THE grand kids of Celtic's first black player visited Parkhead last night - and admitted they had waited their entire lives to do so.
Jamaican Gil Heron was the first black player for the Scottish club in 1951.
Known as 'the Black Arrow', he was spotted by a scout from the Parkhead side while the club was on tour in North America. After signing for the club, he went on to score on his debut on August 18, 1951, in a League Cup tie against Morton that Celtic won 2–0.
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Although he only played for one season, his impact was huge with Celtic fans still showing their appreciation for the player by wearing the Hoops to his jazz musician son Gil Scott-Heron's concerts.
Heron died aged 86 in 2008 but his grandkids got a chance to see what his life was like in Scotland as they visited the stadium and took in Celtic's 4-3 defeat against Romanian side CFR Cluj.
#CelticFC is delighted to welcome the grandchildren of legendary Gil Heron to Celtic Park tonight. The man known as the Black Arrow was the first black player to wear the Hoops back in 1951 💚
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) August 13, 2019
We spoke to them as they absorbed Paradise for the first time!#CELCLU #UCL pic.twitter.com/MmFllSelnd
In an interview with Celtic FC, his granddaughter told fans about the player's memories of Scotland before admitting the stadium was 'dope' and 'super-cool'.
She said: "I remember Scotland was the furthest he had ever travelled so he was really excited to be this far away.
"We remember he would tell you about the cold or that it would rain all the time - and he wasn't ready for that.
"Then he would just say he was so excited to wake up and be part of a cool club."
She added: "I wanted to visit the stadium my entire life so coming here is really special.
"We would have come to any game, we would have come if there wasn't a game."
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