It was a big shock for the country and football as a whole when Phil O'Donnell passed away suddenly yesterday. If you're a Scottish football fan you would have seen his career progress over the last 17 years through his early days at Motherwell, sucess and injury blighted periods at Celtic and a fruitless time at Sheffield Wednesday.
I for one was pleased to see him back at Motherwell and he seemed to be enjoying an Indian Summer as the Well climbed the table.
It was unfortunate he only gained one full cap for Scotland and his manager for that game, Craig Brown, was on the radio this morning saying he would have capped him more often had he not suffered from frequent injuries.
There are literally hundreds of tributes and obituaries for him online, but this is about the best one I've read, from the Sunday Times.
There are numerous video tributes to him online on YouTube and below is his goal from probably the best Scottish Cup final that I can remember, the 1991 game where Motherwell beat Dundee United 4-3.
Sunday, 30 December 2007
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O'Donnell was a very gifted player. I recall being at a Motherwell v Celtic match the season before he joined Celtic when he was maybe about 20? I'm not sure. He totally dominated quality players like Collins and McStay, scored and set up a winner in a victory that in those days, was rarer than successes against the Old Firm are these days. He was excellent for Celtic when he joined them too. A classic Scottish box to box man.
Such a shame to see him go when he was back playing at a very high standard, but in a way, if he had to be taken early, it might as well be leading his team to victory on the park he came of age.
I for one am not surprised in the least to see a genuine outpouring of shock and grief for the loss of a good player and by all account and extremely nice family man.
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