James Forrest: The Celtic Legend Rises
Another goal, another fairy tale
Billy McNeil coined the phrase, "There's a fairytale about this club," and it was fitting that it was another one club man who wrote the latest chapter in the Book of Fairy Tales about Celtic Football Club.
Trailing the final game of the season 1-0 to a team who's only remit was to minimise how much time the ball was in play, refereed by someone who seemed to be spending the game man-marking Callum McGregor, our trophy day appeared to be petering out to a 1-0 defeat until the arrival of James Forrest.
Celtic were dominant throughout the game, but a little sluggish with everyone seeming to be wanting to make that extra one touch.
St. Mirren had gone ahead through perhaps their only sortie into the Celtic penalty box when a poor clearance from Scales landed at the feet of a St. Mirren striker who turned and shot into the bottom corner.
Shortly after that Brendan Rodgers made three substitutions which gave a bit more life to the team, specifically the arrival of James Forrest who, like he did on Wednesday night against Aberdeen, belied his years of nearly 34 to torment the fullback.
Once the living legend arrived onto the park, crosses were flashing in front of goal and Celtic looked like they might pull back level and maybe even go in front. But when Daizen Maeda managed to head over when faced with an empty net and about two yards out, it looked like the game was going to peter down to a disappointing defeat before the trophy celebrations, but it was not to be.
The ball was worked to cross the perfect pitch to the feet of James Forrest and with the keeper expecting him to flash a shot back across goal, Forrest went near post and Celtic Park erupted.
The explosion of emotion was not due to Celtic plucking a draw from the jaws of defeat or even the manner that it was done, it was the fact that it was James Forrest. 60,000 people were desperate for James to score his 16th goal in 16 seasons. The passion that burst out from the stands and flowed down to the turf was from the hearts of the supporters. The cascade of chants for James Forrest showed the love which the supporters have for Jamesy. It showed the respect that they have for this one club man who has committed his whole career to Celtic.
After the final whistle, Brendan Rogers summed it up when he spoke to the fans when he said, "James Forrest is an example to every young player currently going through the Celtic Academy system. He's a young man who has put his football dreams first. He works hard every day to be the best he can be, and we have been privileged to sit and watch for 16 seasons James Forrest score goals for Celtic."