The official UEFA Champions League account on X (AKA Twitter), which has over 50.7M followers, today highlighted a world class performance from a Celtic star in club football’s greatest competition on earth and understandably so because, looking back, it was truly out of this world.
It’s of course Fraser Forster playing for Celtic in the 2012/13 season both at Paradise in the East End of Glasgow and over in the Camp Nou in the Catalonian capital. And, respect where it’s due that was no ordinary Barcelona side Le Gran Muralla was up against, it was the best Barca side of all time and at the height of its power – a truly wonderful football team to watch and admire, rather like Celtic’s world class European Cup winners from 1967.
Yet this brilliant Barca side could not breach the barrier raised in the Celtic goals by that man mountain Fraser Forster.
Lionel Messi is said to have been so impressed he told Barcelona to sign him and it’s rather surprising that they failed to take the Argentinian genius’ advice. But while few goalkeepers could claim to have got the better of Messi, Fraser Forster certainly did in that campaign.
Surely there has been no better performance from a Celtic goalkeeper that Fraser’s against Barcelona. No wonder the UEFA Champions League choose to highlight to today. Outstanding goalkeeper.
La Gran Muralla 🧱
Fraser Forster vs Barcelona, 2012/13 🎥#UCL pic.twitter.com/jM6e54RYIl
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) January 22, 2024
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Without a shadow of a doubt, made the biggest mistake of his playing career by not staying on in Paradise. While he was not earning the highest salary he ever would, he was at the biggest club he ever played for and was ever going to play for.
He played his best stuff in our team. Without question!
He was England’s #1 goalie by a long shot at the time, but played back-up to big Joe because Joe was playing in England, or more like because Fraser was playing in Scotland!
But he was a superior goalie, and make no mistake, I love big Joe Hart!
Big Fraser’s head had obviously been turned by a very greedy agent who was telling him he could get him into Barcelona, Real Madrid, or clubs of this level.
But he failed him and somehow, one of the greatest goalies of our generation was allowed to waste away as a back-up for much of his career instead, and all because of bad advice from a terrible agent. I suspect when the gloves are finally hung up, big Fraser will look back on his Paradise days as the best of his whole career, and tinged with regret at allowing himself to be poorly guided by a clown of an agent who only had his own interests in his mind.
The big man should still be our #1 today!
What a waste!