O'Neill shares honour with Celtic staff

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill modestly attributed his OBE to staff at the Parkhead club.

The Hoops’ boss was given the accolade in the New Year’s Honours List for guiding the club to their first European final since 1970 last season.

Celtic were beaten in the UEFA Cup final by Porto in Seville but the award recognises O’Neill’s achievements at Parkhead and in previous jobs at Wycombe Wanderers and Leicester City.

O’Neill has previously won a European Cup winner’s medal as a player with Nottingham Forest and played in the 1982 World Cup finals with Northern Ireland.

But the ex-midfielder has earned even greater success in his managerial career. He took the non-league Chairboys into the Football League in 1993 before guiding Leicester to two League Cup wins and European competition.

O’Neill humbly accepted the honour as part of a team effort. He said: “As a club, Celtic has enjoyed success in the past few years, culminating in the appearance at the UEFA Cup final last summer.