The frontman enjoyed huge success at Celtic Park during a six-season stint with the Bhoys from 2000-06, winning four league titles, three Scottish Cups and the League Cup, plus the SPFA Players’ Player of the Year accolade in 2003/04 after scoring 28 goals.
Sutton has since turned to punditry and is now a regular feature of BT Sport’s Scottish football coverage. He's pulled no punches with his opinions about the game north of the border in recent years, including the various managerial appointments at Rangers.
The 44-year-old has admitted that a Gers fan even tried to run him over because of his comments about the club, but insists he likes that Glaswegians are similarly outspoken.
Has a Rangers fan ever confronted me? Yes, I had someone try to run me over, but these things happen… it was good and light-hearted!
Speaking exclusively in the February 2018 issue of FFT – a '90s special, available to buy now – he says: “Has a Rangers fan ever confronted me? Yes, I had someone try to run me over, but these things happen… it was good and light-hearted!
“What I like about Glasgow is that people will tell you what they think. It’s not always what you want to hear but they’re forthright and upfront.
“I get a bit of stick from Rangers fans, but most of them end up agreeing with me – like over Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha, although they’ll never admit it…”
Sutton played against Rangers in 20 Old Firm derbies, scoring inside 60 seconds of his first derby in 2000 that he calls “the most memorable game of my entire career”.
“Rangers had won the league by 21 points the season before, and before that Old Firm game we’d won all our games and they’d won all of theirs,” says the former goal-getter.
My most memorable Old Firm goal was in 2003-04. We were drawing 0-0 in the 92nd minute, I held off Frank de Boer and chipped Stefan Klos from about 25 yards – I meant that one!
“We didn’t know what to expect from the game but I scored inside a minute and we won 6-2. That game was the turning point for Celtic and a period where the club dominated a really strong Rangers.
“My most memorable Old Firm goal was in 2003/04 – when we beat Rangers in every game. We were drawing 0-0 in the 92nd minute, I held off Frank de Boer and chipped Stefan Klos from about 25 yards. That was a lovely goal, because I meant it!”
Read the full interview with Chris Sutton in the February 2018 issue of FourFourTwo magazine – a ’90s special in which we recall 90 things we loved about the decade and interview a host of icons including Fabrizio Ravanelli, Matt Le Tissier, Jorge Campos, Philippe Albert and Brian Laudrup. Plus, we look back on the Ajax side that took Europe by storm, dust off the VCR to review some football VHS ‘classics’ and hear from Jimmy Glass about his famous last-gasp goal for Carlisle. Order a copy now, and then subscribe!
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