Phil O'Donnell

Uncle Phil..

PHIL O’DONNELL was only 35-years-old when he died on December 29, 2007. It was an event that will forever overshadow everything else that happened in Scottish football in season 2007/08.

Phil had used his God-given talents to the very best of his ability and had excelled at a sport, and with two clubs, that he loved, and it is a fitting tribute that a football match be held between those two clubs. The game will allow supporters of Motherwell and Celtic, as well as fans of every club, to pay their own respects to a fine footballer.

But the game should also be a celebration of a player who achieved so much in his career, and whose attitude and enthusiasm for the game never faltered despite a number of injury setbacks over the years.

So it is wholly appropriate that Motherwell’s 1991 Scottish Cup-winning team will take on Celtic’s 1998 league-winning side, because both of those triumphs involved a major contribution from Phil O’Donnell and were among his proudest moments as a player.

He was only 19 when he helped Motherwell win the Scottish Cup in 1991, scoring one of the goals in a thrilling 4-3 victory over Dundee United at Hampden. It was Motherwell’s first major trophy in 39 years and ensured that those players became Fir Park legends.

Alongside Phil that day were Tom Boyd, who captained the side and who would later be his team-mate again at Celtic, and Davie Cooper, the former Rangers player whose own life was to end just as tragically and suddenly.

Phil signed for Celtic in 1994 and helped the team win the Scottish Cup in 1995. He went on to make over 100 appearances for the club and was part of the squad which won the League Championship in 1998 that stopped Rangers’ bid for 10-in-a-row.

He left Celtic for Sheffield Wednesday in 1999 along with team-mate and close friend Simon Donnelly, but his time in England was blighted by injury.

However, he returned to Fir Park in 2004 and over the next three years proved to be an influential presence on and off the park. As Mark McGhee’s Motherwell side started season 2007/08 in such impressive form, it was Phil who was a central figure in their success, particularly with so many young players in the squad. He was affectionately known as Uncle Phil by everyone at the club, including his nephew and team-mate, David Clarkson.

His untimely death has robbed football of a fine player and one who was universally admired by his peers. However, football’s loss is nothing in comparison to his family’s and our thought remain with his wife Eileen, their four children, Meghan, Christopher, Olivia and Luc, his parents, brothers, sisters, family and many friends.