Many players come to Celtic Park and make references as to how loud the crowd is. The majority of the time, these are Celtic players who couldn’t believe how loud the ground actually was, despite hearing big things about the atmosphere – take Kris Ajer for example.
However, it is very rarely that you hear an opponent talk about how good the atmosphere can be at Celtic Park – especially a player as experienced as England keeper Ben Foster. The Warwick-born keeper, who has won three English League Cups and eight England caps, stated that he could not believe how much the noise at Paradise that night got into his head.
Speaking to Fozcast Podcast, Foster clearly and vividly remembers that night at Celtic Park enough to wax lyrical about it.
“I played in a Celtic vs Man U (Manchester United) game once, up at Celtic when I was at Manchester United and it was in the Champions League.
“We drew the game 1-1 – I definitely should have saved their goal, but don’t worry about that – but the atmosphere at Celtic Park? I have to say it’s the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in in my life. It got to my head like you would not believe.
“Honestly, I was crapping myself. All the way through the game, I think I was 25/26 at the time, it just got into my head like you would not believe.
“The noise was like nothing I had ever heard before. Honestly, nothing. And when they’re attacking, their fans suck the ball into the goal. I’m not even joking.”
This is a man who has been an England international, played at every ground over 45,000 capacity in England – including Anfield, Old Trafford, Elland Road and Goodison Park – and has even played at Besiktas away, which is known to be a treacherous place to play. And yet, he still thinks Celtic Park is the best place he has ever played…how’s that for a small club, eh?
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