Jack Aitchison is in the first team squad for today’s title party against Motherwell.
The striker turned 16 on 5 March but has been playing above his age range throughout his career and scored for Celtic’s u-19 side in the UEFA Youth Cup tie with Valencia earlier this year. If he makes it onto the park he’ll be the first player born in the 21st century to play for Celtic.
Aitchison has been playing for the u-17 side this season, scoring 21 goals, and has also featured in a couple of matches in the Development League including one match against St Mirren where his opponent was Jim Goodwin.
After helping Celtic’s u-17 side to a 4-0 win over Sevco in the final of the Glasgow Cup he signed a new three year contract with his development no surprise to anyone working within the Celtic Academy.
Following an impressive performance as a substitute in the final of the 2015 Glasgow Cup Final hoops coach Tommy McIntyre said: “I’m mostly interested in the up-coming players and tonight we had two u-15 players out there in Jack Aitchison (age 15) and Daniel Church (age 14). I don’t like singling players out but in this occasion it’s justified.
“Experienced players helped them out, Calvin Miller, Mark Hill and Regan Hendry will move on but it’s about experience for Daniel and Jack.
“Both of them were at school and we picked them up after their classes for the pre-match preparations. They spent a full day in a classroom and then they come and play in a final at the National Stadium- how good is that?
“They’ve not yet sat their standard grades and they are playing in a big match like this. Everything is about development and we can see that throughout the squad.”
Celtic’s u-17 side continue their chase for the league title when they face Partick Thistle at Barrowfield, kick off 10am.