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Tony Warner had a short stay at Celtic but is still warmly remembered
Some loan players make an impact at clubs, and are warmly remembered while others make little impact and are long forgotten by supporters.
Robbie Keane and Craig Bellamy are two examples of ones that made a terrific contribution at our club and are rightly held in high regard. One name that’s also still held in high esteem amongst Celtic supporters despite making just three first team appearances is goalkeeper Tony Warner.
The Scouse shot stopper arrived at Celtic Park from Liverpool on a loan deal in November 1998 after injuries to Jonathan Gould and Stewart Kerr left young Andy McCondichie as the only available goalkeeper.
Of those three appearances he’s best known for taking part in that superb 5-1 victory over Rangers at Celtic Park. The game that famously announced Lubo Moravcik to the Scottish game.
Tony made his debut the week before at McDiarmid Park in a 2-1 defeat to St Johnstone. There maybe wasn’t much confidence in him going into such a big game like the Glasgow Derby, but like everyone else that day he played his part in a well earned famous win, it really was The Sweetest Thing, the song played over the tannoy system as Celtic fans celebrated after the final whistle.
He played his final game in a 2-0 home win over Motherwell the following week before making way for the returning Johnathan Gould. He would head back to Liverpool in January.
Tony Warner would return to Scotland just a few months later for another loan spell this time at Aberdeen. Tony never got a sniff of first team action at Liverpool sitting on the bench a whooping 150 times.
Tony would eventually join Millwall on a permanent deal and played over 200 games for the Lions earning the nickname Denzil due to his uncanny likeness to the Only Fools and Horses favourite.
On the international front he was eligible to play for Trinidad and Tobago and earned two full caps.
He would later bounce around various clubs on loan including spells abroad in Malta and Australia before going into coaching with Blackpool in 2013 while also still registering as a player. He would later coach with Accrington Stanley and with Indian Super League sides North East United and Chennaiyin. Today He’s currently a goalkeeping coach at Reading.
He might not have been at Celtic long, but Tony Warner is still warmly remembered by the Celtic supporters who were at Paradise that day on 21 November 1998. Here are the highlights and some more exclusive photos of Tony Warner playing for Celtic….
