Saturday is set to be an emotional, but celebratory, day as Celtic pay tribute to Billy McNeill, who sadly passed away at the age of 79 this week.
There’s already been a massive amount of tributes, videos, photos and memories flooding newspapers, news outlets and social media over the past couple of days, but Saturday will be the culmination of that as the club and thousands of supporters come together to pay tribute.
Celtic have confirmed plans for the fixture against Kilmarnock on the official website.
The first-team will lay a wreath at the Billy McNeill statue, before wearing a special black armband for the Scottish Premiership match.
At the request of the McNeill family, a minute’s applause will then take place just prior to the 12.30pm kick-off.
A number of players have already paid personal tribute to the legendary captain, including popular defender Kieran Tierney, who is expecting a Saturday to be a big occasion.
As quoted by CelticFC.net, he said:
As a supporter, you grow up hearing the stories of what Billy and his team-mates achieved, not only here in Scotland but also in winning the European Cup back in 1967. That was an incredible success, and the fact that the fans sing a tribute to it in the 67th minute of every match just shows you how much it still means to everyone.
When we all come to the stadium, the fans and the players, the first thing that welcomes us is the statue of Billy McNeill holding up the European Cup. That’s an amazing sight and it just reminds you what an incredible history that Celtic has.
As players, we’re all proud to wear the Hoops and we want to make the fans proud of us, just as the Lisbon Lions did back when they played.
And I’m sure that when all the fans get together at Celtic Park this Saturday, they will have a fitting tribute to Billy, who was always a great supporter as well as being a legend as a player and manager. Real men conquer Europe. God bless.
It’s going to be a massive occasion for the entire Celtic family and no doubt produce the kind of atmosphere that the great man would enjoy as much as anyone else inside Paradise.