"Requiescant in pace Joe Mc Bride"

[Joe O'Rourke]

[COLOR=#000000:1c04ef53]Another Celtic Legend passed away last night, I have said many times before that the term “Legend” is used too freely when describing sportsmen and women, but in the case of Joe Mc Bride the term ”Legend” is very appropriate.
[COLOR=#000000:1c04ef53]Joe was born on June 10th 1938, he was a very young looking 74. Joe travelled all over the world attending Celtic supporters functions, he was a regular attendee of the NAFCSC Convention in Los Vegas, he also played in the Annual Golf Day hosted by the Dubai Hoops, I don’t think there will be a city anywhere in the UK or Ireland Joe hasn’t visited as an Ambassador for Celtic Football Club.
[COLOR=#000000:1c04ef53]Joe started his football career at Kilmarnock; he had spells at Wolverhampton, Luton Town, Partick Thistle, and Motherwell, before getting his move to his boyhood heroes Glasgow Celtic.
[COLOR=#000000:1c04ef53]You would say Big Jock was not a bad judge of a player, so he paid Motherwell £22,000 for Joe in 1965, and Joe repaid the Big Man with goals galore, he scored 54 goals in 55 matches for Celtic in a career tragically cut short by a serious injury.
[COLOR=#000000:1c04ef53]We never had the medical teams in place in Joe’s playing day’s that we have now, if we had Joe’s career at Celtic would have lasted much longer. Joe left Celtic for Hibernian in 1968, he showed right away that he had not lost his touch in front of goal, scoring on his debut against Rangers, netting a hat-trick in his second match, and scoring four in his third match.
[COLOR=#000000:1c04ef53]My favourite memory of Joe was in a match versus Dunfermline away, we were 2-0 down, 3-1 down, and 4-2 down, Joe score four that day in a magnificent 5-4 victory, that was Joe Goals Mc Bride.
[COLOR=#000000:1c04ef53]I had the absolute pleasure of speaking to Joe at every match at Celtic Park, he was the perfect gentleman, always available to have pictures taken and sign autographs, nothing was too much bother to Joe.
[COLOR=#000000:1c04ef53]God Bless Joe and his Family, He will Never Walk Alone, he now goes to that other Paradise in the Sky to join his great Friends Jinky, Bobby Murdoch, Ronnie Simpson, and Tommy Burns, and of course Big Jock and many more.
[COLOR=#000000:1c04ef53]Requiescant in pace Joe.