If the football gods had been kinder and smiled on Alan Rough sooner he would have become a Celtic player back in 1974.
Legendary Hoops manager Jock Stein came calling to Firhill and wanted to take both midfielder Ronnie Glavin and shot-stopper Rough from Maryhill to Glasgow's East End.
Former Lisbon Lion Bertie Auld was the Partick Thistle manager at the time and he sanctioned one transfer and it was tough on Rough.
It was Glavin who joined Celtic and the ex-Scotland No.1 was left to reflect on what might have been for the next 14 years.
Rough said: "Initially back in 1974 when Ronnie Glavin signed for Celtic it was supposed to be the two of us that made the move.
Jock Stein was extremely keen on both of us and that was the deal that was put in front of Partick Thistle. Bertie Auld and the Jags board decided that they couldn't lose two players so Celtic ended up signing Glavin. I could have been a Celtic player long before I eventually managed to sign for them. Back then there were no agents and players didn't really know what clubs came in for you. If Partick Thistle didn't want Ronnie Glavin, Celtic would definitely have signed me!
"Wee Bertie used to say at various functions and dinners that he could have sold me to Celtic, Manchester City and Sunderland. I was the only international on Partick Thistle's books at the time and the board thought it vitally important that I stayed at Firhill.
"In hindsight, I regret never moving sooner. I loved my time at Partick Thistle and it was fantastic but it was the kind of scenario back then whereby players never knew which clubs were interested in your services. Partick Thistle was a wonderful family club to be with but spending 14 years at one club was far too long.
"After eight or nine years it might have been best for both parties to move on but that never happened."
The 53-times capped Scotland star finally got his 'dream' move in 1988 at the ripe old age of 36 when Billy McNeill needed goalkeeping cover after Pat Bonner had to undergo a back operation and Celtic lost faith in summer signing Ian Andrews.
Andrews had endured a nightmare at Ibrox in the first Old Firm clash of the season when Celtic were turned over 5-1 by Graeme Souness's Rangers.
Andrews's confidence was shot to bits after that match and Celtic sent an SOS Stateside to recruit Rough from Orlando Lions.
Rough said: "Big Billy McNeill phoned me right out of the blue and asked me if I wanted to sign for Celtic. I was 36 at the time. He asked me if my time was up in Orlando and fortunately the season had just finished. Packie (Bonner) was going in for an operation on his back and Ian Andrews supposedly the No.1 and I was to come in as a backup to him. The Rangers game put him on the back foot, to be honest.
"Tommy Craig who was Billy's assistant had been one of my assistant managers at Hibs and he would have had some input and been involved directly in my signing for Celtic. He would have been involved.
"I played football since I was 16 and I never went to a game as a spectator. Celtic was always my team because of the style of football they played and the success they had when. If I was to be pinned down then Celtic were the team that I followed. If you ask anybody you just need to get there. It doesn't matter when it happens. You are in the record books. I played seven games for Celtic which is more than a lot of people got."
That reception could well have changed had John Greig got his wish in 1983. Rough was on the verge of signing for Hibernian when the then Rangers boss Greig tried to gazump the deal. He takes up the story.
He said: "I was to go through to Hibs on a Thursday night and meet with Kenny Waugh. On Friday the Rangers manager John Greig phoned me and asked what the potential deal was. I told him the fee was around £80,000. Greig told me not to sign anything or do anything. On Monday Greig was sacked by Rangers.
"I spent a lot of my career being linked with a move to both Celtic and Rangers. I finally got to Celtic in 1988."
He most certainly did get there.
Nobody was more pleased than Rough who stayed on in Paradise for four months at the tail end of Celtic's centenary season.
There is a proud picture of Rough bedecked in the famous yellow and green goalkeeper's jersey complete with the centenary Celtic cross badge.
Rough said: "When you walk through that door at Celtic Park it is something else entirely. I don't care what club you have been at whether it is Aberdeen, Hearts or Hibs but playing for Celtic is a different experience. It is a mentality. A winning mentality. The club that you left could maybe win two games out of four but as soon as you walk through that door at Celtic nothing less than four wins out of four is acceptable.
"Nothing else matters and you feel that. I felt it on my first day at training with Celtic. The training was good and it was at a high tempo but that was nothing compared to the seven-a-side games. The players were kicking lumps out of each other and that was down to having a winning mentality. All of the Celtic squad had to win the bounce games. The pressure was not on a Saturday it came from desperately wanting to win the bounce games at training. It was a culture shock as I was training with guys like Roy Aitken, Tommy Burns, Mick McCarthy, Frank McAvennie, Paul McStay and Peter Grant. That's what you had to live up to when Saturday arrived.
