The Andreas Thom signing heralded an exciting new era at Celtic

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The Celtic Star

·28 de julho de 2025

The Andreas Thom signing heralded an exciting new era at Celtic

30 years ago today we clinched the signing of German striker Andreas Thom for a then club record fee of £2.3 million…

Celtic versus Dundee United Football 22nd November 1997 Scottish football premier league Parkhead final score 4 0 Andy Thom celebrates after opening scoring with a penalty kick goal

It was seen as quite a coup to entice player of Thoms calibre to the club, and it heralded an exciting new era at Celtic football Club. Thom boasted a superb track record in his native German at club level, whilst having represented both the East German and the new unified German national side at full international level.

Vídeos OneFootball

Just 12 months previously we were saved from obscurity by Fergus McCann who had transformed our club inside out, and we were about to kick off the new season as Scottish cup holders in a brand new refurbished Celtic Park.

26 August 1997: Andreas Thom (centre) and Morten Wieghost of Celtic celebrate a goal during the UEFA Cup Preliminary round second leg match against against Tirol Insbruck at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland. Celtic won 6-3 on the night and 7-5 on aggregate. Photo: Stu Forster /Allsport

Fergus had already allowed Tommy Burns to splash out a club record fee of £1.75m on Phil O’Donnell, and a further £1.25 million on Pierre Van Hoojidonk as he looked to transform our side on the park as well as off it.

But the arrival of Thom signalled an intent that we were now operating on at a completely different level as we aimed to challenge Rangers as the dominant force in Scottish football.

Andy settled into the side perfectly and showed the class that made Fergus sanction such a fee. He didn’t win much in the way of honours but gave us some superb moments such as his unforgettable strike against Rangers at Ibrox during a dramatic 3-3 draw back in November 1995.

GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 24: FUSSBALL: UEFA CUP HSV – CELTIC GLASGOW am 24.9.96, Andreas THOM/Karsten BAERON. (Photo by Bongarts/Getty Images)

Andy won the League Cup in 1997 under Wim Jansen before leaving a couple of months later as he returned to Germany with Hertha Berlin having made 101 appearances scoring 28 goals during his time in Glasgow.

Unfortunately for Andy he didn’t get to celebrate the club’s first title success in a decade at the end of that season, but he’d done enough to earn a league medal thus forever being remembered as part of the squad that stopped the dreaded ten.

UNITED KINGDOM – SEPTEMBER 28: FUSSBALL: englische Liga CELTIC GLASGOW 28.9.95, Andreas THOM/privat (Photo by Bernd Lauter/Bongarts/Getty Images)

A fine player and a good Celt was Andy Thom.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

ANDRES THOM 1995 – 1996 CELTIC PHOTOCALL. Photo Allsport UK/ALLSPORT

🗓️ On this Day - 28th July 1995 Andreas Thom signed from Bayer Leverkusen for £2.2m ✍️🏽🍀 🇩🇪
– segunda-feira, 28 de julho de 2025

July 1996: A portrait of Andreas Thom of Celtic during the team photocall in Glasgow. Photo Allsport UK

Read this – The backstory to Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter

Thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered the late David Potter’s last ever Celtic book, Celtic in the Eighties, which will be published on the fifth day of September by Celtic Star Books. The link to pre-order your copy is below…

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter, out 5 September 2025. Available to pre-order now.

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