One of the first issues that this site dealt with when it started in 2008 was the racist abuse aimed at Irish internationalist Aiden McGeady.
The succulent suspects in the Stenography Corps tied themselves in knots to avoid the inconvenient truth.
McGeady’s cultural crime in Fair Caledonia was his country of choice, not the fact that he had “turned his back on Scotland”.
This was just another very visible manifestation of modern Scotland’s visceral animus towards second-generation Irish (2GI) in their midst.
Sadly that sickness is still extant.
I had to school one Tartan patriot this week on Twitter about the nationality of Edinburgh-born James Connolly.
When Aiden left Celtic for Russia in 2010, I wrote this piece for the Irish Post.
Now McGeady is back playing professional football in Scotland.
It is probably too contrived for a novel that he is doing so at the original club in the country with strong Irish roots.
His style of play could be mesmerising.
Back in the Martin O’Neill era, I had heard that there was this kid about to break through into the first team.
I discussed him with a Celtic youth coach at a summer soccer school that my son was attending at Bonagee’s ground in Letterkenny.
I asked him “does this kid McGeady have pace”?
The reply was “Phil, he’s got the quickest feet you’ll ever see”.
McGeady’s variation on the Marseille Turn was an act of cruelty on opposing fullbacks.
Perhaps because he was coming into a side that had a fairly rigid formation he was never deployed as a central creator with a free role.
Even the mercurial Ľubomír Moravčík had to get with the programme when O’Neill arrived.
This goal for his country showed what McGeady could do in that position.
He’s now at the veteran stage, especially for a winger.
I reckon that if his new boss plays him as a Ten then he’ll definitely get a tune out of him.
An Irish one…
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The Scottish media never had a problem with Andy Goram, Richard Gough or Stuart McCall playing for Scotland despite the fact none of them were born here – I wonder why?
Phil I worked with Aidens dad and uncle at Faslane in the construction game.Absolute gentlemen. Like yourself I always thought Aiden was a natural no.10.Perfectly suited to the Spanish game.Good luck to him at Hibs.The bhoy is a credit to his grandad
You know Phil,
Like many a gifted player to grace our hallowed turf, I was disappointed to see them all go.
Lou Macari, King Kenny, McGarvie etc.
But when Aiden McGeady chose Ireland over Scotland whilst still in the hoops, I was disgusted with the SMSM’s shit stirring towards the inciting of their unionist readership.
Boy did they succeed!
The hatred I witnessed towards this young man was disturbing.
I knew then that this was the medias doing, we were in the mid naughties, every social media outlet we now enjoy didn’t exist!
The biased print media had a field day!
They are sadly still trying to create and maintain the narrative!
God Bless the new media, the true and unedited social media, God Bless the truth and the true journalist working hard and sharing the very truth the liars and manipulators suppressed.
Good luck Aiden! 🍀💚