With Scotland playing England on Friday night younger supporters might be in the dark about the mysteries of the ‘Auld Enemy’.
For generations, Scottish football revolved around a couple of fixtures a season with the biggest of them all, even bigger than the two ‘Old Firm’ league matches, Scotland v England.
Fans of every club would do anything and everything to get hold of a ticket for the bi-annual clash at Hampden with the gate money providing the back-bone of the money needed to sustain the SFA for two years.
Across Scotland ‘Wembley Club’s were the norm as folk, often not regular supporters, would put something away every week to pay for their Wembley Weekend which involved massive kerry-oots and even longer bus journeys.
Although it was only for the minor glory of the Home International Championship the Scotland v England game was the end of season show-piece shown live on telly year in year out as it was a guaranteed sell out.
From that background English footballers were rarely found in Scotland, Scots poured south of the border but very very few made the opposite journey.
In the mid-seventies Peter Latchford broke the mould but it wasn’t until Terry Butcher and Chris Woods joined the Debt Revolution at Ibrox that English players started to consider moving north.
Some loved it, the intensity, the passion and the golf courses, others hated the weather and moved back south as soon as possible.
Here at Video Celts we’ve selected ten great Englishmen that have contributed to the enjoyment of Celtic fans, including three goalkeepers English XI that served Celtic well.
CLICK HERE to view ten great Englishmen to have played for Celtic.
PETER LATCHFORD
Arrived on loan in 1975 and is still around over 40 years later. Latchford joined on loan from West Brom as ten-in-a-row was hitting the buffers but finished the season with a Scottish Cup winners medal.
He went on to establish himself in the 76/77 double winning side and also played a huge role in the 4-2 team.
Despite losing his place, initially through injury, to Pat Bonner he was happy to stay on at the club and proved to be a very able deputy until 1986 and played a useful role developing younger players in the reserve side.
FRASER FORSTER
Like Latchford he arrived on loan and had a bit of a shaky introduction to the Scottish game.
Celtic managed to get a second season long loan out of Newcastle for the keeper who came on leaps and bounds as the 2011/12 title was won.
The following season was the stuff of dreams as he starred against Barcelona and earned an England call up which is virtually unheard of for players based in Scotland.
When the time to leave came around there was a £10m profit from Newcastle to cushion the disappointment- plus a ready made replacement in Craig Gordon.
TONY WARNER
If you are only going to play a couple of games make them memorable. Warner certainly did that after arriving on an emergency loan ( not the type they survive on at Ibrox) from Liverpool.
Although he only had a supporting role Warner had the gloves on when the Little General got turned over by the good Doctor.
Rangers (IL) came to Celtic Park ten points clear but left on the wrong side of a 5-1 hammering that highlighted the limitations of Dick Advocaat before he was rag dolled by Martin O’Neill.
Warner went on to play for 18 clubs in England, as he looks back on a varied career there will be one match that he is reminded of more than any other.
ALAN STUBBS
This transfer came out of the blue and demonstrated that Celtic were getting serious about things.
Stubbs was the highly rated Bolton central defender, his team-mate Jason McAtear went to Liverpool but Stubbs moved in the opposite direction.
His first season under Tommy Burns was difficult, playing alongside Marc Reiper and under Wim Jansen he played a big roll in stopping the ten.
After five different managers in five seasons he jumped at the chance of joining Everton, leaving with a lifetime of stories and some handy medals.
TONY MOWBRAY
Not the manager. In response to the goings on at Ibrox Liam Brady went to Tee-side in search of steel and came back with Mogga.
A 5-1 defeat from Neuchatel Xamax had triggered the need for a new defender, initially Mogga fitted the bill perfectly until injury struck causing a rammy between Liam Brady and Gerry McNee!
Mowbray’s Celtic career never really recovered but he did initiate the huddle during a pre-season trip to Germany which is more of a legacy than eight months in the manager’s chair.
PAUL ELLIOTT
The smoothly dressed and smooth talking south Londoner was injured on arrival from Pisa but didn’t turn out to be damaged goods.
After finding his feet, and an incredible haul of yellow cards, his second season 90/91 was outstanding in a Celtic side that led to the dismissal of Billy McNeill.
Elliot was also for off, Chelsea paying £1.5m, a million more than Pisa had paid, with his transfer triggered by a contract dispute relating to a property deal.
LEE NAYLOR
Initially seemed to solve all of those left back problems when he arrived on the same day as Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Charlie Mulgrew moved to Wolves as the make-weight in the transfer.
For just £600,000 Gordon Strachan had found a left-back capable of playing in the Champions League.
After a year to 18 months of great form it was a long slow decline for the full-back before he left in 2010 with Neil Lennon pinning his faith in Emilio Izaguirre.
ALAN THOMPSON
Managed to win one England cap while at Celtic but achieved much much more in a green and white shirt.
A key member of Martin O’Neill’s squad he understood straight away what was expected of him on the park.
His commitment and effort was second to none, he created plenty of goals and was good for 8-10 a season specialising in goals against Rangers (IL).
Under Gordon Strachan his Celtic career slipped away before a brief, eventful and successful reunion with Neil Lennon in the dug out.
CHRIS SUTTON
He wasn’t up here for the scenery, after his debut goal he told David Tanner of Sky Sports that he would put Rangers in their place.
His partnership with Henrik Larsson was key to the transformation and success of the O’Neill years, his ability matched his attitude.
Like many he never survived the handover to Gordon Strachan but is fondly remembered for his exploits on the park and now revered for his honesty as a pundit hitting out with some uncomfortable home truths.
GARY HOOPER
When you sign from Scunthorpe expectations are never too high but with 88 on his back Hooper took the Scottish game by storm.
In partnership with Anthony Stokes they scored for fun as the 2011/12 title was delivered, coming back from a 15 point deficit in November.
Almost all of his goals came from within the penalty box but his link up play developed and improved greatly, it took the arrival of Moussa Dembele to finally fill the gap of Hooper’s transfer to Norwich- three years earlier
TOMMY JOHNSON
Arrived at the worst possible time, as Tommy Burns reign was going off the rails and 9-in-a-row was delivered at Ibrox.
During a later interview he told me that ‘Wim hated my guts’ but Martin O’Neill was a bit more inclined to use the former England u-21 striker.
He made a useful contribution to O’Neill’s treble winning side including the only goal of the game against St Mirren which clinched the title with something to spare.