One of the big stories this week is about how Scott Brown is getting a testimonial. He deserves one; of that there can be no doubt whatsoever.

Ten years at the club; in the era of big money moves for any player who even looks half decent, this is a rare and beautiful thing. Talk about service. And he had opportunities to go, you know, to try his luck in England for much more money.

But Scott Brown believed in Celtic. He was committed to us from the first moment he pulled on the famous Hoops. Rumours have been rife for years that he was a Rangers fan; so what if he was? As a player at Parkhead he was unwavering. He was solid.

He always has been.

They say great captains make great teams. Is that true? Is it true that to be a great captain you have to play in a great team? Is that true? Does Scott Brown qualify as a great Celtic captain, and how will history remember his contribution to our club?

To do that you must take a look at the people he shares the pantheon of giants with … you have to look at who the great Celtic captains are, and ask whether his name should be up there with them.

That’s what we’re going to do here.

Ten Years, Two Captains, And A Lot Of Trophies

If what makes a good captain is trophies, then Willie Orr and Jimmy Hay, who captained Celtic from 1902-1911 have got to make the grade. They brought the prizes, and no two ways about it. Only in Orr’s first season, at the start of that spell, did we fail to win something.

From then on in those years were a trophy laden walk through glory.

The Scottish Cup followed in year two. The following year, and the one after that, we were the title winners. In 1906 we won the title and the Scottish Cup. Orr made way for Hay, but the march forward didn’t falter as we won the second double in a row and two further titles. It was our first “six in a row” team, and Hay closed off his time with the captains armband with another Scottish Cup in 1910-11. That’s what you call success.

Orr was a powerful left-back who had come to Celtic from Preston.

His spell with us was by far the best in his playing career. He was a natural leader on the pitch. That kind of success should have assured him a slew of caps for Scotland, right? Nope. He won a single one. Makes you wonder whether the “no green” rule was in place at Hampden before anyone at Ibrox ever thought of it.

Orr went on to have a career in manager which was cut short due to a bribery scandal.

Oops. Had he been at Ibrox that would have never been a problem either.

Jimmy Hay had a solid career at both Celtic and Newcastle, playing over 300 times for us and over 200 for them. His commanding presence on the field and his ability in the tackle made him a formidable opponent. He, too, got scant recognition for his talents, he got 11 caps.

These guys were great captains in a great Celtic team, the one ruled by Willie Maley.

They deserve recognition, and honour, for what they accomplished.

Some Captains Have Showed Great McStaying Power.

Look down through Celtic history and one of the recurring things you see are names. Certain names which repeat over and over and over again. One of those names is McStay; it’s a family which has given so much to our incredible club down through the ages.

Three of them have captained Celtic, to varying degrees of success, but all have been magnificent servants and thoroughly deserve their place in the pantheon of heroes. These are the sort of bricks on which our club has always been built.

Willie McStay is a Celtic legend for good reason.

He had already won three titles with us as a player before he returned as club captain in 1923. In that role, which he held for six years, he won another title and three Scottish Cups. His familial connection with Celtic was strong even then; his brother played in the same team as him and when Willie left it was Jimmy who took over the captains armband. Jimmy would win two Scottish Cups as captain, to add to the three he already had (and a league title) as a player in the team.

These guys came through difficult times to captain Celtic and it was a difficult time to be captain in. Jimmy even took over as manager, but never got to run a competitive game as the Second World War was being fought, and that curtailed most competitive football.

For all they went through at our club, it was nothing on the trials and tribulations which were endured by their great nephew Paul, who captained our club through one of the most troubled and traumatic times in its entire history … to little success in terms of trophies, but with an elegance and poise, and a commitment, which elevated him above them nonetheless.

Paul McStay is a Celtic icon. Not a legend, an icon.

He was voted into the Best XI of all-time by the supporters themselves. Not bad for a guy who won a fraction of the trophies secured by other captains, others players. But Paul had quality far above almost any of them. He was as good a player as any Celtic fan of current vintage has ever seen, and there was that other thing, that steadfast loyalty to the cause that is even rarer than a guy getting a testimonial.

Paul McStay could have played for any Celtic team of any era.

But he could equally have played for any team, anywhere in the world, in any era. He was incredibly loyal to Celtic, and stayed when other players were leaving. He is that rarest thing anywhere in the game; a one club footballer, playing over 500 times for Celtic.

