WEE RUN THE SHOW

Scott Brown on Celtic’s ‘wee run’ to nine-in-a-row, and working hard for the historic 10

- JOE DONNELLY

AFTER clinching the SPL league championship on April 7, 2012, Scott Brown reckoned it was Celtic’s time to ‘go on a wee run’ of domestic success. Come Trophy Day at Paradise the following month, the then 26-year-old midfielder got his hands on the league trophy for the first time as captain, a feeling he said he would never take for granted nor forget.

Fast forward eight years and it seems Brown’s way of keeping this memory fresh has been to return the title to Paradise time and time and time again – each and every year, for nine consecutive campaigns.

Doing so has seen the current Celtic squad equal the phenomenal record set by Jock Stein’s legendary side of the 1960s and ‘70s, and puts Neil Lennon’s men one step closer to becoming the most successful team in the history of league football in Scotland.

Brown has been a crucial part of the club’s enduring success over the last 10 years, on and off the pitch, and is one of only two players to feature in every season of the nine-in-a-row trail.

He shares this honour with Academy graduate James Forrest, both of who join club legends Bobby Lennox, Jimmy Johnstone and Cesar himself, Billy McNeill, who did so decades before.

“It’s incredible,” said Brown of Celtic’s most recent success. “We obviously wanted to play every single game but, due to the circumstances, we’ve not been able to. I think the league has done the right thing having crowned us champions, because it was only a matter of time anyway.