| non può mancare in questa nostra Hall of Fame Paul McStay, un centrocampista di classe, modesto, con il cuore biancoverde. lascio a voi una ricerca di informazioni maggiori visto che oggigiorno il web rende tutto più facile; l'ho incontrato alcune volte e ho potuto notare come tenesse veramente al Celtic quando gli riferì delle mie trasferte a vedere i Bhoys; per ogni partita mi diceva il risultato...
ho la gara in vhs del suo esordio a Pittodrie, dove segnò un gran gol da fuori area; quando subì un brutto fallo, Danny McGrain accorse subito a sincerarsi delle sue condizioni, segno di come la squadra tenesse a quel giovane talento. ha giocato assieme a Willie, suo fratello, in prima squadra, ed entrambi hanno segnato in un old firm del 1983 (cosa unica, immagino, nel nostro sport). vi lascio riportando un articolo dell'anno scorso dove ha cercato di aiutare un suo vecchio compagno delle giovanili del Celtic, Ronnie Coyle, voloando dall'Australia dove da qualche anno si è trasferito con la famiglia. (è in inglese, ripreso dal daily record). le foto non sono riuscito a postarle ma le trovate sul web.
Ex-Celtic skipper Paul McStay flies halfway round the world to play in boyhood pal Ronnie Coyle's benefit match
CELTIC legend Paul McStay has flown from the other side of the world just to pay tribute to the man whose team gave him the blackest day of his playing career.
The former Hoops captain touched down at Glasgow Airport from Australia yesterday to be met by his boyhood pal Ronnie Coyle, now suffering from serious illness and about to see his friends from football rally round him for his financial benefit on Sunday.
Raith Rovers' stars of the past will play their Celtic counterparts at Stark's Park in a re-enactment of the 1994 League Cup Final between the clubs.
McStay feels it's the least he can do and said: "I want to honour him by being at Stark's Park and playing on the same Celtic side as my brothers Willie and Raymond for the first time.
"We always hoped it would happen in the first team one day but now it'll be just as special to do it for Ronnie."
McStay, who recently emigrated to Sydney, had the misfortune to miss the penalty in the shoot-out that took the Cup to Kirkcaldy.
And Coyle recalled yesterday how he attempted to console his heartbroken pal on the trackside at Ibrox.
He said: "We were friends from the first time we played for Celtic Boys' Club as well as Scotland schoolboys.
"I was injured and couldn't play for Raith in the Cup Final. But the fringe players went down to the tunnel to watch the penalty shoot-out.
"I wanted to see Raith win the Cup but as Paul went forward to take his penalty I said to myself, 'Anybody but him. Let somebody else miss'.
"I tried to sympathise with him when it was all over but he was beyond conversation and it was weeks before we were able to speak to each other."
Ronnie match sale at until at 3pm on cost s10 and s5 and 16s.
The McStay legend at Celtic Park was undiminished by the Cup Final loss and the club remains close to his heart even though he has emigrated Down Under.
He said: "I moved to Sydney with my wife and six children last year. That means I have to get up at 2am if I want to see Celtic on TV, which I did last Sunday when they were playing Rangers in the Co-op Cup Final.
"I've discovered you feel just as bad Down Under when Celtic lose as you do when you live in Glasgow."
McStay knows that fleeting seconds of play can live with you for the rest of your life and said: "Losing to Raith was terrible for me.
"Ultimately, it came down to that final kick of the ball from me."
McStay had no hesitation in returning home to help his old pal.
He added: "Sometimes life is more important than football and that's why I've come home to be there for a good friend this weekend.
"I felt the brunt of his friendship often enough on the park when Ronnie was an uncompromising defender but that never took away from the bond between us.
"Everybody goes on about that famous schoolboy international at Wembley when Scotland beat England 5-4. I get remembered for the goal I scored and the effect that match had on my career.
"But nobody mentions the silky pass Ronnie played through to me.
