Highland hero Ryan Christie hailed for Scotland on the floor of the House of Commons
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A Highland MP has saluted Inverness-born Ryan Christie in the UK parliament after his Scotland heroics last week.
Drew Hendry, member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, took to the floor of the House of Commons with an early day motion praising Celtic attacker Christie’s part in ending the nation’s 22 years of exile from major finals.
Christie netted the opener for Scotland against hosts Serbia with a tremendous left foot strike after 52 minutes in Thursday’s play-off fixture.
Stevie Clarke’s men looked to have qualified for next summer’s Covid-19 delayed European Championship finals only for Serbia’s Luka Jovic to equalise in the final minute.
After an agonising 30 minutes of extra-time, though, the Scots triumphed 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out to book summer matches against Croatia, Czech Republic and England.
Christie, who rose to fame from Caley Thistle’s youth and first team ranks, was credited as playing a hugely-influential part in the victory.
His tearful post-match interview also captured the hearts of TV viewers around the world after demonstrating just how much Scotland’s feat meant to him.
Mr Hendry’s motion read: “That this house congratulates former Inverness Millburn Academy pupil and former Caledonian Thistle Football Club academy graduate, Ryan Christie, on scoring the qualifying goal to take the Scotland National men's football team to a successful penalty shoot-out, and to qualification for the European Championships in 2021; and finally, wishes Ryan and the rest of the Scotland team all the best of luck at the Euros.”
