Speaking to Celtic TV, Jim Craig said of John Thomson: “He started off his career and made the Celtic team quite young. They then went on tour in 1931 to North America, and when he came back, the first derby game of the new season is when there was the tragic accident that cost him his life.

“Accidents on the football field are common, but not tragic, and that was one of the very few in Scottish football.”

The 90-year legacy of the John Thomson story still lives on in books, songs and stories passed on from one generation of Celtic supporters to the next, and the Lisbon Lion added: “It’s quite amazing that this should be the case and it’s great that so many people are here today to celebrate his 90^th anniversary – and they’ve got a long walk ahead of them.

“His photograph is still down in the entrance hall at Celtic Park and that shows you that when you think of all the Celtic players there have been, the fact that his photograph is there means that he was someone very, very special.”

Jim Blyth of CGS said: “We wouldn’t be over-estimating this if we were to say that we’ve been planning it for the past 10 years.

“Since we did JT80, we’ve known that JT90 something that we would like to organise again just to make sure that the memory of John Thomson is always kept fresh in the memory of Celtic supporters.

'Celtic supporters don’t need to get that from us, of course, but we want to make sure that his name will resonate over this weekend.'

And John Thomson is just one Celtic figure that the CGS have been involved with since their inception.

Jim added: “We aim to cherish the memories of Celtic players and significant figures in the club’s history and we do that for those who have made, what some may say, is a small contribution all the way through to the giants of our history, such as Jimmy McGrory or Jimmy Quinn.

“But for us, no matter how big or how small the contribution, the contribution of everybody is of equal importance and we aim to remember all of them.”

90th anniversary pilgrimage sets off for John Thomson’s graveside