"There was more to his game than strength of character at the back."
Tickets for the Ronnie Coyle benefit match will be on sale at Stark's Park until kick-off time at 3pm on Sunday. They cost s10 for adults and s5 for OAPs and Under-16s.
COYLE HAILS FLYING VISIT
Ronnie Coyle renewed his friendship with Paul McStay yesterday and then returned to hospital for the tests that monitor his leukaemia. And yet Coyle was the one who could say he felt humbled by the attention he'll receive on Sunday from team-mates and friends from the past at the Stark's Park fundraiser.
He said: "The response has been phenomenal and I'm humbled Paul has flown so far to be there for me. He was head and shoulders above everyone I played with." Ronnie had a meal with his old friend yesterday and then kept a hospital appointment. Coyle said: "They keep tabs on my condition every Thursday and decide if I need any blood transfusions and such like. I'm fighting a battle but I'm trying to stay positive for my family."
Ex-Celtic and Raith Rovers star dies of leukaemia aged 46
Ronnie Coyle passed away a few weeks after a benefit match was held for him by the two clubs.
Former Raith Rovers star Ronnie Coyle has died from leukaemia at the age of 46.
His death on Tuesday night happened only a few weeks after Raith and Celtic, where Coyle started his career, met in a benefit game for the ex-defender. He had suffered from the cancer for the past two years. According to his former club Raith, he passed away suddenly in a Glasgow hospital.
Paul McStay - a former Celtic captain and lifelong friend of Coyle - flew from Australia to take part in the benefit game, which saw Raith and Celtic relive the 1994 League Cup Final match between the two sides.
In a career which began in 1984 and ended in 1999, Coyle also played with Clyde, Middlesbrough, Rochdale, Ayr United, Albion Rovers, East Fife and Queen’s Park. He made over 300 league appearances - more than 250 of them with Raith.
On Wednesday, Raith Rovers Chairman Dave Somerville paid tribute. He said: "The club is shocked to hear of the passing of Ronnie Coyle. The fact that we were aware of the extent of his illness does nothing to minimise the sadness experienced at this time.
"As has been said many times recently Ronnie was not only a very gifted player but will be always be remembered for being a very likeable and decent man who was a true Rovers supporter.
"I am sure that the memory of the day against a Celtic select only a couple of weeks ago stayed with Ronnie to the end. As has been said on many occasions since, that was what sport should be about and it was fitting it was in honour of Ronnie who epitomised what sport should be about. Our thoughts are with his family at this moment."
'Shocked and stunned'
Ally Gourlay, speaking on behalf of the Ronnie Coyle Benefit Committee, added: "We are shocked, stunned and so very, very sad. Everyone connected with Raith Rovers has lost a true friend. Ronnie truly was a legend in real terms.
"His last wish was to see Raith Rovers back in the SPL and I can think of no more fitting a tribute to the big man than securing a place back in the top flight. However, our thoughts at this time are with Joan, Kevin, Briony and Georgia and his many close friends and family."
Celtic also paid tribute to their former player. In a statement, the club said: "Everyone at Celtic Football Club is shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Ronnie Coyle.
"Ronnie began his playing career with Celtic in 1984 and spent three years with the club, making two first team appearances. He went on to play for a number of clubs, including a long and successful spell with Raith Rovers.
"The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Celtic Football Club are with Ronnie’s family and friends at this extremely sad time."
Mr Coyle’s funeral will take place next Tuesday, April 19, with a funeral requiem mass at 10am in St Peter’s Church in Paisley’s Braehead Road.
Born August 4, 1964; Died April 12, 2011.
RONNIE Coyle, who has died aged 46 of leukaemia, was a footballer who began his career at Celtic but who made a name for himself with Raith Rovers and played a significant part in the 1994 League Cup run that ended with the Kirkcaldy team beating the Glasgow outfit in a memorable final.
