PAUL HARTLEY was 30 years old when he finally got the call to sign for his boyhood idols Celtic.
Gordon Strachan plucked Hartley from Hearts in a £1.1 million deal on the last day of the January 2007 transfer window.
The midfielder had never hidden his allegiances yet his combative nature with the Jambos had some Celtic supporters divided as to the wisdom of Strachan's choice.
The faithful needn't have worried.
He was also the subject of interest from Rangers around the same time but a meeting with Strachan clinched the deal.
Hartley's two years at Celtic yielded a full set of domestic medals - two SPL titles, a Scottish Cup and a League Cup - as he enjoyed an Indian Summer in Paradise.
On signing for the club he supported as a boy Hartley famously said: "I've never hidden the fact that I'm a Celtic supporter, so you can imagine what this means to me!"
The current Cove Rangers manager takes up the story and he revealed that he could have been in Paradise two years earlier after Martin O'Neill failed in a bid to lure him to the club.
Hartley: "It was the last day of the window and I never thought it was going to happen and it was late in the day.
"It was a dream come true for me to sign for Celtic. I grew up a fan of Celtic and I had got to 30 years old and I thought the opportunity had passed me by and it was gone.
"Martin O'Neill had come in for me in 2005 and unfortunately the switch didn't happen.
"I was a professional and you go through disappointments in your career and players and managers talk about the highs but there are a lot of lows in the game.
"It was a disappointment at the time but you have got to get on with your job and keep performing well.
"Rangers had also come in for me and offered the same bid as Celtic. I spoke to Gordon Strachan on a Tuesday night and the window was closing on Wednesday.
"To go and speak to Gordon Strachan was a brilliant feeling for myself and Celtic were the team I wanted to sign for and the place where I wanted to be.
"When Gordon came back in for me I was delighted to finally get the chance. I spent two-and-a-half years at Celtic and I loved every minute of it."
Hartley's admiration for Gordon Strachan knows no bounds.
Quite simply, Hartley rates him as the best football coach he has served under.
Both men enjoy a lasting relationship to this day and Hartley insists that he still has the batphone to his former gaffer whenever he needs it.
He insists that Strachan may even have missed his calling as he could easily be a stand-up comic.
Hartley said: "I played with a lot of good players during my time at Celtic.
"However, Gordon was an outstanding coach and manager. I loved working with him.
"I still have a good relationship with him just now and anything I need I can phone him. He was good to be around.
"Gordon was a tough but fair manager at Celtic and it was a really enjoyable time to be at the club. He loved the game and he was immersed in football.
"We all love the game and want to stay in it as long as we can and I know that is getting more and more difficult now but Gordon was something else. It was just brilliant.
"I played alongside some great players who had a great team spirit and work ethic but that all stemmed from the manager. Gordon was genuinely outstanding as a manager.
"On the training pitch, Gordon was the best coach I have worked under. His training sessions were outstanding. There was an intensity to them and that's why he played until he was over 40. His professionalism and his work rate are impeccable.
"You need to watch Gordon on a training pitch to believe it. I could also listen to Gordon all day talking about football. Away from football, he is so funny.
"I phoned him during Covid last year as we usually had a Cove Rangers lunch/dinner and I asked him if he would do a zoom session for the players and be one of the special guests.
"I told the chairman of Cove Rangers, I'll get Gordon to do a wee bit and honestly for 45 minutes we were all crying with laughter. Gordon is hilarious. It's all because of the stories he has and the way he tells him.
"The manager had the total respect of the Celtic dressing room and he also had the fear factor. If you did not work for him you were of no use to him but Gordon had good players at his disposal.
"As a manager, Gordon was brilliant for me and he still is."
If there was one moment that cemented Hartley firmly in the hearts and minds of the Celtic supporter it was his first goal for the club.
It was a thing of beauty.
A bullet diving header from a Scott McDonald cross whizzed past Stipe Pletikosa and gave Celtic the lead in the Luzhniki Stadium against Spartak Moscow in a Champions League qualifier in August 2007.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw and the return leg at Paradise saw a similar stalemate before Artur Boruc became the hero by saving two penalties in a shoot-out that saw Celtic advance to the lucrative group stages.
