Hoops And Hings

- Joe Donnelley

IN two short but hectic years, Chris McQueer has gone from retail assistant to full-time author.

His trio of published books – Hings, Leathered and HWFG – are written with colloquial precision, are often hilarious, and have been likened to Limmy, Charlie Brooker and Irvine Welsh.

A life-long Celtic fan and proud native of Glasgow’s East End, the 27-year-old spends his free time cheering on the Hoops from the top-tier of the Jock Stein stand, but, before launching his writing career, he enjoyed a brief stint as a Celtic catalogue model.

“Back when I was a wee guy, my Mum and my auntie both worked at Celtic Park, and it was my auntie that got me into the Celtic catalogue in 1995,” said McQueer. “I modelled that season’s green and black junior away strip.

“I’ve since looked to buy the adult version, but I’ve struggled to find it in my size. I wasn’t allowed to keep it after the shoot, which put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.”

At that time, McQueer idolised the likes of Pierre van Hooijdonk and Jackie McNamara, and latterly considered Mark Viduka, Shaun Maloney, Stiliyan Petrov and Henrik Larsson as his favourite players. Today, he admires Kieran Tierney – both for his ability and his determined rise from Celtic Youth Academy player, to first-team stalwart.