As a schoolboy at St Gerard’s Secondary, in Glasgow, he lived for football and dreamed of the day he would don the famous Celtic hoops. He was good enough to win Scotland Under-15 schoolboy honours in 1980 and was, along with Paul McStay, with whom he struck up a life-long friendship during these school days, John Robertson, John Sludden and Ally Dick, one of the stars of the Scotland team which beat England 5-4 in a memorable televised schools match that year.
He was also playing alongside McStay for Celtic Boys Club, so it was no surprise when he moved on to the Celtic staff. But his hopes of matching the prodigy McStay’s deeds for the club were to be unfulfilled.
He made a couple of first team appearances, making his debut in a 0-1 loss to Dundee at Celtic Park on May 4, 1985, before making his second and last appearance in a 2-4 loss to Dundee United at Tannadice on January 4, 1986. But, after a loan spell with Clyde, he was released and went to England, to join Middlesbrough, before moving on to Rochdale.
He returned to Scotland in the summer of 1988. Frank Connor, his mentor at Celtic Park, was now manager at Raith and he brought Coyle home. He had found his place and over the next eight years he donned Rovers’ blue shirt more than 250 times, forming an excellent central defensive partnership at Stark’s Park with Shaun Dennis.
Coyle made his Raith debut on the opening day of the 1988-89 season, in a 1-3 defeat at St Johnstone. He scored the first of his nine goals for the club in a 3-0 win over Clydebank towards the end of that season as things began to look up for the club.
Twice he helped the Fifers win the First Division title, but, although he played his part in the team getting there, he missed the high spot of his years in Kirkcaldy, the 1994 League Cup Final win over his boyhood heroes Celtic.
An Achilles tendon injury consigned him to the Ibrox stand for that game, which must have been a difficult one for him to watch – the drama of the 120 minutes of play, then the added tension of the penalty shoot-out, during which his great friend McStay, now Celtic’s captain, saw his penalty saved by Scott Thomson, before Rovers triumphed to kick-off a memorable celebration back in the Kingdom.
That victory earned Raith a crack at Europe and the Uefa Cup. Coyle was not going to miss out this time. They were beaten 2–0 by German side Bayern Munich in the first leg, which was played at Hibs’ Easter Road ground. In the second leg they led 1–0 at half time against all odds, before eventually losing 2–1.
From Raith Rovers he moved to Ayr United, signing for the Honest Men in March 1996 before making his debut in a 2-2 draw with Stirling Albion the next day. The following season was in his only full season at Somerset Park and during it he was a key player as the Honest Men won the Second Division title, playing in 30 of their 36 league fixtures.
From Ayr he moved on to finish his career in the bottom flight of senior Scottish football, firstly with Albion Rovers, then East Fife and finally Queen’s Park.
In retirement Raith’s place in his heart was such that, when the club faced closure in 2005, he flung his weight behind the Reclaim the Rovers campaign and took part in the fund-raising effort with a marathon walk which helped keep the club alive.
But in 2009 he collapsed at home and was diagnosed with leukaemia. He battled the disease with all the passion he had shown on the park. In March 2010 he received an emotional returning hero’s welcome when he was able to take in a Raith game at Stark’s Park, but he and his family accepted his case was hopeless. His death came just over two weeks after an emotional benefit game for him, at Stark’s Park, brought together most of the players from that 1994 League Cup Final.
Paul McStay even made the long trip from Australia to pay tribute to his old friend, while other former team mates travelled from all parts of the UK to honour their friend.
Ronnie Coyle was a good if not great player. He fulfilled a childhood ambition when he played in the Celtic first team; he played in three famous matches – that 5-4 Wembley victory and the two Uefa Cup clashes with Bayern and represented Scotland at youth level.
But what really won him admiration from the football public was his courageous but ultimately unsuccessful, battle leukaemia.
Ronnie Coyle is survived by his wife Joan and their three children, Kevin, Briony and Georgia.
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