It takes talent, resilience and good fortune in finding managers who believe in you, but dreams can come true. Stephen Welsh is living proof of it, writes Tom English.
BBC Sport · October 6, 2026

Watch on iPlayer Listen on Sounds On the day he left Celtic after "18 years of ups and downs", Stephen Welsh posted a classy video on social media thanking the club for everything they'd done for him.
The footage featured a clip of him as a child in a Celtic jersey, playing indoor football with his mates with the number 18 and the name 'Lennon' on the back.
He smiles at the camera, held by his mum, and says he scored a goal. Welsh looks like the most contented kid on the planet. He's all grown up now at 26, hard-bitten by the reality of professional sport, but meet him at Lesser Hampden on Monday afternoon and that same smile is there. Maybe not the same boyish innocence but certainly the same love for what he's doing in the game.
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