Celtic icon lifts lid on Rangers attempts to sign him, winding up Ibrox rival, and who he owes great debt to

Currently head coach of Scottish Championship high-fliers Ayr United, the ex-Scotland international opened up on his time at Celtic Park during an in-depth discussion on the Let’s Be Frank podcast, where he discussed his move to the club and disclosed the reason he chose Celtic over Old Firm rivals Rangers when he departed Hibs in 2007.

“I met Walter (Smith), Ally (McCoist) and David Murray in a car park in Sighthill in Glasgow,” explained Brown. “They were underneath the flats, sitting in a Land Rover and I blethered away to them. Then Celtic phoned to ask if I could speak to them and Hibs accepted the bid. They flew me down to London to Dermot (Desmond’s) place. I was looking around thinking ‘slightly better than Sighthill, this. I got on really well with Coisty and Walter and being at Scotland with Tam at the time as well, it was really good banter.

“But Tommy Burns was texting me saying ‘wee man, come on, you know you want to come to us – we’ll make sure you’re alright and we’ll build the team around you. I got on really well with Strachan, and I knew the way he wanted to play, and he wanted to build the team around myself, Aiden (McGeady) and all the young players that were there. I just felt it was the right place at the right time.”

Brown, who won an astonishing 22 domestic trophies with Celtic, also paid a glowing tribute to his friend, the late Celtic legend Tommy Burns, who was “still thinking of others” right up until the end of his own life.

“My sister was unwell when Tam passed away,” explained the Ayr United boss. “Within a couple of days she got flowers from Tommy Burns saying, ‘thinking of you’. To my wee sister. So right up until his last moment he was always thinking of other people – that’s the kind of guy he was, he was a lovely human being who wanted the best for everybody. No matter what he was going through or what pain he was in, he was still thinking of someone else, which is an amazing thing.”

The 39-year-old also detailed his run-ins with Rangers players during some fierce Old Firm clashes, discussing his famous on pitch battle with strikers Alfredo Morelos and Kyle Lafferty.

"It was actually good banter. I like someone who gave me something back,” smiled Brown. “He (Morelos) always fell for it though, to be fair. It was stupid. The amount of times he was sent off, and it's just stupidity from him. The atmosphere and the games gets you, and it does - it gets everybody. It's brilliant, but some people fall into that. To be fair, I fell into that when I tried to headbutt Kyle Lafferty as well. We all make mistakes. I just couldn't get up there, the big man was too high.”

The full episode can be listened to via this link.