Celtic Underground 268 - And McGinlay Scores

This week St Anthony is joined by Pat McGinley. Pat grew up in Partick, Glasgow and was an outstanding schoolboy player captaining St Peter's Boys School in Partick and playing for St Thomas Aquinas Secondary in Jordanhill and Bearsden Boys Club. Though many Scottish clubs were watching his star performances as a schoolboy centre forward, he began his career as an apprentice with English club Blackpool but returned to Scotland to join Hibernian in 1987. He soon became an important part of Alex Miller's side who played Pat as a midfielder instead of forward/winger and he was part of the winning Scottish League Cup in 1991 Hibs side and went on to make over 150 appearances for the club in his first stint at Easter Road.

In 1993 he was signed by Celtic for a fee of £525,000 after he impressed then boss Liam Brady. He made his debut on 7 August 1993 as a substitute in a 2–2 draw away to Motherwell. However, after just over fifteen months at Celtic Park, he was on the move again as he was not part of Tommy Burns' plans. It was a strange move as McGinlay had been Celtic's top goalscorer in the previous season. At the time, Celtic were in the rebuilding process under Fergus McCann; McGinlay was part of the Celtic side that played at Hampden Park whilst Celtic Park was being rebuilt. With the cash raised from selling McGinlay, Tommy Burns bought Tosh McKinlay from Hearts. Ironically, Tosh was one of Pat's old St Peters Boys School teammates.

McGinlay rejoined Hibs for a fee of £420,000 on 1 November 1994. He remained at Easter Road for six seasons before moving to Ayr United. Whilst at Ayr, McGinlay enjoyed a cup run which ended with him being on the losing side in the 2002 Scottish League Cup Final. He made 74 appearances for the 'Honest Men' and scored 23 goals before retiring in 2005.

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