Phil O'Donnell

Flowers from Sheffield Wednesday, one of O'Donnell's former clubs

Motherwell youth team players form a guard of honour outside St Mary's Church

Mourners line the streets in Hamilton for Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell

So Many People, So Little Noise At Funeral
Jan 5 2008 By Tam Cowan

WITH 40 minutes to go before the Requiem Mass, one of the stewards on duty took a quick glance at the crowds, shook his head and said: "They'll never get everyone in."

They'd arrived by the coachload - friends, family, team-mates and former colleagues - to pay their last respects to the man known simply to Motherwell fans as Uncle Phil.

Hundreds of mourners somehow squeezed into the church, with more standing directly outside, listening to the service on a public address system.

A full house for Phil O'Donnell's final performance.
Opposite the church, the punters started lining the street at 9.15am on what was surely the coldest day of winter so far.

For a good two hours before the service, a total hush descended on Cadzow Street, an eerie silence on what's normally one of the busiest roads in Hamilton.

Barely a word was spoken by the men, women and children who'd come to say goodbye to Uncle Phil and nobody managed much more than the odd new year greeting or a solemn: "Sad day, eh?"

It didn't seem possible that so many people could make so little noise.

Phil's large family arrived at 11.45am, by which time the Motherwell youth squad in club tracksuits had formed a guard of honour, and Cadzow Street was suddenly a sea of claret and amber - with quite a few Celtic, Rangers and Hamilton Accies tops thrown in for good measure.

It was the greatest display of Motherwell colours on the streets since May 1991 when a young Phil O'Donnell scored a goal and Motherwell paraded the Scottish Cup.

Back across the road, it was as if the whole of Scottish football, past and present, was filing into St Mary's and the message on the order of service said it all - Divided by teams... united in grief.
Priest Father Henry O'Brien played a blinder. "Motherwell's loss is heaven's gain," he said.

Between hymns, we heard the theme tune to Forrest Gump - Phil's nickname at Celtic because he could run and run all day.

Touchingly, the first reading had also been recited the day Phil married his childhood sweetheart Eileen.

It was a moving ceremony and Motherwell coach Chris McCart - a friend and former team-mate - deserved his round of applause for a speech that was both poignant and very funny.

He revealed Phil loved karaoke - particularly when he was belting out Forever In Blue Jeans with nephew and team-mate David Clarkson on backing vocals.

And the story about the 2005 CIS Cup final against Rangers was a cracker.
In the dressing room, Phil was kidding on he was sprinkling holy water on his legs and fellow midfield veteran Scott Leitch asked if he could have some.

Anyway, after 75 minutes of the match - by which time Motherwell were getting gubbed 5-1-Scott ran over to Phil and said: "So, when exactly does that stuff kick in?"

The Who's Who of Scottish football was led by the Motherwell management duo Mark McGhee and Scott Leitch, followed by the players who'd lost their friend and skipper just six days earlier.
The 1991 team were well represented by heroes including Stevie Kirk, Tom Boyd and Dougie Arnott and they were joined by other Fir Park favourites including Tommy Coyne, Andy Walker, Gary McAllister and Joe Wark.

Elsewhere, Gordon Strachan, John Reid and Peter Lawwell led a strong first-team contingent from Celtic including Paul Hartley, Stephen McManus and Scott McDonald.

Rangers were represented by, among others, Barry Ferguson, Lee McCulloch and Ally McCoist.
Other mourners included SPL bosses Craig Brewster, Jim Jefferies and Yogi Hughes.

Scotland hero James McFadden came fresh from his own personal tribute to Phil, when he scored for Everton on Wednesday night and pointed at his black armband.

There was also the entire Dundee United team.

They were last to arrive at the church, but they had been first on the scene - particularly Lee Wilkie and Noel Hunt - when Phil collapsed on the Fir Park turf last Saturday.

At the end of a lovely service, Phil's coffin was followed out of St Mary's by his wife and four kids.

Nephew David, just a few steps behind, was quite inconsolable.

Spontaneous, warm applause broke the silence as Phil's hearse purred into first gear and the fleet of family cars headed for Bent Cemetery for the final farewell.

It was a day the town of Hamilton, the people of Motherwell and the whole of Scottish football will never forget.

Rest in peace, Uncle Phil.

Father Henry O'Brien

Phil O'Donnell's Widow Praised By Funeral Priest

Jan 5 2008 By Keith McLeod

Picture shows Olivia O'Donnell with a rose for her father Phil at the funeral

THE priest at the funeral of Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell paid a moving tribute to his widow Eileen.

She was embraced by Father Henry O'Brien, who quoted from a fan's tribute: "God must have needed a captain. Heaven's gain is Motherwell's loss."

As Scotland's football family said an emotional farewell to O'Donnell - who died after collapsing during their game with Dundee United last week - Father O'Brien spoke movingly to Eileen, 35, of her joyous wedding day at the same church in 1994.

At St Mary's Church in Hamilton, he then recalled how she had described Saturday's tragedy to him.

Father O'Brien said: "You said, 'I kept shouting I'm here, I'm here'. What a truly beautiful thing to say but much more importantly what a truly beautiful way to live.

"Even if Phil could not hear you, he knew through and through ... that in every aspect of life you were there.''

Eileen was supported by her sister, parents and foiur children as she took her seat.
The 600 mourners crammed inside the church, many of them an hour and a half before the service began, some openly sobbing.

The number of mourners meant many well-known faces from the world of football had to stand outside the church along with thousands of fans who lined the streets.

O'Donnell's coffin was placed in the central aisle at the front, with many members of his family touching it tenderly as they entered the church.

Father O'Brien praised the fans of all clubs who had left tributes outside Motherwell's Fir Park.
And he said people had gathered out of "respect for one who played the beautiful game with integrity".

He said: "Anyone who walked around the stadium could see that so many people claimed him as their uncle and so many people would have been proud to have him as a relative."

Motherwell youth development officer Chris McCart read a tribute to the man he played alongside and first met as a 16-year-old at Fir Park.

McCart made the congregation laugh recalling his memories of his friend and, as his voice broke with emotion, he was warmly applauded.

Representatives of virtually every Scottish club were present, along with former Scotland managers Alex McLeish and Craig Brown.

Ex-First Minister Jack McConnell comforted Motherwell owner John Boyle. And former Scotland skipper Gary McAllister, an ex-Motherwell player, was there along with ex-snooker world champ John Higgins.

The coffin was carried by O'Donnell's brothers and father and former Celtic player Simon Donnelly, a team-mate at Sheffield Wednesday.

O'Donnell was buried in the town's Bent Cemetery, also the final resting place of Motherwell, Rangers and Scotland legend Davie Cooper.

His dad Bernard said in a statement: "We have been deeply moved by the efforts to comfort and assist our family. This has meant a great deal to Eileen and everyone in the family."

Tommy Burns Tribute

Tommy Burns has paid tribute to Phil O'Donnell as Scottish football continues to mourn the Motherwell captain who died on Saturday.

O'Donnell was Burns' first major signing as Celtic manager when he paid £1.75million for the player back in 1994.

Burns told the Scottish Sun: "I paid almost £2million to make Phil my first signing as Celtic manager and I didn't have a problem with the fee.
"All I could see was a special player and a special human being. He was exactly the kind I wanted at Celtic.
"I thought he was the outstanding young talent in the country.

"It was a record amount of money for Celtic to pay but I just felt he was worth it.
"Sadly, injuries blighted his career and if it hadn't been for them then I'm sure he would have had a fantastic career.

"But he still played on until he was 35 and, right to the end, Phil was an absolute credit to himself and his family."

O'Donnell collapsed on the pitch during Motherwell's 5-3 victory over Dundee United on Saturday.

Team-mate Steven McGarry said: "The thing I'll remember is the look on his face when Davie Clarkson, his nephew, scored his second goal on Saturday.

"It really was an unbelievable goal and I turned around and looked at Phil when it hit the net.
"He just had a huge smile on his face at that moment - that's what will live with me forever."
Motherwell defender Stephen Craigan is putting his trust in the guidance of manager Mark McGhee as he and his team-mates struggle to come to terms with the tragedy.

"We're looking for some inspiration, direction and we trust him to know what's best," Craigan told BBC Scotland.

"We don't know if it will take a week, a month, we've never been in this situation before.
"It's a very testing time for Mark McGhee. He's the figurehead of the club and we will follow what he does and I think we have a very good leader in the camp."

Well's next two fixtures against Hibernian and Celtic have been postponed as a mark of respect to O'Donnell.

And Craigan admits he cannot contemplate playing matches at this traumatic time.
"We don't know what we are going to do," said the Northern Ireland international.

"I believe the next two games have been called off, which mean absolutely nothing to us just now.

"If someone would have said we had to play we probably just wouldn't have turned up."
Celtic boss Gordon Strachan spoke of the profound effect O'Donnell's death is having on the Parkhead club.

Celtic face Rangers on Wednesday in what had been shaping up to be the biggest game of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League season so far.

But Strachan this morning struggled to get his mind off the death of the 35-year-old, who played for Celtic from 1994 to 1999 after a £1.75million move from Motherwell.

Strachan said: "Phil's second club was probably Celtic friends-wise and the reaction, when the news came through the other day, you knew he had a lot of close friends here, that's for sure.
"Because I don't think I've seen a reaction like that in football.

"We've had legendary figures dying on us but at an older age. For a young man to be taken away....
"I think we are all trying to get our heads round the fact he has got four kids and a young wife."
Celtic defender Gary Caldwell admits it is difficult to think about the Old Firm derby so soon after O'Donnell's death.

He said: "I think it does put football into the background, who wins points and leagues does seem irrelevant, but the powers that be decide that we have to get on with it."

There have been calls for the Parkhead clash to be postponed, and although Strachan was reluctant to divulge his opinion, it was clear he lacked enthusiasm for the game.

He said: "I can empathise, because I'm in this position, with anybody who feels that way."