Pierre van Hooijdonk has lifted the lid on some troubling times in Glasgow during his time with Celtic. The big Dutch striker signed for the club in 1995 and spent two seasons with the bhoys before moving on for big money to Nottingham Forest.
During his time at Celtic the big man helped Celtic to a rare trophy in the 90s when the bhoys managed by Tommy Burns lifted the Scottish Cup during a very dry trophy spell.
Speaking to The Guardian, Pierre spoke of his time in Glasgow and how an incident with a Gers fan sucked the energy out of him.
“In Glasgow, I was easy to recognise: tall and dark.
“I got some trouble from Rangers fans; once at some traffic lights a boy opened my car door and spat at me. It sucked the energy out of me.
“I was single for six months there but didn’t go out because I had to be careful. If I went to a concert, I would take a taxi and crouch down in the back seat as we went past the pubs.”
It’s a shocking state of affairs – even back then. If you’re in the fishbowl of Glasgow and you play for Celtic you are bound to get some abuse your way at some point. Scott Brown chose to stay in Edinburgh after his move to Celtic over ten years ago. The Celtic captain opting not to be subjected to abuse on a daily basis in and around the town centre.
Pierre still looks back at his time at Celtic on the whole very fondly and regularly keeps up to date with what Celtic are doing.
The big man once famously put old Rangers to the sword when he played for Feyenoord after his time at Celtic.
