Bhoyo Bhoy

Joe Ledley’s first big interview with the View

The Celtic View of July 21, 2010 featured short introductory interviews with the Hoops’ four new Bhoys, conducted on the Stateside pre-season tour.

The new four were Joe Ledley, Cha Du-Ri, Daryl Murphy and Efrain Juarez – while Charlie Mulgrew made a welcome return to the club and another View interview.

There was also a new backroom team in the shape of Neil Lennon, Alan Thompson, Johan Mjallby and Garry Parker in tow.

From the new quartet, though, there was one who was to go on to make the biggest impact in the Hoops, and that was the Welshman.

The following week in the July 28 issue of the View, Joe Ledley had his first full interview with the magazine and he spoke about his hopes for the future with Celtic and looked ahead to Glasgow derby meetings.

Over the course of the next four seasons, the midfielder would score 29 goals in 156 games for the Hoops before leaving for Crystal Palace in 2014.

One of those goals came in one of the derbies he was so looking forward to when his header against Rangers on December 28, 2011 sealed the win that breached a one-time 15-point gap held by the Ibrox side. It put the Hoops top of the league – a crucial goal that was the final nail in the coffin of Rangers’ hopes and opened the door to the first of the current eight consecutive titles.

Here we revisit that first Joe Ledley interview.

WITH the speculation starting almost as soon as the season in England ended, Joe Ledley’s transfer to Celtic seemed to take an age. Certainly, there were other interested parties for one of the highest-rated players in the Championship. But, in truth, as soon as he saw Celtic Park, Ledley had his heart set on becoming a Bhoy.