Celtic's Dutch winger was delighted to return home and get on the
scoresheet against Ajax in a match that propelled the Hoops towards the
group stages of the UEFA Champions League
THE last time Celtic met Ajax in
a competitive game, the Hoops
produced a tremendous result
to reach the group stages of the
UEFA Champions League for the first
time. That included a 3-1 victory in
Amsterdam, and though the second
leg at Celtic Park was a nervy affair
which the Dutch side won 1-0, the
Hoops still progressed to the next
stage of the competition.
Bobby Petta still remembers those games
against Ajax with great fondness, not least
because he scored one of the goals in the
away leg victory,
And the celebrations at Celtic Park on
the final whistle also remain great
memories, as he explained in an exclusive
interview with the official matchday
programme...
What were your thoughts when Celtic
drew Ajax in the UEFA Champions
League play-offs back in 2001?
For me it was exciting because being from
Holland, and having played for Feyenoord,
it was my old rivals, It was exciting news
and it gave me the opportunity to go back to
Holland. People were wondering how I was
doing, but it was a chance for me to show
my friends and family, and people back in
Holland that I was still playing.
What was Ajax's status in European
football at that time?
Back then they were going through a
transitional phase with their manager, but
they have always been a great team, a very
well-known team in Europe, and they had
some well-known players coming through,
It was still a great team but was obviously
a different team from the 1980s and '90s, 1
remember Co Adriaanse saying something
about Scottish football and that they were
going to show Celtic how to play football. But
of course that gave us ammunition and fired
us up even more,
Did that make you feel Celtic were
written off before the game had even
began?
Not necessarily, Celtic are a massive club with
a massive history. Celtic is a big name but the
mentality in Holland was that so were Ajax,
so they should beat Celtic, especially at home,
That wasn't to be, though,
What was the mood like in Celtic squad
going into the first leg?
There was an amazing buzz because we
were a solid team, We had players all over
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: LAURA BRANNAN
BOBBY DAZZLER
58 Celtic v Ajax