"The Saturday game was the be-all-and-end-all and that was winning three points."
Rough ended up playing seven games for Celtic including keeping a clean sheet in a memorable 4-0 win during a European Cup first round second leg encounter against Honved.
It was Rough's European debut for Celtic and he earned rave reviews for his performance at the age of 36. Ironically Rough had already played against Honved in the 1971 UEFA cup with Partick Thistle courtesy of the Jags' unforgettable 4-1 victory over Celtic in the League Cup final.
He vividly recalls the moment that McNeill asked him if he was up for the challenge of replacing Andrews in a game of such magnitude.
The veteran of two World Cup finals with Scotland admitted that whilst he didn't feel fazed at all there were some nerves.
Rough said: "I was over in Hungary for the first game when Celtic lost 1-0. In the second game, Big Billy came to me and just said that he felt Ian Andrews's confidence had gone and Celtic weren't prepared to take a chance with him. Big Billy took me aside and said: "Are you up for it?"
"It was as simple as that and my response just gave me a chance as I'd love to play. I grasped straight away what it was all about and what it meant to pull on that Celtic jersey.
"I had played in front of massive crowds at Hampden and Wembley in the Scotland v England matches and I had played against Brazil and in the World Cup finals in Argentina and Spain. It didn't faze me but I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous that night against Honved. Fortunately for me, it went really well.
"You dig deep into that big game experience and that is one of the main reasons why Celtic bought me. They knew I could handle these occasions as I had done so in the past. If I was called upon I knew I wouldn't let them down. I shouldn't really have needed to be called upon as Packie was the No.1 and Ian Andrews was meant to be the No.2 and I was the No.3. As it turned out I went from being the back-up No.3 to the No.1 in no time at all. Celtic knew what I had done before would stand me in good stead and that European Cup night against Honved was a great night.
"It was the second time that I played Honved in European competition after playing for them against Partick Thistle in 1971. Playing for the boyhood team that I supported is something that I never thought would happen especially back in 1971. It is a quirk of football fate that the 1971 League Cup final was against Celtic and I played against Honved in the UEFA cup and then 17 years later I made my European Cup debut for Celtic against Honved."
The 71-year-old still feels blessed that he made more than just a Celtic connection with a legendary Scottish football figure in the shape of Jock Stein.
Stein rated Rough as a goalkeeper so much so that despite failing to snare him in 1974 he recalled him back into the Scotland squad for the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico as back-up to Jim Leighton and Andy Goram.
Rough said: "I don't know what went on behind the scenes in 1974 but Jock Stein was always first class with myself.
"We had a fantastic relationship. He brought me back into the international fold for Mexico and I was eternally grateful for that. We never had goalkeeping coaches back then and Jock used to train the goalkeepers. When the players were away doing their thing Jock would pull us aside and put us through our paces alongside Brian Scott which was quite good.
"I will never forget Jock for bringing me back into the Scotland squad for Mexico. I had already played at two World Cup finals in Argentina in 1978 and Spain in 1982.
"To get a chance to go to a third World Cup finals with him was special and I always appreciated it. I never thought I'd get to go to another one and Jock made it happen because of the experiences that I had gone through before.
"I liked a laugh and a joke and a carry-on and if you are away from home for a month or two and you are not playing then you need to add something to the squad. I think Jock appreciated my ability for what I brought to the table both on and off the park. Jock was keen on building that club environment at the international level and he wanted all the players to get on with each other."
READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou, Jock Stein and Ferenc Puskas : The Celtic through-line that binds football royalty
How would Rough sum up his precious few months at Celtic?
He said: "I wish I had been there at least 10 years before it!
"Honestly when you are at a big club like Celtic it is night and day from anything you have ever experienced as a footballer.
"You turn up for training in the morning and there are 100 people outside watching you report for your work. It is phenomenal the support that Celtic have and how much you buy into is a player."
Alan Rough got there in the end but better late than never.
Nobody can take his 'Magnificent Seven' goalkeeping appearances for Celtic away from him.
The four months Rough spent in Paradise are precious and priceless to him.
Both Rough and the Hoops faithful will always have Honved.
Just don't mention Ronnie Glavin!
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here