Reid wants fitting Burns tribute
by Alex Livie, 15 May 2008
John Reid has paid tribute to Tommy Burns and says Celtic will do all they can to ensure his memory lives on through the club’s football.
Burns lost his battle against cancer this week and fans of football have been paying their respects to a man who represented the club so well as a player and a manager.
He had a philosophy to play entertaining football and Bhoys chairman Reid feels this won him many fans outside of Celtic Park.
“It was very sad and I heard Peter Grant with great respect, as Peter was one of the players who was a Celtic man, gave his all for the club, and for him to extol the virtues and pre-eminence of Tommy Burns was very fitting indeed,” Reid said on Setanta Sports News.
”We are all devastated and our thoughts are with Rosemary and his family and I don’t just mean that personally, but on behalf of the millions of Celtic supporters across the globe.
”Tommy Burns had a far greater appeal due to his commitment to entertaining, open football because of the skills he brought do the game.
”It is a terrible loss to Celtic today. I am not a right honourable or chairman of Celtic on occasions like this, I am just a supporter of Celtic who feels exactly the same as the supporters and fans, which is we have lost a friend, a member of the Celtic family and we have lost somebody who epitomised what Celtic stood for and should stand for in terms of football and way of life.”
Burns helped Celtic lift the domestic Double in 1988 and Reid remembers him fondly.
He added: “Tommy was a great footballer. ‘Tommy twists, Tommy turns, there is only one Tommy Burns’ was what we used to sing on the terracing and he brought that to his management style.
"Even when it wasn’t bringing the results that managers were judged by, Tommy remained committed to that style and that was the same when he was a player, a manager and a coach.”
Reid says the club will find a fitting way of honouring Burns, but believes the best way will be to play football ‘the Celtic way’.
“In the short term we will do all we can to assist Rosemary and the family,” added Reid. “In the next shortish period we have one or two big club functions and if at all possible we ought to be postponing them as a mark of respect to Tommy.
”Then in the longer term we will see what we do to commemorate him.
”I am certain on one thing and that is Tommy will want us to enshrine for the future his philosophy which is to continue to play open football with flair and to continue to play football the Celtic way and if we do that Tommy Burns’ spirit will still pervade Celtic Park.”