Micah Richards, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer speak in awe of 'incredible' Celtic atmosphere

By Lewis Laird

April 25, 2022

Former Premier League trio Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards have described the atmosphere of a Glasgow Derby as ‘something else’.

All three ex-players, who now find themselves as regular pundits on the BBC, have played in some of the biggest derbies in the UK and the world.

That includes the Manchester Derby, the Tyne-Wear Derby and even the El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain.

In a recent episode of the Match of the Day, Top 10 podcast series, the pundits discussed the biggest derbies south of the border.

Amongst the conversation came the topic of the Glasgow Derby, which all three have experienced.

Talking about the atmosphere within Celtic Park and Ibrox, Shearer, Lineker and Richards all described the fixture as ‘something else’ and ‘on another level’ to any derby they had ever seen.

When asked if he had ever experienced a fixture between Celtic and Rangers, Richards responded, “Once. Never again. Forget that.

“(I went to) Celtic.

“I’ve never heard a noise like it. It’s incredible.”

Former Tottenham and Barcelona striker Gary Lineker then opened up on the game saying, “I’ve done a few. There was a period where we had the rights; we televised about three or four of them at both grounds.

“Cor blimey. When you talk about hatred, that is another level.

“I was a bit scared,” he joked.

“The Rangers vs Celtic match is something else.”

Finally, Shearer discussed his thoughts, saying, “They are without a doubt, and I’ve been to a lot of these games, but that Glasgow Derby is something else.

“My god – it is ferocious at both grounds, Celtic and Rangers. It’s proper hatred. It’s something different up there.”

Despite the drop in away supporters at the fixture over the last few years, that incredible atmosphere has remained.

The best example being Celtic’s 3-0 win over Rangers back in February. The stadium was absolutely bouncing when Liel Abada added the Bhoys’ third goal of the night.

Ange Postecoglou and his side have another opportunity to sample that this weekend, in the final derby fixture of the season at Paradise.

Three points would take Celtic even closer to lifting the Scottish Premiership title in May.

You can only imagine the atmosphere at the end of that one if Celtic are to come out as winners.

In other news, Celtic away allocation at Tannadice returns to normal levels after failed experiment.