IT WAS a huge privilege to be present at the recent tribute night for Billy McNeill.

I have known my former captain for more time than either cares to mention, and we are all fully aware of his achievements with Celtic, both as a player and a manager.

However, it is only when an event like this comes around that you stop to actually consider just what an important part he has played in the club's history.

On the pitch, he was such a dominant defender and figure, a real leader of men - and at a time when Celtic really needed characters of his stature.

It was his header in the 1965 Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline which got the club winning trophies again, and a couple of years later he was up there collecting the European Cup.

Bertie Auld still jokes the only reason Billy was able to climb all those stairs himself to collect the trophy in Lisbon was because he had not done any of the running during the final against Inter Milan.

But then, that's Bertie for you. And, like the rest of us, he knows exactly what Billy has meant to the club for the past 50 years.

He is now officially the club Ambassador, and fully deserves that title because he epitomises all that is good about Celtic.

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