CALLUM MCGREGOR knows he is a lucky man. Not only to be Celtic captain, following in the footsteps of club greats such as Billy McNeill, but to be playing in an era where the dangers of the sport are appreciated more than ever.

Sadly for McNeill, and many other players of his generation, the long-term effects of playing football at the highest level may have contributed to ill-health in their later life, with perhaps the most iconic captain in the history of the club eventually succumbing to dementia at the age of 79 back in 2019.

As the man now wearing the armband for Celtic, McGregor was proud to help publicise the ‘Billy Against Dementia’ golf event yesterday, which aims to raise money to provide respite for former footballers and their families who have been afflicted by the condition.

As a current player, he has been given a recent reminder of just how important it is to protect both the short-term and long-term health of players by taking head injuries seriously, suffering a double fracture to his cheekbone in a collision during a Scottish Cup match against Alloa in January.

With the aid of a facemask, he was able to return to action sooner than might have been expected, but only after exhaustive tests were carried out and protocols followed that ensured there was no risk of lasting damage.

And with a Glasgow University study showing that footballers were approximately five times likelier to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, four times likelier to get motor neurone disease, and twice as likely to have Parkinson’s disease in later life compared to ordinary members of the public, he is certainly grateful for that.

“We are always walking that fine line between elite sport and safety,” McGregor said. “It is a very, very thin line with no margin for error.

“But the club and the medical staff who dealt with me said; ‘Look, if we get to a point where we think you can’t play then you are not playing.’ They had to sit me down and have that honest conversation.

“I think you have to respect that because it’s their profession and speciality and their livelihoods and reputation on the line. Touch wood, if anything did go wrong then these are the people who would be asked questions.

“That’s not fair on them, so as much as I wanted to put myself out there for the team they made sure that it was absolutely safe for me to do it before they allowed it.

“It’s scary. Especially when a study is done which sets it out in black and white. We are not medical people so we don’t know if that correlates with playing football or not. But just to hear that stat about the probability compared to the average guy on the street…

“That’s where the fine line between sport and safety comes in. And with these surveys that are done it brings these conversations into the open.

“I think that is probably the main thing for footballers. We feel safe because there is now such a spotlight on player safety, it is paramount to the game.

“We have such a competitive environment and every day we are living on the edge of elite sport.

“But every day there is a light shone on player safety and as professionals it’s reassuring to know there is so much going on in the background to protect us.

“We are very lucky to be playing in this era for that reason.”

McNeill may now no longer be with us, but his remarkable legacy will forever live on at Celtic and beyond.

The responsibility to follow his example is one that weighs heavily on McGregor, and to strive to bring success to the club in the same way that ‘Cesar’ once did, even if he knows that whatever glory he helps bring to Celtic is unlikely to compare to that of McNeill’s generation.

“What Big Billy and his team-mates achieved makes sure they stand alone,” he said. “What they did for the club was huge, domestically and in Europe.

“No one’s come close to them, so all we can do is try to be a successful team in our own right. We’re focussed on the here and now of winning as many trophies as we can.

“Billy is probably the most iconic captain the club has ever had. He is certainly the most successful in terms of the ‘big trophy’.

“Guys like us aspire to be like Billy, who is a huge inspiration. We carry that with us every single day when we train and we try and get to a level where we emulate the success he had as a Celtic player and as captain.”

The one feat of McNeill that McGregor and his teammates are highly unlikely to match is of course the European Cup brought home by the Lisbon Lions in 1967, but he feels that making a mark in the continent’s premier competition is a non-negotiable ambition – and responsibility – of any Celtic captain.

“Over the years, if Celtic teams have done well in Europe they tend to leave a pretty good legacy and that’s something we very much aspire to,” he said.

“We’re a new group, learning all the time and we want to be back in the elite competition that is the Champions League.

“There’s a huge incentive this year with the chance to go straight into the group stage. Before if you won the league you still had four qualifiers to go through, which is pretty gruelling right at the start of the season.

“You’re not quite up to speed, new players have come in, other guys have been away playing internationals, but one mistake and you’re out.

“It’s a pretty hard to get through eight games, so if we could win the league and go straight in, that’d be great for the club in terms of revenue, status, everything - it’s the bracket we want to be in.”