With that solitary goal, Hartley had repaid his managers faith in him and ensured the backing of the Celtic supporters from then on in.
Hartley was also part of the first-ever Celtic side to defeat AC Milan in the Champions League courtesy of a last-minute winner from Scott McDonald during a 2-1 group win in October 2007 in Glasgow's East End when the Rossoneri were the holders of the trophy at the time.
said: "I was never known for my heading prowess but it was a big goal for us away from home.
"I remember the game because the manager had asked me to play in an unfamiliar role out wide on the left.
"I played in a different position to the one that I played at Hearts and I played more as controlling defensive midfielder which has evolved a lot more in the last decade or so but I was doing it for Celtic under Gordon Strachan back in 2007.
"The manager wanted me to do a job as we were a wee bit more defensive-minded with being away from home but Scott McDonald put in a great cross and I just got into the back post as that's what you are taught to do as the opposite winger and it was a hugely important goal for Celtic at the time.
"The Celtic supporters always remind of that which is nice.
"The return leg we won on penalties when Artur Boruc came into his own by saving two penalties and we qualified for the group stages of the Champions League.
"I played for Celtic on some of the biggest nights on the biggest stage of all - the Champions League "We beat AC Milan during those group stages to become the first Celtic team to achieve that milestone. That's not bad, isn't it?
"That was some game that night. The atmosphere was incredible inside Celtic Park on Champions League nights. You cannot explain it. It sends shivers down your spine it really does.
"You can experience Champions League nights as a fan and it is something else but it is not until you have experienced it as a Celtic player then you know you have taken part in something really special.
"I was playing against top players like Alessandro Nesta, Kaka, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi. They operated at the highest level and I was rubbing shoulders with them.
"I never played with any fear and I relished these games. Memories are made of this and when you walk out and hear that Champions League theme music it is an indescribable feeling really."
Better days were still to come for Hartley as both he and Barry Robson became midfield mainstays of the side as Celtic reeled off seven victories in a row including back-to-back wins against Rangers to pip the Light Blues to the Scottish Premier League title in 2007/08.
Strachan had reeled off three successive championship wins on the spin as Celtic lifted the crown on an emotional May night at Tannadice just days after the death of club legend Tommy Burns.
By this time Hartley had replaced Scott Brown from the side and he revealed that whilst every Celtic supporter remembers Robson's robust high challenge on Rangers star Christian Dailly which set the tempo for a 2-1 win at Celtic Park with Dutch striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink netted a 93rd-minute winner.
Thankfully for Hartley, most people have forgotten that he broke Light Blues stalwart Lee McCulloch's foot in the same game.
That 2-1 success was followed by a 3-2 win at Paradise with Robson netting the decisive goal from the penalty spot as Celtic sensed blood in the race for the flag.
On a night of high drama on Tayside, it was Vennegoor of Hesselink who headed home the league clinching goal as Celtic triumphed 1-0 and Rangers lost 2-0 to Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
This time the helicopter did not need to change direction.
Hartley said: "Celtic lost 1-0 to Motherwell in April and we slipped six points behind Rangers who had two games in hand. Everybody had written Celtic off for the title at that moment.
"We had to win every game including the two Rangers games back-to-back.
"We managed to do that and the manager mixed it up and changed it a bit by putting myself and Barry Robson in the middle of the pitch as Scott Brown was going through a difficult time for family reasons.
"We seemed to hit it off and were both the same kind of player as were both aggressive. At that stage of the season, we just had to go for it really.
"Barry has gone right through Christian Dailly after 30 seconds and I laid one on big Lee McCulloch. I caught him and I broke his foot in that incident.
"We had a laugh about it as we both did our coaching badges together but we certainly weren't laughing about it back then
"We came through that period and won the seven games culminating in winning the title at Tannadice when big Jan scored. That was the stuff of dreams for me. That is why you play the game.
