Paul McStay photobombs John Hartson, Rio Ferdinand

AHEAD of the Maestrio charity match between Paul McStay’s Maestros and Rio Ferdinand’s All-Stars, the Maestro himself photobombed the ex-Manchester United stopper as he took a photo with former Celtic and Wales striker John Hartson.

Maestro says 'Hi!': McStay popped up in the background of this picture of Hartson and Ferdinand. Picture: twitter.com/johnhartson10

McStay, who made 515 appearances for Celtic during a 16-year playing career with the Hoops, popped up behind Hartson and Ferdinand in a photo posted on the one-time West Ham forward’s Twitter page as the legends assembled for the game at Glasgow’s Thistle Hotel.

Hartson tweeted: ‘The main man @rioferdy5 @riofoundation great to see the big fella’ alongside the picture, before posting a properly-posed photo of himself, the former England international and McStay.

Ferdinand had told celticfc.net earlier that he had been a fan of McStay’s from a young age, adding: “I would watch Celtic quite a bit and I used to collect the Panini stickers, and there was Paul McStay, he was just a great player.

“He never looked flustered, he was just classy and always looked above everyone else on the pitch.

“I always thought he never got the respect and adulation he deserved. I can see why, because he’s not really one for putting himself out there, he’s a little bit like Paul Scholes in that respect but for me, he was a top player.”

The charity match will feature appearances from James McAvoy, Lubo Moravcik, Stiliyan Petrov, Joey Barton, Gianfranco Zola and Louis Tomlinson from One Direction .

Money raised from the fixture will go to UNICEF and War Child to help children in war-stricken countries in the Middle East.