Jamie Carragher has recalled his experience as a player at Celtic Park on his ‘The Greatest Game’ Podcast. The Sky Sports pundit welcomed Celtic fan and actor Martin Compston onto the show and immediately, the discussion of Celtic from Compston had Carragher looking back fondly upon his time visiting Celtic Park.
Celtic drew Liverpool in the UEFA Cup run of 2003 and drew at Celtic Park 1-1 with goals from Larsson and Heskey keeping the teams tied at full time. Carra expressed his delight at having the opportunity to sample the famous atmosphere in Glasgow’s East End.
“I was delighted when we got you, not in a disrespectful way more just thinking of the atmosphere and You’ll Never Walk Alone before the game and stuff like that.
“I remember the first game, because I was warming up you don’t have to go right in after the warm-up to get ready to come out.
“So I’m like a kid 18 at Celtic listening to all this atmosphere thinking I just want to stay here I don’t want to go back in the changing rooms.
“The atmosphere was fantastic.”
Alan Thompson and John Hartson scored in the return leg at Anfield to ensure Celtic’s progression; however, Carragher isn’t bitter about the defeat, instead it was the catalyst for always seeing Celtic as a possible destination if his time on Merseyside had been ended prematurely.
“I used to think when I was a player – now I never wanted to leave Liverpool.
“But if Liverpool said to me ‘You’re not good enough anymore’ would you rather go and play for Southampton or Birmingham or Aston Villa or would you rather go and play for Celtic?
“I would have always said if I was in that position as a player, I think I’d rather go and play for Celtic.
“Ok, it’s not the Premier League, I get that. But it’s Celtic, there are fans all over the world, it’s an institution, the history, the tradition.”
