All it took was a social media post from Conor McGregor to leave Kieran Tierney starstruck.
Tierney had already met ‘The Notorious’ and exchanged gifts with McGregor but when the UFC superstar posted a photograph of himself training in a Tierney jersey, the Celtic left-back was up all night with excitement.
McGregor, who recently revealed that he grew up supporting Manchester United, clearly has a soft spot for Celtic and he and Tierney have struck up something of a friendship in recent years.
Ahead of Scotland’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Kazakhstan, Tierney was asked about McGregor and how the pair came into contact with one another to begin with.
GOAT🍀 @TheNotoriousMMA pic.twitter.com/ZGThutIjzX
— Kieran Tierney (@kierantierney1) January 19, 2018
“I’m a massive fan of his. I think any athlete can relate to him,” Tierney said in an interview with the Times. “I met him in Belfast two years ago. It was UFC Belfast and he was there supporting his friend who was fighting and I was there because I was injured at the time. I was ringside next to him and got chatting to him for ten or 15 minutes. I got a signed glove from him and a t-shirt as well
“Throughout my injury, Conor McGregor was brilliant with me. That came after we got in touch through social media. He came over to Glasgow for a question-and-answer thing he was doing and I got talking to his mates who said he’d love one of my Celtic jerseys. I sent a few over for him and his mates and the next thing I know he sent me a message saying thanks and posted a photo on Instagram. Honestly, I couldn’t sleep that night. He posted the picture at around 10.50pm and I was sitting there thinking ‘no way’. That was me up the full night and then I went buzzing into training. It was just brilliant to hear from him.”
Tierney recently recovered from a pelvic injury and while Celtic’s physios must be credited with the majority of his rehabilitation work, the 21-year-old revealed that McGregor helped him with some advice.
Celtic Football Club STAND UP!!!
This is what die hard support from your fans looks like!
What a sight! What a team!
Thank you all! pic.twitter.com/txU38gCogI— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) August 17, 2017
McGregor, who has his own workout programme called Conor McGregor FAST, reached out to Tierney in a bid to speed up his recovery.
“Throughout my injury Conor McGregor was brilliant with me,” Tierney told The Sun.
“He has a programme he does on the Watt Bike that helped him get fit, and he was giving me tips on that, which was great.
