
I am THE Celtic cult hero famous for my celebration now I play in the ninth tier and was late for debut
He is a cult hero among the Celtic and Hibs faithful.
And his latest adventure sees him turning out in the ninth tier of the Scottish football pyramid.
As debuts goes, a 3-1 defeat in the West of Scotland Third Division opener at Ardeer Thistle won't go down as one to remember.
But maybe turning up LATE for the kick-off and forcing your new club to start with ten men will.
Have you guessed who we are talking about yet? If not, then it is the man himself Efe Ambrose.
The defender burst onto the Scottish football scene at Celtic under Neil Lennon and went on to win the lot including multiple league titles and turning out in the Champions League at the top level for the Parkhead side.
He then followed the man who took him to Parkhead to Hibs on an initial loan before penning a permanent stay.
Since his Easter Road departure he's had numerous stints north and south of the border with Derby County, Livingston, St Johnstone, Dunfermline, Morton, Queen of the South, Bury and Workington.
Now 36, the former Nigeria international, is in no rush to hang up his boots and has signed for the season ahead at Glasgow United.
And he will be determined to make things right after a debut defeat and late arrival to the pitch.
Tweeting updates from the clash on Saturday, the Ardeer admin took to the clubs social channels in the 12th minute of the game to state: "Not much to report other than Glasgow United starting the match with 10 men. Efe Ambrose has now turned up and takes his place in their back line."
Sharing a picture of Ambrose with his new club colours, Glasgow United posted online: "He is here Efe Ambrose. Put the pen to paper and made his debut but there is still more to come"
Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.
You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South Wales Guardian
15 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Brendan Rodgers primed for Celtic's Champions League challenge after opening win
The champions needed a deflected strike from substitute Luke McCowan to edge past St Mirren with a 1-0 win as they started their William Hill Premiership title defence at Parkhead. Celtic earlier hit the frame of the goal through Benjamin Nygren, Reo Hatate and Adam Idah, and had a Callum McGregor strike disallowed for handball following a VAR intervention. But a strikeforce led by Idah inside Daizen Maeda and Yang Hyun-jun – with James Forrest and Johnny Kenny coming off the bench – looked in need of the reinforcements which Rodgers has been calling for. The Celtic manager was eager to praise his side's display and not labour that point, but fans will be keen to see new signings come in soon after Monday's Champions League play-off draw. The likes of Sturm Graz and Basel await Celtic as they discover their fate for the high-risk, high-reward games, which will take place in the final two weeks of this month. Rodgers said: 'We'll be ready for the games. Whenever they come, we'll be ready. The players are working very hard. 'They are always tense games. But we're in a good place and we'll take that game on when it comes. 'We've had a really, really good pre-season. The players are shaping up very well and are working very hard. There's real spirit and solidarity here in the team. So we look forward to that. 'We know whoever we get, it's going to be tough, but it will also be tough for them.' When asked whether their long wait for a goal against St Mirren underlined the need for more attacking options, Rodgers said: 'We created a lot. We got into a lot of really good areas and you have to give credit to the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper made some great saves. 'I think we were creative in the game, dominated the game. 'At times we moved the ball really well. At other times we could have attacked a wee bit more when we got into certain positions and been a bit more aggressive in the one-v-one moments. 'But overall, to play against that team, against that system, that's how you've got to work it and then you need a bit of quality to finish it. 'Sometimes you need a wee bit of good fortune as well. We didn't quite have that, some of them hit the post and the bar.' St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson saw plenty to encourage him. 'It was disappointing because we lost to a deflection,' he said. 'Defensively, I thought we were superb, very, very well organised. People use that as a slight against St Mirren sometimes, but that is one of the basics of management, get your team organised. 'We said we would have five or six opportunities to break and we did. Some we picked the right option, some we didn't. 'We didn't sit back the whole game, we pressed. I think we caused Celtic problems at times. 'But they have a heck of a lot of quality. If you look at the substitutes they are bringing on in comparison to ours, then it makes it a tough task.'


