HISTORY BHOY!
Skipper’s ‘perfect’ season:
CELTIC skipper Scott Brown ended the “perfect season” with his testimonial game against the Republic of Ireland at Parkhead.
Eleven years, 470 appearances, seven straight titles, back-to-back trebles, 15 trophies i n total – the numbers that have secured Brown’s legendary status amongst the Celtic support.
Around 50,000 fans turned up yesterday to pay tribute to the 32-year-old midfielder who joined the Glasgow club from Hibernian in 2007. And for many, the chance to see Henrik Larsson run out for one more 30-minute cameo appearance would have been worth the ticket price alone.
Some of the proceeds of the day are set to go to the family of former Hoops and Republic of Ireland star Liam Miller, who died from cancer aged 36 in February this year.
The match took place a day after the Hoops clinched an unprecedented successive domestic treble with a 2-0 William Hill Scottish Cup final win over Motherwell at Hampden Park.
Following the 2-2 draw against Martin O’Neill’s testimonial side, Brown said: “It was definitely the perfect season. There was always going to be ups and downs in it but we have turned up in big matches.
“We dominated yesterday and we managed to bring the three trophies back to Celtic Park where they should be.
“It will be hard work next season but we have to get a wee bit better than we have been this season and we know we can push on yet again.
“When I first signed for Celtic my aim was to try and get in the team.
“It was a great team at the time. We always struggled against them at Hibs and we had a good team. But they had some exceptional players at the time.
“So it was just to try to get into the team but lucky enough for me, 11 years later I am still digging my heels in and still playing.”
Following the testimonial, Celtic fans praised the captain online.
Katie Gregory posted on Twitter: “Scott Brown is an absolute hero.”
Celtic fan Sir Rod Stewart was also in town for the festivities. The superstar was snapped by one of our Evening Times Camera Club members on Saturday in Buchanan Street.
However, it was bad news for Partick Thistle fans in Glasgow with the team’s 1-0 defeat against Livingston ensuring their relegation from the Scottish Premiership.
11 years later I am still digging my heels in and still playing