Craig Gordon has explained how a move to Rangers fell through before he signed for Celtic. The goalkeeper was trying to get back into football after a long injury lay-off and had several options to consider.
Rangers were playing in League One at the time and spoke to Gordon about joining them. But the situation was not straightforward and led to talks breaking down before they could move forward.
After the talks with Rangers ended, Gordon spoke to a few other clubs before Celtic offered him a chance. He knew he wouldn’t be first choice at the start but was attracted by the chance to work with top medical staff and continue his recovery.
He said: (the Sunday Post), “Rangers were in League One at the time and they already had two senior goalkeepers. To add another one at that stage probably wasn’t financially the right thing for them to do. They wanted me to play in a couple of reserve games to prove that I was fit enough to stay. If I had done that, then my injury insurance would have been invalid. So, I couldn’t do that. That was the reason why that never happened.
“Then it was about looking for a club and I didn’t know what level I could get back. I spoke to Raith Rovers, they were interested. Then Celtic came in. So that was the reason I went there.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be first choice when I first went in with Fraser Forster being there. But I knew I’d have, again, really good medical care. I could give it the best possible chance to continue my rehab and try and get some games.
“There was obviously speculation about Fraser, so there was a little chink of light there to potentially him moving on and getting a chance to see what I could do. You have a sliding doors moment, it all fell into place all in exactly the right time. I managed to go in and play 50 games my first season back after not playing for two years, which I didn’t know was possible until I managed to do it.”
Gordon quickly became Celtic’s first choice when Fraser Forster left. The chance he was hoping for arrived sooner than expected, and he took it with both hands.
Playing 52 games in his first season back was a huge achievement after being out for so long. His strong performances helped Celtic win trophies and kept him back in the spotlight.
During his time at Celtic, Gordon won several league titles and cups, and became Scotland’s number one again. The move turned out better than he could have hoped for after so much time out.
What started as a blocked move to Rangers became the perfect chance for Gordon to rebuild his career with Celtic, where he went on to enjoy great success.
