CELTIC legend Davie Hay welcomed the £11million deal that brought Arne Engels to the champions on deadline day.
Not only did the Hoops splash a record amount of money on the Belgian midfielder to lure him from Bundesliga outfit Augsburg, they also spent £6million on Sheffield United’s USA international centre-back Auston Trusty just hours earlier.
Plus they threw £1million recruit from Dundee, Luke McCowan, into the mix.
And, emphasising their current financial muscle, the club beat their previous best of £9million for Odsonne Edouard from Paris Saint-Germain in July 2018 when they added £500,000 to that fee to bring in Adam Idah on a permanent move from Norwich City a few days earlier.
WELCOME TO PARADISE…Davie Hay watches as striker Mark McGhee seals his £150,000 switch from SV Hamburg to Celtic.
It’s all a far cry from the era when former manager and player Hay spent a meagre TEN THOUSAND POUNDS to win the 1985/86 title in one of the most epic championship conclusions in the Hoops’ history.
The club great smiles: “Changed days! It’s remarkable to look back and believe it was possible to make Celtic the best club in the land when there was barely a transfer kitty.
“The old board were often accused of their ‘biscuit-tin mentality’ and they certainly didn’t make oceans of cash available to their managers at the time.
“There was little point in complaining about it, I knew what I was getting into when chairman Desmond White offered me the job in 1983 after Billy McNeill had departed for Manchester City.
“I realised I would get a fair percentage of the cash I brought in by selling players to then spend on the team. I had trained as an accountant before I went to Celtic as a teenager, so I had fair idea of what balancing the books was all about.
JUST CHAMPION…how Celtic dominated Scottish football.
“It was tough, believe me. If a player was available, we had to battle with Aberdeen and Dundee United, never mind Rangers, for them. Hard to believe, but that was the truth of the matter.
“We could be outbid by other clubs who could also offer better personal terms.”
To bring in much-needed financial resources, Hay sold striker Frank McGarvey, who was coming out of contract, to St Mirren for £80,000 and brought in £60,000 from Hearts for winger John Colquhoun.”
Hay, 76, now a club ambassador, added: “The only player I brought in was Mark McGhee who cost £150,000 from SV Hamburg in November 1985.
“It had been a wonderful feeling to win my first piece of silverware with the Scottish Cup the previous season, but I was well aware that the league crown was the big one for the club’s fans.
CROWNING GLORY…Celtic players celebrate their astonishing title triumph in season 1985/86 in the Love Street dressing room after their 5-0 win over St Mirren in the last day of the campaign.
“I was determined to deliver it to them. I had brought in £140,000 in the sales of McGarvey and Colquhoun and spent £150,000 on McGhee, an outlay that proved an absolute bargain for an experienced Scotland international.
“And, of course, that squad pulled off the extraordinary achievement when we beat St Mirren 5-0 at Love Street, Hearts lost 2-0 to Dundee at Dens Park and the flag was delivered on goal difference on the last day of the campaign.
“People may have termed us the ‘Cheapskate Champions’, but that didn’t bother me one bit.
“The silverware was back where it belonged in the Celtic trophy room and that was my only concern.
“To win it with an outlay of £10,000 made it all the more special. At least, no-one could accuse us of buying our way to the title!”
* READ the full inside story of Celtic’s extraordinary 1985/86 championship triumph – and FIFTY other title successes – in ‘CELTIC: 50 Flags Plus One’ on sale now in CQN’s special Christmas sale. Just click below.
