<span class="newstitle" id="headline">Barnsley Bhoy Tony's delight</span> <h2 id="maintemplatesubtitle"><span id="byline">Stephen Sullivan</span></h2><div id="maintemplatecontent"> <span id="story"></span></p> Celtic fans might not realise it but, in Tony McParland, their club has just lost its longest-serving player. The 23-year-old was, after all, first ‘signed’ at the tender age of nine and has spent the ensuing 14 years doggedly pursuing the dream of representing his boyhood heroes, displaying great determination through a maddeningly frustrating catalogue of injuries that struck just as he appeared to be on the verge of a first-team breakthrough. Yet, for McParland, parting – perhaps surprisingly – is not so much sweet sorrow, as sweet relief. That was certainly abundantly clear when the Celtic website caught up with the winger en route to seal his move to Barnsley, with McParland, having already agreed terms on a one-and-a-half-year deal, evidently eager to begin his career in earnest. “Honestly, I can’t wait,” he enthused. “I’m on my way down at the moment my girlfriend, Nicola, and our dog, and I’m just desperate to get started. “Everyone’s delighted for me and I’m thrilled with the move myself. “Barnsley’s a good club with fantastic facilities and a big support, so the potential is definitely there for the team to push on and reach the Championship. After that, who knows? “It’s not so long since the club was in the Premiership, after all, and I’ve seen from my short time there that the set-up is definitely geared towards bigger things.” The move to Oakwell is one McParland earned during a trial period that included a reserve appearance so impressive that it very nearly saw him pinched from under Barnsley manager Andy Ritchie's very nose. As the former Celt explained: “I was desperate to move and, initially, I was supposed to be signing for Darlington – and I would have been happy enough to do that. But the manager there couldn’t offload the players he needed to and I’m delighted now that that was the case because my agent, Gordon Smith, then fixed up the trial with Barnsley. “I played in a reserve game against Bradford a day or so after arriving and bust a gut to show the manager what I could do. Sometimes being that desperate to prove yourself can work against you, but I must have done alright in the game because, afterwards, the Bradford manager tried to get me to sign for them! “That was obviously a big compliment, but I’d enjoyed my short time with Barnsley and the manager seems to have confidence in me, which is exactly what I need at this stage in my career.” It was certainly made clear to McParland that his career at Celtic would not progress and, as such, the decision to seek as quick and painless a separation as possible proved easier than he could ever have imagined. Indeed, the youngster – who yesterday morning paid a final visit to the stadium to bid farewell to the many friends he’s leaving behind – admits that he leaves with just one regret. He said: “It’s obviously strange to leave Celtic and say goodbye to all my friends, but it wasn’t as sad as it might have been because of what’s happened this season. “To be honest, I’m relieved to be leaving the club now because the last months have been the hardest of my life. “Being told that I wouldn’t be considered for selection, no matter what I did, left a bit of bad taste, although I’d say it’s just made me hungrier and more determined than ever. “The only sad thing for me is the way it all ended. I’d been full-time with the club for six years and, for all that the injuries were a nightmare, the last few months have disappointed me the most. “But I’ll always be a Celtic fan, that goes without saying. I’ve been part of the club since starting with the boys club when I was nine and the strangest thing for me will be pulling on a different shirt after all these years. To be honest, though, I’ll just be so happy to play football again.”</p></div>
Sounds like he want to give 100%, so with his pace he should be pushing our wingers for a starting place. Which one of them needs.