Scotsman
15 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Celtic are a level down in key area of team and vital victory can't alter landscape
The champions are up and running on flag day - but this is a diminished version a year on Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Better late than ever on opening day. Celtic had to show patience amidst increased perturbation at Parkhead before they finally barged down the St Mirren door on 87 minutes to win 1-0. This goes down as a vital victory for Celtic for all manner of reasons. The start to this season has come under the cloud of manager Brendan Rodgers' future and grumblings about their summer transfer business. Not prevailing would have increased the noise, of that there is no doubt. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But for the third successive season, Celtic have capitalised on their nearest rivals dropping points on the first weekend of the campaign. After Rangers' 1-1 draw at Motherwell less than 24 hours earlier, Celtic already have a two-point gap in the title race. Celtic showed their champions mentality - if not a champions performance - by overcoming St Mirren 1-0. | SNS Group This was not as convincing as a year ago, when Celtic scudded Kilmarnock 4-0 on flag day. There were celebratory scenes pre-match when the 2024/25 Premiership trophy was paraded, with one of the club's greats in Paul McStay on banner duty. But once the match began, Celtic's foibles were laid bare by a stubborn and well-organised St Mirren side. By the end there were cheers, but they were laced with relief too. Celtic did enough to win the game. It is important to point that out before going into where there are issues. St Mirren only had one veritable chance midway through the second half when Oisin Smyth had a netbound shot blocked. At the other end, Celtic slapped the woodwork three times and dominated possession with an xG of 1.73 compared to the Buddies' 0.27. They came up against an extremely disciplined St Mirren side intent on being resolute and carrying a threat on the counter attack. Goalkeeper Shamal George repelled almost everything that came his way before Luke McCowan's skidded effort found the far corner via a deflection. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Celtic aren't an improved version But this wasn't quite the Celtic of last year. They were very solid defensively but this performance was a level down from an offensive perspective. The rotations and synergies weren't quite as seamless in midfield, where new signing Benjamin Nygren was preferred to Arne Engels. The Swede was busy without any brilliance. Further forward, the problems are starker. Last season's Daizen Maeda worked hard but was wasteful in the final third, although more threatening than the two forwards next to him. On the right flank, Yang Hjun-jun was too quick to pass sideways or backwards rather than take on St Mirren left-back Declan John. He was replaced by veteran James Forrest before the hour mark and Celtic carried more threat with him on the pitch. With Jota injured and Nicolas Kuhn sold to Como, they need more down that side. The same can be said in the No 9 role. Poor old Adam Idah put in a shift but his ruthlessness in front of goal remains of concern. He headed straight at George in the first half, but the effort that he battered off the post on 72 minutes was more galling given he was seven yards out. Luke McCowan's strike squeezes past Shamal George to give Celtic a 1-0 win over St Mirren. | SNS Group Idah was never going to be an out-and-out replacement for the more diminutive Kyogo Furuhashi, but the Irishman has not done enough since January to convince that he is the long-term solution to lead Celtic's frontline. He cut a frustrated figure when replaced by Johnny Kenny. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad By that point, Celtic Park was starting to simmer. Captain Callum McGregor, one of the team's better players, had a 68th-minute strike ruled out by VAR for a handball in the build-up. St Mirren were throwing absolutely everything at balls into their penalty box. And they had a bit of lady-luck on their side too, displayed when a Reo Hatate strike hit Marcus Fraser, looped over George and hit the bar, bounced back off the keeper and off the post. There was also the blow of left-back Kieran Tierney trudging off on 65 minutes. On his first competitive match back at the club, the 28-year-old appeared to signal that he had caught the cramp that was bothering him early enough. His withdrawal weakened Celtic, though, given he was their best player, marauding down the wing and firing in some tantalising crosses. Yet whatever Celtic showed in terms of technical ability and creativity, their relentlessness remains. That is ultimately what champions do; they find a way to win, even on off-days. Rodgers threw on Arne Engels and McCowan in a bid to refresh his midfield and it worked when the former Dundee man found a pocket of space and finally broke George and Co's resistance.


