Martin O'Neill: The Biography

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A season never to be forgotten by any Celtic fan (or anyone else who was there to witness any of it!).

I’ve honestly missed it so much. Seriously. My wife, who hated every place she’d been to in her life, absolutely loved it in Scotland. If she ever goes to heaven – which she won’t – she’d complain about that as well…But she loved it here and I was the same. It was great. You’d wake up and look out the window and not know if it was June or October. But that didn’t matter to us coming from Northern Ireland.” Early on, I would have taken a bit of criticism but not nearly as much as Billy for making the choice. He never told me about it, he never said it bothered him. He was prepared to go for it when for an easier life he could have bypassed me.”O’Neill also helped to give some good young players their first steps. Kennedy and Marshall outstanding at the Nou Camp, Liam Miller’s (ultimately brief) purple patch, before he got snatched by old purple nose, McManus and McGeady both made debuts, while the likes of Jamie Smith, Ross Wallace and Craig Beattie all looked like they had something to offer. However, over time, excluding McGeady none of them have hit the major heights, but they mostly all had good solid careers at a decent level. The glory moments are something none of the support will ever forget, and he will forever be a Celtic man first & foremost. During the five years we [Celtic] played everyone to be perfectly honest – and many a time we played referees an’ all.”

Understandably his priority was his family, and with hindsight the club should have managed things differently to work as best as possible in the circumstances but then again who wanted to lose Martin O’Neill? The club tried to accommodate him as best as anyone could.

I was obsessed with graffiti & art when I was at school, mates in my class said I should ‘be an artist’, I went through all the hoops and found myself on a graphic design & printmaking BA in 1992. I had a collage epiphany in a paper recycling centre in Germany in ‘93 which fed 2 years of experimental collage and printmaking. Then I kind of fell off the end of the course with no direction or training on how to make a living in the art/design world, but I was making a lot of work everyone on my course seemed to love. He has an enviable sense of composition, balancing shape, color, line, texture, and type with a precision that makes it all seem effortless. You have to have a really good eye to do all that. And Martin O’Neill has the best. He is a true master of collage.” – Graham Rawle. June 2019 Your work is nostalgic in style and very ‘hands on’ in the creating process, do you think there is a resurgence in this type of work given the predominant digital age we are in? The comparisons were difficult, and the arguments at times nauseating, but in 2014 both Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan were drawn to face each other in competitive matches for the Euro 2016 Championships. The first match was actually played at Celtic Park as Hampden was being renovated, and Scotland triumphed 1-0; the return leg was 1-1 with ex-Celt Maloney (who had played under both managers at Celtic) the scorer for Scotland in both games. Nobody was going to truly believe this would settle any old arguments. Time had passed by for the old debaters, and both managers should be respected for their time at Celtic. He has worked as an illustrator and artist for two decades and regularly exhibits his personal collages, sketchbooks, and prints. He is also a visiting lecturer across the UK. Martin lives and works on England’s South East coast with his wife and two daughters.

He was clear about what he wanted. He took the players he needed from the previous era – the ones with character, fire and quality – and built his own team. He brought in Alan Thompson, Chris Sutton, Neil Lennon, Bobo Balde, Joos Valgaeren – huge players for us. Martin knew how to build a team of warriors. We didn’t fear anyone; we played Barcelona, Lyon and Liverpool, and we weren’t scared. Teams feared us when they came to Celtic Park. We had such togetherness and we had winners, and we were hungry for success.” You sell limited edition prints and original Artworks. Do you think selling work through various platforms is an area for illustrators to consider? Celtic is a way of life. Possibly more than anywhere else, it meant everything to the supporters. The club affected their lives in ways perhaps maybe other clubs didn’t do.”Double European Cup winner as a player with Nottingham Forest, playing under legendary Brian Clough. An interesting anecdote from Matt McGlone (ex-Celtic View columnist) on Martin O’Neill highlighted his level of involvement at all levels. After a critical article by McGlone on the first team after losing 5-1 to Rangers, Martin O’Neill stormed in to see Matt McGlone and castigate him over the article. According to McGlone, Martin O’Neill was comprehensive in his role at Celtic and had a view and look at everything going on, and ensured that all was well set-up as he required for his players benefit. An important point that highlights just how thorough Martin O’Neill was, and it played a part to transform the team and club environment to get the foundations laid for future success. Because he sees the inherent value in every tiny piece, he develops a unique relationship with his archive. This makes all the difference when he brings everything together in an image because we feel what he feels; his passion is infectious. “ February – In quiet he is approached by Dermot Desmond and sounded out about becoming Manager at Celtic. Rejects offer. Leads Leicester to their third Worthington Cup final in four years after a 1-0 aggregate win over Aston Villa in the semi-finals.