Rod Stewart wouldn’t have swapped his 50 plus years in showbiz for the chance to play for Celtic.
In the early seventies as he made the breakthrough a singer he was in regular contact with players at Celtic and Manchester United.
Stewart would put his boots on at every opportunity to play in charity matches but other than a few trials with Brentford in his teens becoming a footballer was never an option.
From the days of Kenny Dalglish, Jimmy Johnstone and Bobby Lennox, Stewart has been a regular fan of Celtic, opening the North Stand in 1995 and celebrating the 2012 win over Barcelona by shedding tears in the Directors Box.
As recently as last week he was enjoying the sights, sounds and tastes of Rome as Celtic defeated Lazio but is now back in the business of his latest tour which reaches Glasgow later this month.
Covering his interview on Radio Scotland The Sun reported his reply to the question of being a footballer rather than a singer:
No, not in a million years because I’m 74 — do you know any footballers that are still playing at 74? The longevity of my career could not have gone on if I was a footballer.
It’s a wonderful notion. I love the Hoops and I love Scotland, but I’m glad. I am dedicated to music. I don’t think I ever was when I had my chance to be a footballer and I went for my trial at Brentford. I was never dedicated to it.”
While Celtic face Rennes in the Europa League on November 28 Stewart will be on stage entertaining fans at the SSE Hydro.