Celtic star Samaras shares heartwarming moment with young Irish fan
Celtic FC claimed a 3-1 win over Dundee United on Sunday to take a third consecutive Scottish Championship title, and as the players celebrated on the pitch after the final whistle a lovely moment took place between one of the team's biggest stars, and its biggest fans.
Striker Georgios Samaras - who has confirmed that he will be leaving Glasgow after six and a half years - walked to the sideline to pluck from the crowd Jay Beatty, a 10-year-old boy with Down's Syndrome and a heart condition who hails from Lurgan, Co Armagh.
Watch below as Celtic manager Neil Lennon first finds Jay to give him his Championship medal (look at his little face!) before Greece international Samaras comes over and takes him from the arms of his father Martin.
The two share moments of joy as they walk around the pitch, Jay in Georgios' arms.
"I first met Jay in Ireland," Samaras told the Scottish Daily Record.
"He is a very special little boy, a massive Celtic fan and a huge inspiration. The whole team were very proud to have him with us today.”
Little Jay, who attends Tannaghmore Primary School in Lurgan, is no stranger to the Celtic first team squad, having earned his place as the team's mascot. He regularly attends matches, joins in the huddle and has been known to give the team talk at half-time.
A YouTube video of Jay singing 'Hail Hail' on the Celtic team bus last year also shows the strength of the bond between him and Samaras.
Samaras scored from the spot after coming on as a second-half substitute against Dundee, after the match confirming that he not not been offered a new contract from chief executive Peter Lawwell.
" I have been seven years at the club and I would have loved to stay," he told BBC Scotland.
“I have not spoken to any other club. I was waiting to the end to see if they (Celtic) offered me anything, but that is the end.”
