SCOTT BROWN won an extraordinary twenty-two honours during his glittering career at Celtic.
The legendary Hoops captain’s starter for TEN title triumphs arrived at Tannadice on this day on May 22 2008.
Back then, Broony, now 37 and manager of English third-tier Fleetwood Town, was embarking on a thrilling adventure after joining up at Parkhead the previous summer following Gordon Strachan’s £4.4million bid that Hibs couldn’t refuse.
LITTLE BIG MAN…Gordon Strachan holds aloft his third successive title silverware as Aiden McGeady, Jan Vennegor of Hesselink, Lee Naylor, Stephen McManus and Barry Robson join in at Tannadice in May 2008.
The Hoops boss, who was eyeing his third successive crown to emulate the achievements of club great Willie Maley and Jock Stein, had been busy during the pre-season and had also brought in strikers Scott McDonald, from Motherwell, and Chris Killen, who had come out of contract at the Easter Road outfit.
Italian Massimo Donati, a silky midfielder, also arrived in the east end of Glasgow after agreeing a £3million switch from AC Milan.
The title went all the way to the wire that nerve-shredding season, but it was settled on Tayside when Dutch hitman Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink towered above the home defence to thump a header beyond future Celt Lukasz Zaluska in the 72nd minute.
RISE AND SHINE…Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink leaps high above team-mate Scott McDonald to power in the title winner past Lukasz Zaluska.
TANNADICE TITLE TRIUMPH…Celtic celebrate the club’s 42nd crown – with Scott McDonald (bottom right) just managing to get into the picture.
It was Celtic’s 42nd championship and they had to wait another four years before they won the flag again.
And that was the start of something good, too, for Scott Brown – another nine successive crowns were on their way to add to his silverware collection.
Callum McGregor is catching up fast on his predecessor – he claimed his eighth title honour in the 2-0 win over Hearts at Tynecastle earlier this month.
Here’s to Celtic’s onfield leader surpassing the total of his good friend!
FOR THE RECORD: The team that won at Tannadice was: Boruc; Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor (sub: Wilson 76); Nakamura (sub: Scott Brown 62), Hartley, Robson, McGeady; McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink (sub: Samaras 81). Unused subs: Mark Brown, Donati, Sheridan, O’Dea.
