Kelvin Wilson recounting his Celtic exit 13 years ago

Before making a move to Nottingham Forest in 2013, Wilson made 76 appearances for Celtic. The Englishman, who originally joined from Forest, featured in Celtic’s iconic 2-1 victory against Barcelona in the 2012/13 Champions League group stage campaign and subsequently left the club following a qualifier against Swedish outfit Elfsborg.

During the summer of 2013, Wilson made it known he wanted to move back to England for family reasons. Nottingham Forest bought him back for £2.5 million after leaving to join Celtic on a free two years earlier.

Speaking in Daily Record, Wilson said: “That week, in the build-up to it, my agent rang me and said, ‘Kelv, Forest are interested in taking you back. Would you be interested now?”

“I said I would be interested. So Neil pulled me because it was in the papers, and said, ‘You’re not going anywhere.’ I was like, ‘Okay, fair enough.’

“I spoke to him a few times throughout that week, and then we got to Elfsborg. It was the day of the game and I was in my hotel room. I got a knock at my door, I’ve opened it, and it’s Lenny.”

Wilson added: “He’s come into my room and asked, ‘Right, do you want to go?’ And I was like, ‘It’s something that I’ve made clear to you that I’d be interested because I need to get back to my daughter.’

“He said, ‘Right, they’ve offered £2.5 million and we’re willing to accept it. We’re not accepting it because we want you to go, we’re accepting it because you want to go. If you want to stay, I’ll get you a new deal and you can stay longer.’

“I told him it wasn’t about the money and he knew that. He just said, ‘Play tonight for me, get us through to the Champions League, and you’ll go with our blessing.’ I didn’t think twice about playing and I was Man of the Match, so I think I played alright.”

“I remember Lenny doing a speech in the changing room after, just letting all the players know that I was leaving. A lot of them were shocked and couldn’t believe it.”

Conor Spence

Help raise funds for Celtic Youth Academy by playing the Celtic Pools Weekly Lottery and you could win up to £25,000. The lottery is £1 per week. Click on image above to join.