views like a compilation that even Ronaldinho would be proud of.

But for the man himself, it was a somewhat simple goal for the Hoops (as simple as dancing past two players and dinking over the goalkeeper can be anyway) that holds pride of place over any of the Roy of the Rovers runs and finishes he produced elsewhere.

“The one goal that will always stand out for me certainly isn’t the best one but it was the goal against Hearts which was my first goal at Celtic Park and was a special moment for me,” McCourt said in an interview with OneFootball.

“It wouldn’t have mattered to me if it had been a tap-in from a yard – it was the meaning of it.

“I then knew what it was to score for Celtic at Celtic Park in front of 60,000 people and that will always stay with me for the rest of my life.

“We were very lucky that we won a couple of doubles when I was there and won leagues, played in cup finals but that was the moment for me that I still remember so vividly. I just remember being so proud and relieved that evening.

“I really felt on top of the world and thought: ‘it doesn’t get any better than this’. Imagine you went through a career and didn’t get to experience that? Being able to do it, from a personal point of view, that was my moment to never forget.”

To think then that the man fondly nicknamed the Derry Pele, a moniker bestowed upon him during his time in Glasgow, almost didn’t make it to Paradise.

In 2008, he was on the brink of completing a move from Derry City to West Bromwich Albion when Celtic intervened at the 11th hour.

“The Celtic interest came really, really late but when it did my head was turned massively,” he admitted.

“It was the club I supported as a boy. I was afraid to pass that up in case it never came back around.

“I’d always harboured ambitions to give it another crack across the water [after a spell at Rochdale] because I knew I was good enough but truth be told, I probably didn’t think I’d get a move directly from Derry to Celtic.

“If someone asked me when I was leaving Rochdale, I’d have said I wouldn’t get another opportunity but I played some good stuff at Derry and was very thankful to get that chance again.”

Initially, things were tough on him and rumours of his struggles to adapt due to fitness issues filtered out of Lennoxtown.

Five appearances in his maiden campaign only served to add fuel to the fire but a niggling injury was a big factor in hampering him from hitting the ground as he set the record straight on some of the Glasgow gossip.

“All the stuff about my fitness goes back to the first year. Before I signed with Celtic, I had a back problem which the club may not have been aware of due to how late the deal went through,” revealed McCourt.

“So when I got there, it was straight into pre-season and I was very unfit. For one, I was coming from the League of Ireland, where I’d never been blessed with great stamina or anything like that but the fact that I’d been out for six weeks on top of that had my fitness levels really low.

“But it came down to that first pre-season and rumours just filter out and they can just hang around you so people use that as a reason for why you aren’t playing even when you are [fit].”

After establishing himself when he did get up to speed, he went on to enjoy a trophy-laden time in Glasgow.

He loved his time there so much that McCourt, who is now serving as a technical director at his hometown club Derry City, has designs on getting back there some day.

“Some day in the future I’d love to be back in some capacity and that’s why I’m working hard now to try and make it a success here,” he says.

“I love what I’m doing at the moment because I’m working with great people who allow me to grow and make decisions but you never know what’s down the line in football.”