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Fullname: Thomas Valley McKinlay
aka: Tosh McKinlay
Born: 3 Dec 1964
Birthplace: Glasgow Scotland
Signed: 4 Nov 1994
Left: 19 Oct 1999
Position: Left-back/defence
Debut:
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 22
International Goals: 0

Biog

Thomas Valley McKinlay ("Tosh") was already a veteran of the Scottish football scene when he finally arrived at his first love Celtic on November 2nd 1994.

The Glasgow born full-back was just a month short of his 30th birthday when he moved to Celtic in a £350,000 move from Hearts, who he had joined in 1988 after a near 7-year spell with Dundee. A former Scotland Under-21 international McKinlay may not have been the most glamorous of signings but Celtic boss Tommy Burns believed the left-back would give his side some much needed balance by allowing Tom Boyd to play in his favoured right-back berth.

McKinlay would make his Hoops debut in a 2-2 league draw at Dundee United on Guy Fawkes night and he quickly established himself as a first-team regular. In the best Celtic traditions he was a full-back who loved to push forward and his deliveries from out wide were a vital weapon in attack.

No more so than in the 1995 Scottish Cup final when Pierre Van Hooijdonk was able to take advantage of a great McKinlay cross to score the only goal of the game and earn Celtic their first piece of silverware since 1989.

In many ways Tosh was the personification of Tommy Burns’ Celtic side. He was a passionate character, full of energy and always eager to attack. Alas such was his desire to get forward that he was on occasion guilty of defensive lapses. Tosh’s good form in a Celtic shirt would see him earn full international caps and despite a well publicised training ground bust up with new Bhoy Henrik Larsson (the pair quickly made up) he was also a member of the 1997/98 championship winning squad. although strictly by this time he was displaced by Stephane Mahe and for part of the season he was drafted out on loan to Stoke.

Tosh McKinlay departed Celtic for good as a player in 1999 for a short spell in Switzerland with Grasshoppers. He moved to Kilmarnock in 2000. A fully committed Celt he remains a popular figure among the support and after a spell as a player’s agent he now does media work for the club and – with his now trademark pinstripe suit - is a regular guest on Celtic TV.

Playing Career

Club	From	To	Fee	League		Scottish/FA Cup		League cup		Other
Kilmarnock	10/01/2000	31/05/2000	Signed	14 (1)	0	0 (0)	0	1 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Grasshoppers	19/10/1999	10/01/2000	Free	No appearance data available
Stoke	26/01/1998	27/02/1998	Loan	3 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Celtic	04/11/1994	19/10/1999	£350,000	85 (13)	0	11 (1)	0	3 (2)	0	9 (0)	0
Hearts	07/12/1989	04/11/1994	Signed	206 (0)	6	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Dundee	01/08/1987	07/12/1988		162 (0)	8	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0	0 (0)	0
Totals			£350,000	470 (14)	14	11 (1)	0	4 (2)	0	9 (0)	0
			goals / game	0.02		0		0		0
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals

Honours with Celtic

Scottish Cup

• 1994-95

Scottish League cup

• 1997-98

Scottish Premier Division

• 1997-98

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