"To get the opportunity to play football for the team you supported and win the league and you manage to be successful then kit doesn't get any better than that. That's why we love the game.
"I look back on that time with fond memories as Celtic were very successful during Gordon's time there. I won two league titles, a Scottish Cup and a League Cup - that is why you play football.
"When your career is over that is it. It's gone and it's not coming back. I was nearly 35 when I stopped playing. It's all about the memories and I stress that to my own players to try and play and enjoy it for as long as they can.
"We had a massive team spirit at Celtic and if you didn't play you were there for your teammates always. I didn't play every game for Celtic when I was there.
"I played in all the big games though because the manager knew he could trust me. The manager always banged on about being a good teammate.
"Gordon was big on being there for the rest of the players even if you were playing or not. It is hard to keep 22 players happy and the only happy players were the starting eleven. Gordon made sure that we were all in it together at Celtic.
"The title win against Dundee United at Tannadice was a wonderful career highlight as we won the league in a romantic fashion.
"You could see the helicopter hovering over Tannadice carrying the trophy and after the game the celebrations with the Celtic supporters was immense. The atmosphere on the bus journey home was just magical. I would not swap those memories for anything or all the money in the world.
"I was fortunate to experience what I did with Celtic considering the position I was in at that time in my career."
Hartley is also quick to remind everybody that he played with a plethora of wonderful players at Paradise.
He readily admits that Scott Brown was someone he initially did not see eye-to-eye with especially during their Edinburgh derby days.
He insists that Shunsuke Nakamura was a special talent and that the Japanese midfielder was a total workhorse even though could never quite work out what message Gordon Strachan was trying to convey to him.
Hartley said: "I played with some fantastic footballers in that Celtic team. They were all good in their own different way.
"Scott Brown was young at the time and he'd come to Celtic on the back of a huge £4.4 million transfer fee. I used to hate playing against him when I was at Hearts and he was at Hibs and if the truth be told I didn't quite like him to be honest with you but when he becomes your teammate it all changes.
"Scottish football fans do not realise how good a person Scott Brown is. Away from the pitch, Broony is a gem of a fella, he really is.
"He is a tremendous footballer as he has shown staying all those years and enjoying great success with Celtic. I texted Broony only last week and we are good mates now.
"We also had Shunsuke Nakamura who was a wonderfully gifted player and it was just natural with him. Naka was a consummate professional. People talk about recovery and warm-downs and stuff, Naka was doing all of that back then. He would go to the gym for an hour-and-a-half after every game and then after training, he would take free-kicks for hours and hours.
"Naka practised to try and get better and he had free-kicks down to perfection. It was an art form with Naka.
"I get the feeling that Naka ever understood a word of what Gordon Strachan said to him but whatever message was sinking in, he certainly took it on board. The manager knew Naka was a good player and let him express himself on the pitch.
"Big Artur Boruc was another character but he was a great goalkeeper and he had his own way of doing things at Celtic but I liked him and I got on ever so well with him. I never had an issue with him.
"Throw in the likes of Aiden McGeady, Scott McDonald and Big Jan into that mix and Celtic were a good side. When you have good players you have always got half a chance.
"Gordon Strachan took over Celtic after Martin O'Neill and that was a difficult job in itself. It's similar to Manchester United right now. You cannot tell me Davie Moyes is not a good manager, Jose Mourinho or Louis Van Gaal but all of them have struggled at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club.
"Manchester United have had a problem filling Sir Alex Ferguson's boots. It was the same at Celtic. The Celtic supporters loved Martin and he was a tough act to follow.
"Yet Gordon Strachan came into the club with his own way and his own style and won three titles on the bounce for Celtic. I was lucky that I shared a dressing room with some great Celtic players.
"It was Gordon Strachan who fashioned a Celtic team with players that I'd happily go into the trenches with every day of the week."
Paul Hartley became an unsung hero for Celtic. The supporters still speak warmly of his spell at the club.
As a player, Hartley never hid. As a person, Hartley never hid where his heart lies.
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