The news of Tommy Burns life story being made into a documentary was greeted with great delight when it was announced last year. Tommy was someone who had made a mark on everyone he met. Such was the warmth that people felt for Tommy, that Walter Smith and Ally McCoist were welcomed at Parkhead to pay their respects even though they were the Rangers management team at the time.
Tommy Burns was a legend at Celtic. As a player he won six Scottish Premier Division titles and five Scottish Cups. It’s safe to say that if Tommy Burns was playing then it was a good idea to put your money on Celtic to win. For the people of Glasgow, Celtic were almost always a banker bet. The odds may have been low, but putting your money on Celtic was almost always going to bring back a win. Back then, most people wouldn’t have had the choice of bookmakers available to their fingertips as in the time when Tommy was playing, but they certainly knew that backing Celtic was the right choice. It’s something that has continued to this day, Celtic are such a safe bet that they have won an unprecedented treble treble! Tommy spent almost his whole career playing with Celtic and anyone who followed the hoops during the 70s knew who Tommy was.
He ended up managing his beloved Celtic and took them to a Scottish Cup. Management wasn’t Tommy’s true calling though. He worked best as a coach. His time working as a coach at Celtic was highly impressive. He worked under a number of managers in both youth and first team roles. The number of high quality youth players that came through under him as well as the success of the first team were all inspired in part by his hard work and ability.
It didn’t take a gambler to realise that Tommy was one of a kind. As Gordon Strachan said “There weren’t many better than him as a footballer, but he was top of the league when it came to being a man.” This was the absolute truth, at his peak Tommy Burns was one of the top ten players in the league and as a person there was never a bad word spoken about him.
Documentary award
The documentary was made ten years after Tommy tragically died at just 51. Commissioned by Purple TV it was a celebration of the life of a man who really did pull himself up by his bootstraps and make the absolute most of his life. The RTS Scotland award for best sports programme was nothing less than Tommy deserved. His life was honoured on screen and then honoured again at the awards show.
How well received the documentary was came down to two main aspects. Firstly, it was a superb piece of television. Everything about it really was brilliant. It cast a new light on a man that people had thought a lot of from a distance, but were now being given a more in-depth insight into his life. Secondly, it showed just how much people think of Tommy even to this day. He was genuinely one of the best footballers that Scotland has ever produced. His ability both as a player and as a coach helped Tommy to stand out from the crowd, but it was his personality that helped to make him a legend.