lubo: celtic's slovakian magician

Tony Hamilton
LUBOMIR Moravcik’s arrival in Scotland back in November 1998 may have been greeted with a mixture of scorn and ignorance by the overwhelming majority of the Scottish media, but when he left in June 2002, it was to universal acclaim.

Over four years at Celtic Park, the Slovakian playmaker dazzled crowds up and down the country becoming, in the process, a bona fide Hoops legend.

And next month, a special gala dinner-dance is being held in his honour at Celtic Park on Sunday, December 7. Ahead of that special event, Lubo looks back on the four best years of his playing career.

When did you first hear that Celtic were interested in signing you?
It was in 1998, about the end of October, when we played against Portugal in a qualifying game, and Dr Jo came to watch the game. After the match I saw them and they said they were interested in signing me. After that, things moved very quickly and the next week I signed for Celtic.

On November 21, 1998, you made your derby debut. What was it like to score those first two goals against Rangers?
Before this game we didn’t expect a big result against Rangers because they were dominating in the league. I was a little bit scared about what would happen in the game because it was my first derby although I was very motivated for the game. But I was a bit scared – about the result, not about my game because you can play well but if it’s not a good result, it wouldn’t be good for me, but it all went well for me, I scored two goals and everything changed for me after that.

Why do you think the Celtic fans took you to their hearts so quickly?
I think because I’m a straightforward, simple guy. I was taught to keep my feet on the ground and be nice to the people around you, be modest. And I don’t think I ever changed. Maybe others would say differently but in my head I never changed. I’m still the same guy from Nitra, a small town, small village, and this is from my education.

You played with some great players at Celtic. Who stands out for you in that five-year period you were at the club?
Henrik was definitely the best and a lot of the goals I scored for Celtic were set up by him. He was a guy who helped me throughout my time at Celtic. He scored a lot of goals but he always played for the team. It made him the best player ever in Celtic’s history.

What do you remember about the 6-2 victory over Rangers in Martin O’Neill’s first season?
I remember Henrik’s goal when he chipped the ball over the Rangers goalkeeper. It was at this time when we started dominating in the Scottish league. It wasn’t a surprise like my first game when we won 5-1, because we were playing well, we were top of the league and it was also a perfect game during my time at Celtic and I’ll remember that game for the rest of my life.

You scored another two goals against Rangers at the end of that season, at Ibrox, and your celebrations then were a bit different from 1998. Was it because you really knew and understood what the derby match was all about by then?
I knew this game was one of the most famous games in the world and in the media, even in France, they’d be talking about it. And this game (Ibrox 2001) was special for me because it was almost my last chance to confirm my quality, especially away from home at Ibrox. This time we had a very confident team and we played very well, and we showed everyone that we were a stronger team than Rangers. I didn’t expect to play in that game and I was very surprised when Martin O’Neill read out my name before the game. And I said to myself that it might be my last chance to play well at Ibrox and to score two goals – I was very happy. When you score once in an Old Firm game, people might say, maybe he was lucky. If you score twice, then people can see it’s not luck and you can see in my face that I was very happy. By then I knew that I didn’t have much time left at Celtic so I was pleased to have a good game that day.

Who were the other team-mates who impressed you during your time at Celtic?
We had a really good team. Paul Lambert was a really important guy, in the dressing room and on the pitch. Neil Lennon came and he became a very important part of the team. Chris Sutton up front was great - also, John Hartson, who was a good guy and good player. Alan Thompson, who had a fantastic left foot. Jackie McNamara. Also, Tommy Boyd when I first came to Celtic who was a very important person in the club, and also my French friends – Didier Agathe and Stephane Mahe, who helped me very much – and during my time at Celtic, Stilian Petrov was also a really nice guy and a very good player.

To watch the full interview with Lubo Moravcik, CLICK HERE

There are still tickets available for the special Lubo event at Celtic Park on Sunday, December 7 in the Kerrydale Suite (four-course meal & dinner dance; £100+VAT per person).

To book your tickets, contact matchdayhospitality@celticfc.co.uk or call 0871 226 1888.