Born: 24 May 1960
Birthplace: Clochglas, Donegal, Ireland
Height: 6' 2'' (188cm)
Signed: 14 May 1978 (Jock Stein's last signing)
Left: October 1997 (although 1995 was his last game)
Position: Goalkeeper
First game: Celtic 2-1 Motherwell, League 17 March 1979
Last game: Celtic 1-0 Airdrie, Scottish Cup Final 27 May 1995
International: Rep of Ireland
International Caps: 80 caps
International Shut-outs: ?

Biog

Until the arrival of Artur Boruc, Donegal-born Packie Bonner was unarguably regarded as the best Celtic goalkeeper since the great Ronnie Simpson.
Hailing from a county which has strong links to the Bhoys and is a hotbed of Celtic support it is perhaps not surprising that Bonner should make a name for himself in Glasgow’s east end.

The big keeper joined Celtic in 1978 from his local side Keadue Rovers and somewhat appropriately made his debut on St Patrick's day 1979 in a 2-1 win at home to Motherwell. Brave, athletic and a superb shot stopper, Packie was to become a mainstay of the Celtic team throughout the 1980s and the early years of the 90s. Notably he was Jock Stein's last signing for the club.

His big break came in August 1980 when the popular Celtic 'keeper Peter Latchford injured his hand and Bonner was thrown in at the deep end for Danny McGrain's testimonial game against Manchester United at Parkhead. He gave an excellent performance in a 0-0 draw and from that day onwards he was to be the established Celtic number one.

He won a league medal in 1980/81 despite a rocky spell in November of 1980 when Celtic manager Billy McNeill kept faith with his Irish keeper and he made his debut for the Republic of Ireland in April 1981. Despite his youth he showed a great maturity in his performances and had a fine relationship with his back four of that time - McGrain, Aitken, McAdam and Reid.

In 1982 Celtic regained the title and Pat's reputation continued to grow. Around this time he gave great performances in the away Euro ties against Juventus and Ajax. He was sensational in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam when Celtic triumphed 2-1 over Cruyff's Ajax and it was, arguably, his finest game for Celtic.

Throughout the 1980's Celtic's defence was constantly criticised as Celtic struggled to find a commanding centre half. The attacking philosophy of the club often meant that the defence was given little or no consideration. Pat won his first Scottish cup medal in 1985 with the late, dramatic win over Dundee United and another league medal in 1986. However the advent of Graeme Souness' Rangers team set Celtic back but they retaliated by winning the double in 1988 with new defenders Mick McCarthy and Chris Morris at last helping to bolster the over worked Celtic defence. Unfortunately Pat spent long periods on the sidelines that season and young Northern Irishman, Allen McKnight, was in the Celtic goal for the 1988 final victory, again against Dundee United.

Injury again affected Pat after a magnificent showing in the 1988 Euro championships in Gemany for Ireland. He had an especially fine game against England in Ireland's 1-0 win when he defied the much vaunted England forward line of Lineker, Barnes and Beardsley. Despite signing goalkeepers Ian Andrews and Alan Rough, Pat was back as Celtic goalkeeper by the end of October 1988, having a great performance in the 2-0 win over Hearts.

Despite Celtic's deteriorating results at this period Pat's performances remained remarkably consistent. He was regarded as one of the world's best goalkeepers after his magnificent showing for Ireland in the 1990 world cup. He became a national hero when he saved crucial penalties in the shoot out victory against Rumania and Ireland were unlucky to lose to Italy in the quarter finals. On this visit to Italy Pat was photographed in the Vatican whilst being introduced to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II. The Pope recognised Pat - 'You are the goalkeeper', which pleased Pat as the he was a devout Catholic and the Pope himself was a former goalkeeper in his day.

In September 1990 he had the game of his life at Ibrox and inspired Celtic to a credible 1-1 draw. However things were not so good at Parkhead and Liam Brady replaced Billy McNeill as manager in 1991. Brady brought Gordon Marshall from Falkirk and for the first time Pat now had real competiton for the number one jersey. In November 1991 Pat blundered against Motherwell and Marshall replaced him for the rest of the season.

In May 1991 Pat was given a testimonial against a Republic of Ireland select and a huge crowd turned out to see Celtic win 3-2 courtesy of a Gerry Creaney hat trick. At the end of the game the Celtic DJ played 'It's a great day for the Irish' by Glen Daly which was especially fitting given the occasion.

Celtic's results did not improve and Lou Macari took over from Brady in 1993 and brought Carl Muggleton as his first choice keeper. Despite this Pat won back his place and had a fine game at Ibrox in April 1994 when Celtic fought for a draw in a game that saw no Celtic fans allowed into Ibrox stadium. The big Donegal keeper was again at the fore for Ireland in the 1994 world cup in the USA when he inspired Ireland to that famous win over Italy in the sweltering heat of New York.

He was actually axed by Lou Macari in 1994, who brusquely informed him that he was being released after the Aberdeen game on 17 May 1994. Bonner then went to the World Cup as a free agent, then agreed to join his great friend Tommy Burns at Kilmarnock. When Burns got the Celtic job he brought Bonner back as player/coach.

Despite his friendship with Burns it was Gordon Marshall who was picked as the Celtic goalie for the new season. Sadly for Marshall, he was at fault for a late goal in Celtic's dreadful Coca Cola cup final defeat to Raith Rovers in November of 1994 and Pat Bonner again returned in the Celtic goal. He had another fine game at Ibrox in January 1995 in a 1-1 draw when a young Celtic team got a result against the odds.

In May 1995 Pat played his last game for Celtic in the 1-0 Scottish cup final win over Airdrie. It was a fitting way for the big gentle giant to end his Celtic days and the fans gave him a rapturous ovation as he lifted the cup. All in all, he had been Celtic's goalkeeper for the best part of 15 years and it was an emotional day for him at Hampden.

The only real weakness to Bonner’s game was the odd handling error and the tendency on occasion to flap at corners and crossballs. Also the pass-back rule change in 1992 seemed to be a struggle for him and knocked his confidence. On the whole though the man from Donegal was a superb servant to the Hoops and it says much about his ability that Celtic struggled for years to find a keeper of equal class to replace him. Few player have enjoyed a better relationship with the Celtic faithful than Pat Bonner.

With an incredible 641 appearances to his name it was always guaranteed that the name Packie Bonner would be fondly remembered by Celtic followers. After his 1997 departure from the club Packie became involved in coaching and after a spell as Tommy Burns' assistant at Reading, he was part of the Republic coaching team that travelled to the World Cup in 2002.

Just after leaving Celtic he knocked back the chance to play for Berwick Rangers against Celtic in the League Cup. He then linked up with Billy Stark for a coaching stint at Greenock Morton in October 1997, before heading to Reading in May 1998.

Over the fifty years after WW2, Celtic wasn't as blessed with many great keepers for some reason as it was in the previous fifty years or so. There have been plenty of good keepers in that time but few who could be regarded as having been truly great. He may not be as highly regarded as legends such as Johnny Thomson and Ronnie Simpson but Bonner’s achievements for club and country mean he is certainly worthy of being classed as a very good player, and is still fondly remembered by all who saw him play for us.

Playing Career

Links

• Testimonial Game 1997