The Parkhead stars joined coaches John Collins and John Kennedy and chief-executive Peter Lawwell to make a visit to one of the city’s shelters for families and children.

Taking a break from the build-up to their Champions League game against Qarabag in the Azerbaijan Capital, the Hoops party were given a tour of the No.4 Zangilan District displacement centre, which acts as an educational and recreational facility for children and families displaced by the Azerbaijan/Armenia conflict of the 1990s.

More than 260 children attend the unit, which provides vital life skills and security to its members.

Gordon, Collins, Ciftci and Kennedy also met with the centre’s football team and dished out new Celtic footballs and replica kits to the thrilled boys before playing a dshort game with the kids.

British Ambassador Irfan Siddiq believes Celtic’s visit will have a lasting impact and added: "There are around 320 families here and it has now become a home for these people who otherwise wouldn’t have one.

"Displacement is a huge issue. Azerbaijan is a country with a population of 9.5million and 1million of those people were displaced from their homeland in the part of the country that is now being occupied by Armenia. So that’s about 10 per cent of the overall population that was displaced.

"In the early 1990s Azerbaijan as a country was very poor and it was a huge challenge for them to try to provide for these people.

"The economic development which has taken place in the last 25 years, a lot of which is down to Scottish people through British Petroleum, has helped with that challenge and this is a real success story for British/Azerbaijani co-operation, in particular Scottish/Azerbaijan cooperation.

"Now we have had a world-famous Scottish football team come to be part of that.

"Facilities like this are hugely important because these children have had to suffer a huge amount.

"So to have good facilities, a slightly better standard of life and some recreation possibilities and education opportunities is hugely important for their life chances.

"I know this is a really important game for Celtic, so the fact that the management and the players took time out from their busy preparations to come and share their time with these kids who’ve suffered so much is hugely valuable.

"I hope that it will be a sign of not just Celtic’s but the UK’s interest in Azerbaijan and its people.”

Fuad Heseynov, deputy minister of the State Committee for Affairs of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons for Azerbaijan, was also present and said: "Qarabag is a team that was originally from one of the occupied districts and meeting with these children is a big event for them.

"You could see how they enjoyed meeting the players and staff of such a famous team and I think such meetings mean a lot, and I’m sure that these kids will keep it as a memory for the rest of their lives as it was one of the most historic days of their lives.”

 

(Daily Record)