Born into Celtic, made at Motherwell, Welsh comes of age with Scotland

By

BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

Nations League: Scotland v Slovenia

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Tuesday, 6 October, 19:45 BST

On the day he left Celtic after "18 years of ups and downs", Stephen Welsh posted a classy video on social media thanking the club for everything they'd done for him.

The footage featured a clip of him as a child in a Celtic jersey, playing indoor football with his mates with the number 18 and the name 'Lennon' on the back.

He smiles at the camera, held by his mum, and says he scored a goal. Welsh looks like the most contented kid on the planet. He's all grown up now at 26, hard-bitten by the reality of professional sport, but meet him at Lesser Hampden on Monday afternoon and that same smile is there. Maybe not the same boyish innocence but certainly the same love for what he's doing in the game.

From bit-part player at Celtic to a turning point season at Motherwell under his greatest influence Jens Berthel Askou to top of the Championship with Swansea, to three caps for his country. Impressive ones, too. Composed in his defending, accurate in his distribution, convincing in his partnership with fellow newcomer Luis Binks. Much has changed in his life.

Playing for Scotland is one thing but winning is quite another. How did it feel on Saturday night in Skopje when the last whistle sounded and his first win was put on the board?

"A bit of relief," he says. "We felt there could have been a lot more goals. Five or six and you probably couldn't have argued. To get your first win under your belt is a good feeling. Hopefully it pushes us on now."

The final act of this international window comes on Tuesday when Slovenia arrive at Hampden (19:45 BST), a chance to make up for last week's nightmarish experience against the Swiss, a game reduced to a non-event after Jack Hendry's early red card. Scotland battled away, but lost 3-0.

A "sore one", he says. "We had to suffer for a good 80-90 minutes," he explains. "That can take its toll mentally but we showed how strong we are going into North Macedonia.

"It will mean a lot for the squad, for the manager to come back home and put on a good performance and finish the camp with a win. You need to keep building on that. That's the standard that we want to set."

Welsh's story starts at Celtic, a product of their academy who turned down overtures from Udinese and Toulouse in his time. He wanted to stay and fight for his place but it was all stop-start.

After making his debut in the spring of 2020, Celtic kept signing centre-halves - Carl Starfelt and Liam Scales, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Yuki Kobayashi, Moritz Jenz and Maik Nawrocki, Gustaf Lagerbielke and Auston Trusty.

He played 70 games in total. It wasn't enough. "It's not easy but at a club like Celtic, they always want to improve, bring in more players because that keeps the competition," Welsh says. "It's football. You're not guaranteed to play even though you want to.

"For your boyhood club, to play every game, would have been the best-case scenario. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I'm a big boy, I can accept that players are going to play in front of you. That's fair enough."

Challenging years, though. A time for mental fortitude. "That's probably the thing that people don't see," he remarks. "What you need then is a good support group around you, good family, good friends. My agent was excellent for me. They just need to be there. That's the main thing, just be there.

"Psychologically, it can affect players but I don't think it affected me too much. I never took anything personally. That's just the way it goes. The best players, technically, probably don't [always] get to the top. It's the players that are mentally strong.

"Look at John [McGinn] and Robbo [Andy Robertson]. The mentality that they have. They're obviously fantastic footballers but it's the mental strength as well. To churn out performances every week, to turn up in good shape, to be ready to play tactically, technically, physically and mentally. That's the biggest challenge."

Podcast: McGinn, McTominay, Robertson: Are Scotland's greats undroppable?

05/10/26

In an effort to get game time, Welsh signed a loan with Mechelen in Belgium before making the move of his life to Motherwell. He says he had one conversation with Berthel Askou and he was hooked.

"Going from Celtic to Motherwell doesn't look the most brilliant move in the world, but…" it made him. "How he coached me on and off the pitch, it was top level," Welsh recalls. "I didn't realise how good a decision it was to join Motherwell until close to the end of the season, when you start getting the recognition. I would say that's all down to how he coached me."

Players speak about Berthel Askou with something approaching awe and Welsh is no different. "He just gave me pure belief," he says. "He made the game so simple for the team and that helped me as well.

"Every single day, so detailed, how he analysed teams, how he analysed specific ways of playing against teams. The biggest influence on my career by a distance. He completely changed how my career path turned out."

The move to Swansea - his Motherwell pal EIijah Just is alongside him - was another good decision. A manager, Vitor Matos, who appreciates him. A dressing room that's talented and driven. Top of the league after eight games. So far, so good.

Like Berthel Askou and Matos, new Scotland head coach Sebastien Pocognoli trusts him, too. Welsh always had it in the back of his mind that if he kept going with Motherwell and then Swansea that something might happen with his country.

It has - and he's seized the moment. Three caps should become four on Tuesday. If one win becomes two then we might be reminded of his smiling younger self again.

It takes talent, resilience and good fortune in finding managers who believe in you, but dreams can come true. Welsh is living proof of it.