Champ for the Champions

Horse-racing legend, AP McCoy has followed the Hoops ever since his first visit to Paradise as a kid.

- Mark Henderson

AP McCOY found his football Paradise at the first time of asking. As a kid, the horse-racing legend made the journey across the Irish Sea with his Dad to Celtic Park to take in a Glasgow derby.

Ever since, he has supported the Hoops, along with Arsenal, and he has yet to experience a better atmosphere than in the East End of Glasgow. For him, the passion and the backing of the Hoops faithful are what make the club special.

Football has been a lifelong interest for the 42-year-old but it’s the saddle where he established himself as a sporting all-time great. The greatest jump jockey in history, McCoy enjoyed an extraordinary 23-year career that saw him smash numerous records and set new landmarks that are never likely to be beaten.

In total, he won a remarkable 4,358 races and was crowned champion jump jockey for 20 successive seasons – every season he was a professional – despite a sobering injury list.

In 2002, he broke Sir Gordon Richards’ record for the number of winners in a single season when he notched up 289 victories, an achievement he regards as his greatest.  

With these staggering statistics it’s no surprise that the Irishman has triumphed in almost every major race, including the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. It’s also why he was known as ‘champ’ by his colleagues in the weighing room and considered a hero to racing fans worldwide.

In 2010, McCoy became the first jockey to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year, before being knighted at the start of 2016, underlining how he had transcended his own sport to become a household name throughout the country.