IT is widely known that St Ninian’s High School has provided a conveyor belt of talent for Celtic over the years, but under Ange Postecoglou, there is a school rather further afield that is starting to rival the Kirkintilloch campus for former pupils who now ply their trade at the club.
The Westfields Sports High School in Sydney has an illustrious alumni of Australian sporting stars, and the jewel in their crown is former Liverpool star and current Celtic first-team coach Harry Kewell.
Following in his footsteps a few years down the line came new Celtic signing Aaron Mooy, with the midfielder now relishing the opportunity to learn from a man whose example he spent his formative years trying to live up to.
“He left before I got there but the school was like a sports school,” Mooy said.
“In New South Wales, they do trials and stuff and select the best players then you got school and you get training and your subjects. There’s lots of extra training which helped a lot.
“Quite quickly everyone finds out Harry Kewell went there then everyone wants to go there!
“He’s part of the ‘Golden Generation’, they call it in Australia. The team was full of players playing in the top leagues. They were regulars and they went further than any Australian team has gone in the World Cup. They inspired a lot in me and a lot of kids to play football.
“Obviously growing up following football [Harry] was a megastar in Australian football and he did really well in his career. He had an amazing career and with the national team so he’s someone I’ve always looked up to.
“He’s started his coaching career and I’m sure he’ll learn a lot from Ange and bring his side to the team as well.”
Mooy himself is of course a huge name in Australian soccer in his own right these days, with the 31-year-old earning 52 caps for his country and having played in the English Premier League with Huddersfield Town and Brighton.
It is all a far cry from his first experience in European football, when he endured a tough spell as a youngster just down the road from Celtic Park with St Mirren.
His manager at the time, Danny Lennon, told Herald Sport yesterday that he never doubted Mooy’s ability, but that he needed to mature mentally if he was to be seen again in the game on this side of the world after retreating home to play with Western Sydney Wanderers.
Mooy agrees that mental resilience was the missing component from his make-up.
“It was always the plan for me to come back,” he said. “That was my dream as a kid – to play in Europe, play at the highest level I could.
“Obviously a few years go by in Australia and you think ‘am I going to get the chance?’
“I was lucky enough to get another opportunity and I’m proud I got to play at a good level in the Premier League.
“It was a good experience for me [at St Mirren]. It exposed me to what it is like in professional football. When you play reserve football, it’s not like you can go down or be relegated. That exposed me to that.
“It was a big eye-opener. Obviously I wasn’t that successful there but I think I’ve improved my mental side of the game, which is very important.
“Maybe then I was a little weak mentally and not resilient enough. Impatient, I’d probably say.
“These things you learn as you grow as a person and a footballer.”
Mooy’s all-action style is sure to endear him to the Celtic support in time, and if he can repeat his previous goalscoring exploits against Rangers while he was in Paisley then that certainly wouldn’t harm his cause either.
The midfielder hit a stunning equaliser in a 2-1 win for the Saints over the Ibrox side on Christmas Eve back in 2011, a strike he still remembers fondly.
“It was first professional league goal so it was a big moment for me,” he said.
“My brother and best mate were in the stand. If you see the celebration I’m pointing at them. They’d come over especially for that game and to see me so it was a special moment for me.”
If Mooy can impress at Celtic, he may not only emulate his coach Kewell in making his former school proud, but also by participating in his second World Cup for Australia in Qatar later this year.
“Obviously that’s in my head,” he said. “But it’s in the back of my head just now.
“I don’t want to think about it too much because it’s a long time away and first I have an amazing opportunity here at a big club, so that’s what I’m focusing on.”
