Ranking The Best Celtic Midfielders Of The Last 20 Years, Including A Champions League Winner

The last 20 years have been very fruitful for Celtic. Not only have they been largely dominant over bitter rivals Rangers – they’ve also played host to a number of spectacular midfield players.

In the previous pair of decades, Celtic have won 14 Scottish Premiership titles, nine Scottish Cups and nine Scottish League Cups. For this list, we’ll be looking at some of the key midfielders who helped to guide the Bhoys to their recent success.

We’ve picked out a host of talented players for this list. Among them is a Champions League winner – can you guess who it is?

Paul Lambert

Arguably one of the most underrated players of the last 30 years, Paul Lambert has a trophy cabinet that would make even the most renowned international superstars green with envy.

Lambert’s most notable achievement in football came when he won the Champions League in 1997 with Borussia Dortmund – he played a key role in the heart of their midfield.

Lambert may be best remembered by fans today for his failed stint as a manager – it’s a real shame, because the local lad was a fantastic player in his day.

Scott Brown

Some may have expected to see the heroic Scott Brown place a little higher on this list. He was never the most naturally gifted of footballers – but very few have possessed gritty determination quite like the former Celts captain.

A box-to-box player with limitless energy, Brown loved a hard-hitting challenge – in fact, thrived on them. No one enjoyed a full-blooded Old Firm derby quite like Browny.

Brown finished off his playing career at Aberdeen – nowadays, he manages Fleetwood Town in League One.

Stiliyan Petrov

Stiliyan Petrov, affectionately referred to as ‘Stan’ by Celtic fans, was a sensation in the green half of Glasgow. Initially signed for a bumper fee of £2.8 million (yes, younger readers, this was a lot of money back then), he was worth every penny.

A feisty midfielder with plenty of energy, Petrov also possessed impressive technical ability and a range of passing to back it up and went on to have an impressive spell in the Premier League with Aston Villa.

Petrov also won a plethora of silverware at Celtic Park – including four Scottish Premiership titles, three Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups.

Shunsuke Nakamura

Is Shunsuke Nakamura the best free-kick taker of all time? Plenty of Celtic fans certainly think so – and for very good reason.

The Japanese superstar’s set pieces were certainly legendary – but they weren’t the only weapon he had in his arsenal. He was a great dribbler and was also excellent at opening up spaces for his teammates to exploit.

Nakamura also arguably helped to pave the way for the collection of Japanese stars who play for Celtic today, such as Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi.