School sports park named after football great Billy McNeill

Construction work on the new ‘Billy McNeill Sports Park’ has officially got underway at Our Lady’s High and will be completed later this year.

A member of the famous Lisbon Lions, Bellshill-born Billy and his teammates from that side are already immortalised in North Lanarkshire’s Sporting Hall of Fame.

Sadly, Billy recently passed away after a long battle with dementia. His wife Liz and daughter Libby joined Our Lady’s head teacher Dan Cardle and North Lanarlshire Council depute leader Paul Kelly to launch work on the new park.

The school, founded in 1888 - the same year as Celtic, has had other famous former pupils who’ve reached the pinnacle of footballing success including Billy’s fellow Lisbon Lion Bobby Murdoch and iconic Manchester United boss Sir Matt Busby.

More recently ex-Motherwell midfielder Stephen Pearson and current Celtic defender Kieran Tierney also attended the school.

The all-weather 11-a-side pitch on the current school campus at Dalzell Drive will be used for a number of sports including football and hockey.

Councillor Kelly said: “Billy McNeill is rightly remembered as an all-time sporting great and an inspiration to young people.

“When the decision was made to build a new sports pitch for the pupils at Our Lady’s, it seemed fitting to name the park after the school’s most famous former pupil.

“We are all looking forward to the pitch being completed and providing a first class sports area for pupils and the local community to enjoy.”