Kieran Tierney on growing up at Celtic

A Celtic player from the age of seven, left-back Kieran Tierney was a huge fan of the club – and even a ball boy at Celtic Park – before he ever made it to the first team. The 19-year-old tells UEFA.com about a special visit he received as a young player and his own unique connection with the Bhoys supporters.

How a visit from Celtic's Japanese international Shunsuke Nakamura helped give him belief ...

Shunsuke Nakamura was going to represent Japan [at the 2010 FIFA World Cup], and our team – I think the Under-12s or 13s – were doing a film. We didn't know anything about Nakamura coming to train with us. We saw Nakamura come out of the tunnel and he trained with us, doing passing and possession games.

A young Kieran Tierney with Shunsuke Nakumura©Celtic FC

At the end of the session he took his boots off and I think everybody noticed it. And then he simply came over and handed them to me. He said through his translator that I was the best player that day, so I was really delighted about that. I was 11 or 12 years old and I watched him week in, week out. For him to notice me and say I was a good player that day was brilliant.

How being a boyhood Celtic fan gives him a strong connection to the club's fans ...

So far it's been a dream journey. What I've done so far is what you aim to do: play in big games, Champions League nights at Celtic Park. It's been amazing.

I think fans appreciate that I was once just one of them: I paid my money to go and watch Celtic every week. [Me and my schoolfriends] wanted to grow up and be Henrik Larsson, Bobo Baldé, John Hartson and so on, so getting to meet them and getting their autographs was brilliant. Now people are starting to do that with me, and that's brilliant.

Tierney with Nakamura's boots: a reward for the youngster's showing in training©Celtic FC