Andy Payton was highly regarded by the Celtic support | OneFootball

Andy Payton was a more than decent striker for Celtic during the dark era that was the early 1990s.

Signed from Middlesbrough in a swap deal that saw Chris Morris head in the opposite direction, Andy arrived with a great reputation as a goalscorer after making his name as a striker in England’s second tier with Hull City scoring 57 goals for the Tigers in 165 appearances.

That impressive form seen Middlesbrough splash out £700,000 for his signature, a fee that was the tigers record fee received at the time, and one that stood for 15 years.

Andy Payton Glasgow Celtic FC 21 September 1992 Photo Mary Evans Allstar – David Gadd

Things didn’t go so well at Boro and he struggled to impress scoring only three goals in 23 appearances not helped by injury problems, but that didn’t deter Liam Brady from bringing the Lancashire man to Glasgow.

At the time Andy wasn’t the most attractive signing and didn’t exactly excite the Celtic supporters, but he soon won us around with his goals and overall commitment.

By the time he’d left just over a year later, he produced a decent return of 20 goals in 46 games, one of those coming in a memorable win over Rangers at Celtic Park in March 1993.

It was one of the poorest Celtic sides in living memory, which resulted in the dismissal of Liam Brady who was replaced by the underwhelming and disinterested Lou Macari, and with the well documented off the park problems it wasn’t exactly the best time to be at the club.

So it would have been difficult circumstances for any player to perform under, therefore Andy did remarkably well considering.

Supporters were disappointed when Andy left, but due to personal reasons he departed down south to Barnsley in a swap deal that seen us getting the much maligned Wayne Biggins in return, another example of Lou Macari’s incompetence as a Celtic manager.

Andy went on to have a decent career in England’s lower reaches with Barnsley, Huddersfield Town and Burnley, and is still fondly remembered by the Celtic supporters today and often talk’s about his time at Celtic most fondly.

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