Four Four Two - UK (2020-11)

thecorner,there’llbea Celticfanthereand

he’llwanttocomeover,giveyoua hugand

kissyouonthecheek!That’showdividedit

is.Youhavetobeslightlywiseaboutwhere

yougoandwhereyousocialise,butthere’s

noonewho’sfeaturedforCelticorRangers

whohasn’texperiencedit.I wouldn’tcallit

abuse,that’sa strongword,butyou’reeither

gettinghailedorbeingsubjectedtochants

thatyoudon’twanttohear.

Isit truethata yearbeforeyoujoinedthe

BhoysfromCoventry,youactuallynearly

signedforRangers?

Yeah.I faileda medicalatRangersin2000,

thenultimatelywentontoplayforCeltic.At

thatparticulartimeI wasplayingforWales

andDickAdvocaatwasRangers’manager,

soit wastheirloss.Theynevergotmeandit

wasCeltic’sgain.

Followingyourlife-threateningbattlewith

cancer,yougota Celtictattooonyourarm.

Whywasthatimportanttoyou?

I’vehada fewtattoosdone– I’ma Swansea

fanbutnevergottoplayforthemduringmy

career.WhenI cameoutofhospital,I really

wantedtogettheCelticemblemonmyarm,

justsoI cantakeit tomygravewithme.The

supportI receivedfromtheCelticfamilywas

unbelievable.It definitelyhelpedmewithmy

cancerbattle.It gavemeanenormousliftin

termsofmyhealth– theletters,theflowers,

thefanmail– soI wantedtowearthebadge

onmyshoulderforever.

Whatwasthedressingroomlikeduring

yourtimeatCeltic?

Thereweresomebigleadersinthere– Chris

Sutton,NeilLennon,HenrikLarsson– pluswe

ayersanda wonderfulmanager

MartinO’Neill.It wasa realteam

f men.Wewereallquitecloseto

0 andMartindidn’thavetosay

oomuch– hejustusedtosimply

, “Goandwin.”Hebelievedin us,

ada fantasticteamandwefelt

ereatit, wecouldwinanygame.

credibleperiod.

Enroutetothe 2003 UEFACupFinal,you

helpedCelticseala famousquarter-final

winoverLiverpool.Whatdoyourecallof

thatnightatAnfield?

I rememberthegamebecauseI scoredand

therewasa magnificentspeechfromMartin

beforekick-off.We’ddrawnthefirstleg1-1

atCelticPark,sowewenttoAnfieldandhad

toscore,becausetheyhadanawaygoal.If

wedidn’tscore,wewereout.I canstillhear

InterviewChrisFlanagan

TheWelshfrontmanbecame

a Parkheadheroafterfinding

thenetina famousUEFACup

defeatofLiverpoolatAnfield

TEAMS

Luton

Arsenal

West Ham

Wimbledon

Coventry

Celtic

West Brom

Norwich (loan)

Wales

The most successful spell of your career

was at Celtic. What were the highlights of

your time at the club?

I won three titles in five seasons, and scored

more than 100 goals. We reached the 2003

UEFA Cup Final and lost to Jose Mourinho’s

Porto, then there was winning the Scottish

Cup at Hampden Park in front of a full house.

Just playing at Celtic Park every other week

was brilliant – it was so enjoyable.

Do you have a standout memory from all

of the Old Firm derbies you featured in?

My nine goals! [Laughs] To score the winner in

consecutive league derbies was very special,

in arguably one of the biggest games in the

world – and one of the most watched games,

in terms of the countries it’s actually shown

in. It’s such a massive club, so to make Celtic

supporters happy around the world – they’re

great memories.

What was it like when you were out and

about in Glasgow. Did you get stick from

the Rangers fans?

That’s what you sign up for when you move

to Celtic or Rangers – you know you’ll receive

a little bit of stick. You’re walking down the

road, you’ve got a Rangers supporter coming

towards you, and he gives you a look as if he

wants to spit in your face. Then you go round

JOHn HARTSOn

“BEFORE I MOVED

TO CELTIC, I CAME

CLOSE TO SIGnInG

FOR RAnGERS BUT

FAILED A MEDICAL.

IT WAS THEIR LOSS”

“IT WAS A REAL TEAM OF

MEn AnD MARTIn O’nEILL

nEVER HAD TO SAY MUCH

• SIMPLY, ‘GO AnD WIn’”

hadgreatpla

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