Paul McStay

As a youth, McStay first came to prominence in June 1980 in a schoolboy international match when Scotland played England at Wembley. Then 15, McStay captained the Scotland team, scored two goals and was awarded Man of the Match after Scotland ran out 5–4 winners. McStay signed for Celtic aged sixteen from Celtic Boys Club in 1981. He made his first team debut on 23 January 1982 in a 4–0 win over Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup. A week later on 30 January, he made his first league appearance in 3–1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie. He scored the third goal, taking a pass from George McCluskey, running through the Aberdeen defence and striking a left foot shot past Jim Leighton in goal. Season 1982–83 saw the young midfielder establish himself as a first team regular, and he picked up his first winners medal on 4 November 1982 in Celtic's 2–1 win over Rangers in the League Cup Final. His performances resulted in media speculation that Inter Milan were considering making a £2 million bid to take him to Italy, a rumour that was emphatically dismissed by the Celtic chairman, Desmond White. McStay continued to progress at Celtic, and he scored Celtic's equaliser in the 1984 Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen to take the match into extra time. However, Celtic had played most of the match with 10 men after Roy Aitken was sent off in the first half, and Aberdeen scored in extra time to win 2–1. In December 1987, during Celtic's centenary season, McStay signed a five-year…

In 1982 he captained Scotland national U19 team to victory in the UEFA European Under-18 Championship, the only major trophy won by any Scotland national team. He captained each of the Scotland teams from under-16 level through under-18, under-20, under-21 and senior level. McStay made his full international debut for Scotland in 1983. He represented Scotland 76 times, including appearances at two World Cups in 1986 and 1990, during a 14-year international career. McStay was also selected for two UEFA European Championships in 1992 and 1996, but withdrew from the latter because of an ankle injury.

Club

International

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McStay goal.

In 2010, McStay moved to live in Sydney, Australia with his wife Anne Marie and their six children. He now runs Maestro Sports, a startup software company specialising in sport coaching and management. McStay attempted to raise $100,000 AUD to fund an autobiography through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. McStay's great-uncles Jimmy and Willie McStay were former Celtic captains, and his brothers Willie and Raymond also played for Celtic. Their father John worked as a scout for the club. One of his sons, Chris, has played football for Sutherland Sharks and Rockdale Ilinden in Australia and for Clyde in Scotland. His nephew John (Willie's son) played with Celtic Boys Club before moving onto Motherwell under-19s and later played for Ayr United as a defender before becoming a Celtic academy coach. His cousin Jock McStay played for Raith Rovers during the 1990s, and Jock's son Jonny played at Junior level in the 2010s.