Daily Mail
16 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Celtic 1-0 St Mirren: Lack of bite could come back to haunt Brendan Rodgers' toothless Bhoys
Celtic might very well have added the necessary fire power to their armoury by the time the transfer window closes on September 1. The trouble is that their season started here. That date had been in a diary for long enough. So why, then, did they find themselves three minutes away from making the most inauspicious start to their title defence? Answers on a postcard, please. Even though Luke McCowan struck late on to save the day, no-one who witnessed a display which lacked so much conviction in the final third would have left the ground overly impressed. It was adequate rather than awe-inspiring. Notwithstanding the fact that Brendan Rodgers ' side fashioned plenty of chances and struck the woodwork three times, they never looked like getting the job done with much to spare. On balance, they absolutely deserved to win the contest. But it was a display which again underscored the need for some serious footballers to be added at the top end of the field. Quite simply, no side can lose players of the ilk of Kyogo Furuhashi and Nicolas Kuhn and not miss a beat. And the longer Celtic go on without addressing the blatantly obvious, the greater the chance that they'll come unstuck. It would be stretching matters to suggest the Parkhead side got away with one here. They were the better side. They created more opportunities. Yet the fact is that only a deflected strike by McCowan finally got them over the line. While they deserved credit for showing the mentality of champions and going right to the last, it was far from vintage. A summer of hitherto underwhelming transfer activity was reflected in Rodgers' side. Kieran Tierney and Benjamin Nygren were the only fresh faces from last season. Hyun-jun Yang delivered in flashes last season yet started here on the right. He again offered little creatively to suggest he's the answer. With Daizen Maeda required on the other flank, Adam Idah was always going to be selected in the forward role. Maeda finished a tough shift by providing the late assist for McCowan. Idah couldn't convert any of the hatful of half chances that fell his way. Fraser Taylor had been the League One player of the year while on loan at Arbroath last season. Stephen Robinson thought highly enough of the diminutive midfielder to throw him in from the start at Celtic Park. Before kick-off, the trophy that Celtic set out to defend was carried into the stadium by one of the club's all-time greats in Paul McStay. This was never going to be a formality for Rodgers' players. Saints had taken a point here in the final match of last season with the core of the team that had chalked up three successive top-six finishes remaining intact. The Paisley side were characteristically organised and calm as Celtic went in search of the first goal of their campaign. Idah had already fired Alistair Johnston's cross the wrong side of the upright when he rose to meet Tierney's cross. Shamal George collected his header as it bounced back up off the lush surface. You suspect Tierney's partnership with Maeda will cause opposition teams endless problems once their understanding develops. One sharp exchange allowed the Scot to pick out Idah with another centre. This time the Irishman's header was off target. Quick thinking by Callum McGregor caught Saints napping as they defended a free-kick. Maeda ran clear, rounded George, but found the angle too tight to convert. Celtic created chances. Just not enough that you would class gilt-edged. The visitors were also alive to any danger. Jayden Richardson typified their diligence with a perfectly timed block to prevent Maeda bundling home Johnston's deep low cross. Next for a pat on the back from his keeper was Alex Gogic who managed to steer Tierney's fizzing strike away for a corner. For all Celtic were on top, the visitors were not without their moments of promise. Kasper Schmeichel did well to spring to his left to beat away Mark O'Hara's swerving strike. Nygren then found Idah with a cute chip over the top. The striker's poor connection made for another easy take for George. The Saints keeper was starting to enjoy this challenge. He denied Celtic's Swedish midfielder with a superb tip onto the underside of his crossbar, the assist coming from Maeda's acceleration and cross. It was more of the same from Celtic after the interval. Lots of the ball. Plenty moments that brought the supporters to the edge of their seats. But a distinct lack of bite. McGregor's snapshot went through a defender's legs and threatened to creep in. George pounced on the ball. Nygren's deep cross was met by the head of Maeda. This time the keeper wasn't required. Reo Hatate's shot from the edge of the box wasn't troubling George until it deflected off Marcus Fraser and on to the bar. James Forrest — who turned 34 this month — replaced the ineffective Yang, with Auston Trusty required to shed his tracksuit top after Tierney indicated he had an issue. Mercifully for the home support, it appears the returning star was only suffering from a bout of cramp. Veteran winger Forrest made an immediate impact, driving from right to centre and sparking panic in the visiting defence. Mark O'Hara's attempt to walk the ball out of trouble was cut off by McGregor. The skipper smashed the ball home with his left foot. Parkhead celebrated until VAR correctly identified that McGregor had handled the ball before letting fly. With frustration starting to grow, Idah took Liam Scales' cross on his chest and smashed the ball against the post. Only Cameron Carter-Vickers' smart positioning prevented sub Oisin Smyth from giving Saints the lead with his first touch. Forrest passed up a decent chance to get the job done when he fired a volley into the stand. Those among the home support who made for the exit at that moment would regret it. With just two minutes remaining, the tireless Maeda picked out McCowan lurking on the edge of the box. There appeared to be too many legs in his way, yet he shuffled the ball onto his favoured left foot, hit cleanly through it and finally beat George with the help of a deflection. By the skin of their teeth, Celtic had got the job done. Celtic (4-3-3): Schmeichel 7; Johnston 6.5, Carter-Vickers 6.5, Scales 6.5, Tierney 7 (Trusty 65); McGregor 7, Hatate 6.5 (McCowan 78), Nygren 6 (Engels 78); Yang 4.5 (Forrest 59) Idah 5.5 (Kenny 78), Maeda 6.5. Booked: Engels. Manager: Brendan Rodgers 7. St Mirren (5-3-2): George 7; Richardson 6.5 (Sobowale 78) Fraser 6, Gogic 7, King 6.5 (Dijksteel 90), John 6.5; Phillips 6.5, O'Hara 6.5, Taylor 5.5 (Ayunga 45); Idowu 6 (Smyth 78), Mandron 6 (Mooney 78). Booked: Idowu.