Joe Hart has reflected on being with Celtic fans in the Broomloan end at Ibrox.
In the first full Glasgow Derby away allocation in eight years, the big Englishman was among the travelling fans lucky enough to attend the game.
What ended up happening after Celtic won the penalty shootout has been well-documented, but Hart evidently didn’t let it affect his enjoyment of the day.
In fact, he said that he found it “really tasty”.
How can we ensure that the Glasgow derby can continue having full allocations after the latest incident?
Joe Hart on fulfilling ‘amazing’ dream of being in Celtic away end
Hart told Tubes on Golf Life: “It’s electric. And do you know what? I experienced it as a fan recently.
“But it’s funny when you play in it, because you have to be so in control of what’s going on, and very aware.
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“And I was an older player as well, so I wasn’t really feeding off the emotion. I was trying to… not play it down, but just play my game.
“But I would’ve loved to have experienced it as a young person!”
On going as a fan, he said: “I couldn’t not. Because I always look, as a goalie, I always look in that away end.
“I always feel the stadium. And I love the home fans that I’ve played for, they’ve been incredible, [but] I’ve always loved travelling with my away fans.
“I’ve always thought, ‘I would f—–g love to be in there.’ Especially when it’s going off, and it’s bouncing, and the support, and the people…
“And I just knew that I had to experience that. I wanted to experience it. So I went to the quarter-final recently, and it got really tasty.
“But it was amazing! It was amazing being around everyone, and seeing how everyone reacted, and seeing what the environment’s like, and the intensity, the police…
“It was like, ‘[I’ll have some of this!] I absolutely loved it, mate.”
Where does Joe Hart rank in the list of Celtic goalkeepers?
Rangers vs Celtic fan incident reactions
The incident triggered reactions from pundits, officials and clubs alike.
In a comprehensive statement, The Celtic Fans Collective was highly critical of police operations before, during and after the match
Simon Jordan also questioned the operation as well as the declining funding given to police operations for major matches in Scotland.
In response, the Chief Constable and Deputy Chief Constable have both defended the police force, with the former condemning the two clubs for a lack of comment on the conduct of fans.
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