Former Ireland and Celtic player Aiden McGeady has revealed what life was like as a youngster entering the Celtic dressing room in the early 2000s.
McGeady, who recently retired after playing for Celtic, Spartak Moscow, Everton, Charlton Athletic, Hibernian, Sunderland, and Ayr United, also made 93 appearances for the Republic of Ireland during his career.
At one time, the then-18-year-old McGeady was regarded as one of the highest-rated young players in Scotland, but senior players in the Celtic dressing room were keen to keep his ego in check.
This week, McGeady appeared on Frank McAvennie’s Let Me Be Frank podcast to discuss his career and those early days of dealing with senior players. The former Ireland winger admitted he loved how he was treated during his initiation.
“I loved it. Certain people would have loved it. Loads of the lads loved it,” McGeady said.
“You’re going into the dressing room, picking up dirty slips. The boot room looked onto the showers, so you’re standing there putting the boots away and cleaning them. You’re either facing the wall or you’re looking out onto the showers, and all the first-team lads are standing there like, ‘What are you looking at?’
“You’re standing there cleaning the boots, but you have nowhere to look. It was a good laugh. I loved it.
“You would walk in—this was years ago—there might have been a wee bit of talk. The first-teamers had heard there was maybe a younger player who might have a chance, and they were quite keen to bring you down a peg or two.”
Aiden McGeady, once of Ireland (Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)McGeady also shared a moment involving former player, manager, and executive Jackie McNamara, where McNamara poked fun at him in the sink-or-swim environment.
“I went into the first-team dressing room, and Jackie McNamara had drawn a big question mark on the back of my training kit.
“I could feel him doing something. I’m picking up towels, and he’s drawing on my back. I took off my top, and it’s got a big question mark on it.
“I’m like, ‘What does that mean?’ It meant, ‘Who’s this guy?’ But I enjoyed it. It was a sink-or-swim environment.
“If you could handle it, great. If you could handle it and you could play, and you were on the team, you earned their respect.”
The full podcast can be heard [here].
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