As the twentieth anniversary of Celtic playing in that famous UEFA Cup Final in 2003 approaches, former Celtic striker, Chris Sutton was reflecting on what the experience was like as a Celtic player.
The big Englishman was instrumental in helping the Hoops reaching the final. Here he shares something about that experience that he has never had at any other club in his career.
Speaking on the Record Celtic podcast, Sutton said, “I mentioned that the semi-final [against Boavista], flying back into Glasgow I think we got back in about four in the morning and the airport was just full of Celtic punters. It was unbelievable.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that. The whole occasion, the final, my dad travelled out to the game with my younger brother.
“Driving to the game there was like endless and endless of thousands and thousands of Celtic fans which had arrived there.
“Then with that comes the expectation. We had the expectation within the group and within ourselves. You have the expectation that we wanted to really give the fans something to celebrate.
“And out of everything that was probably the biggest sickener. Imagine the party had we got over the line. It was good enough anyway, but essentially you look back we lost the game, which was a massive disappointment.”
Now, when you think that Sutton won the English Premier League with Blackburn Rovers in 1995, that is some claim.
But for the Celtic fans, they will always thank Sutton & Co for the memories they gave us during that run. Yes, not to win it was very disappointing but when you think back to the nights at Anfield against Liverpool and at Celtic Park against Blackburn, those will live long in the memories of the Celtic fans.
Hopefully, another run like that will not be too far away for Celtic under Ange Postecoglou as it would be criminal if another generation of fans never get to experience a European final following Celtic.
In other news, Chris Sutton says Celtic must keep FOUR players if they hope to impact Champions League
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