James Forrest has opened up on the emotion of becoming Celtic’s most decorated player, surpassing Lisbon Lion Bobby Lennox in the process.
The 33-year-old winger collected his 26th major honour with last Saturday’s Premiership title win at Tannadice, moving clear of Lennox as the most successful player in the club’s long and storied history.
Forrest, who made his Celtic debut in 2010, has seen it all at Parkhead: league wins, cup glory, European nights, and now another domestic title. But as he reaches the latter stages of his career, each moment carries that bit more weight.
Speaking after the match, Forrest admitted the moment caught up with him. He said on the Celtic FC Official podcast:
“After the game, I felt a bit emotional.
“Normally, I can hide that quite well, but I think everything – we won the league and everyone was talking about that – it got to me a bit.
“It’s a great achievement, and it shows how successful the club has been since I’ve been here.
“When you start to get a bit older, you’re not so sure whether you’re going to be in or out of the squad and you don’t know whether you’re going to be here, so I’m just cherishing every day that I’m here.
“It’s a team game. It is a nice achievement, it’s great to have. But it’s about the players, the staff and my family.”
Celtic fans will hope Forrest still has a few more big moments left in him this season, as the Hoops look to close out a Treble. And with the winger chasing his first goal of the campaign, a fitting ending to a historic season could still be written.
He’s looking to score in 16 consecutive seasons and has just five games left to get on the scoresheet. He’s got five assists to his name but just hasn’t hit the back of the net yet.
Hopefully, he can get his historic goal in the coming weeks.
