Scott Brown names the 5 best Celtic stars he played with; who he's still close with

By John McGinley

March 14, 2023

Scott Brown spent a fair chunk of his afternoon reminiscing about Celtic on Tuesday, helping to promote his upcoming event with Mikael Lustig at the Hydro.

The former Celtic captain didn’t get the chance to have a proper goodbye with supporters on the pitch so the opportunity to return to Glasgow in May, on the stage in front of thousands, will be special for him.

One question from Celtic fan media in today’s event was about the teammates he’s played with and who impressed him the most across his lengthy spell at the Bhoys. Martin from Celtic Fans TV asked for his top three, but Brown couldn’t limit it to a trio and had to name a top five.

Scott Brown’s top tier Celtic list

Brown said: “Can I say myself? Well it’s not me! Virgil van Dijk has got to be up there. He was exceptional coming to this club, he went on to Southampton, Liverpool as well and he’s been fantastic.

“When I first came here, Shunsuke Nakamura was brilliant. It’s then a close one between James Forrest and Callum McGregor. I’ve got a slight man crush on Jamesy and Cal so I can’t get away with that. I’ve got another man crush as well in Kieran Tierney. So, I’ve got too many.

“It’s hard because if you pick positions it’s a lot easier. Tierney has been exceptional, he went down to Arsenal and he’s been brilliant last season. He’s been good this season but maybe just not got as much game time. Jamesy and Cal, to do it consistently throughout the whole time they’ve been here shows you they love the club, their willingness and desire to stay here when they could’ve moved on. The club means so much to them.”

Also asked about which of his former teammates he’s still in touch with, Brown said: “Jamesy, Cal and KT are the ones that I’ve probably spoken to most over my whole time at Celtic, as well as Mikael Lustig. We still speak a lot, we always speak as much as we possibly can to each other – that four’s quite tight.”

There’s a really great five-a-side team in there somewhere! Maybe we can bring back the Tennent’s Sixes and enter this group to destroy the competition.

Brown hasn’t actually met up with Lustig since they left the Bhoys so the upcoming event at the Hydro will be the first time they’ve managed to physically reunite – an occasion in itself. When you add in that all proceeds will be going to Celtic FC Foundation’s charitable work, there’s even more reason to get tickets for the May 18th gig where I am sure many candid stories will be told about the above group and more.

In other news, Ange Postecoglou’s class Celtic gesture to Scott Brown that he had to turn down.