He also got recognition at international level, as it would have been nearly impossible to leave him out of a Scotland side. He won 76 caps for his country.

Paul was a Celtic player through turmoil and trauma. He captained us through five hard years, and the huge regret I have about having seen him is that he left before the Year We Stopped The Ten. To have seen him come on, even as a sub on the final day, would have raised the roof off Celtic Park. The man was my Hoops hero growing up.

A fitting captain?

Oh Hell yes, one of the greatest we ever had.

Two Midfield Battlers In The Glory Years.

Two other captains of my generation stand out, both as players and as leaders before and during their time with the armband. I refer of course to two footballers who were here for Glory Years and as such got luckier than McStay ever did.

Paul Lambert is another guy who belongs in the Celtic pantheon of legends.

He’s one of the best players I’ve ever watched in the Hoops. His signing was absolutely unbelievable, and to me it was the moment that Modern Celtic truly began to gear up. Yes, Larsson had been signed first, but by going to Dortmund and bringing in a player of Lambert’s obvious quality we were sending out a clear signal to the world that Celtic was back and meant business. He had been in Germany for just over a year, but in that time he had switched positions and become a seriously good player.

All that quality was to be of immense value in the years to follow.

He scored in the 2-0 game which sent us on our way to the title in Year We Stopped The Ten, and from there on there was no looking back. Lambert grew in leaps and bounds, and when he was made captain he made sure he got off to the right start by adding a league title to his trophy haul.

He had the armband for three years, closing it out with a league and Scottish Cup in 2003-04. Yet arguably his finest season, and one which will be remembered and exalted by Celtic fans, was the one where we didn’t win anything.

Because he had the rare honour of captaining us in a European final, and one in which we came oh so close to success. He was as heartbroken as anyone in the team not to be picking up that trophy that night. Like Larsson he retired a Champions League winner, but I know both still look back on that evening as a regret in a career of few of them.

Nevertheless, he was imperious all the way through his time at our club.

So too was Neil Lennon, who was only captain for two years but epitomised the spirit of that time. He was another of those players I am glad I watched play for Celtic, signed to be the lynchpin of the Martin O’Neill team and a guy who suffered more abuse and vitriol, even as a player, than just about anyone in living memory. Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve, and putting the club before everything. The other lot knew it. And how they hated him for it.

I don’t have to go deep into detail on Neil. He might only have been captain for two years but they were both title winners and a League Cup and a Scottish Cup only adds to the mystique. He is a special part of our history, and he returned as manager to add more glory to the haul.

And he, of course, was the one who gave the armband to Brown.

The Best Transfer Swap Deal Ever. A Great Captain And Celt.

Tony Cascarino will go down in Celtic folklore as one of the biggest wastes of cold, hard cash in our history.

But one positive thing came from his time at our club; Tom Boyd. He is one of the finest captains our club has ever had, a true Celt, a true gentleman and a guy who served our club with phenomenal distinction and class through some amazing years.

He was there through The Year That Stopped The Ten, having the singular honour of holding that trophy aloft with a place in history secured in his first year with the armband. He was there for the two dark years that followed, as Rangers, now buoyed by the start of the EBT years, moved further ahead of us than I had ever seen.

It looked like they might dominate for another decade, perhaps even longer.

Tom was solid throughout, his professionalism and calm bringing unity and stability to the club at a time when off it we weren’t in the best place. He was there as Wim Jansen gave way to Jo Venglos, as Joe gave way to John Barnes, as he moved aside for Kenny Dalglish and when he was told he was not staying as a manager to the appointment of Marin O’Neill.

That was one Hell of a time, as much chaos as surrounded the club since before the arrival of Fergus.

And Tom Boyd was there for it all.

But he was also there when we came out the other side of that mess, when we stood in the sun with our faces upturned to the sky, and secured a glorious treble in Martin’s first season in charge. That was the fitting end of his tenure and a great way to pass on the torch.

Oh Danny Bhoy. Another Man Who Served With Distinction And Honour.

There’s a story about Danny McGrain which may or may not be apocryphal but it appeared in both his books, although he said then and continues now to make it clear that he’s not vouching for its veracity. But it’s easy enough to believe.

According to the legend, he was watched playing football as a youngster, by a scout who was all set to recommend him to Rangers. Then the scout saw that his full name was Daniel Fergus McGrain, assumed he was a Catholic and thus ineligible due to their sectarian signing policy and then didn’t bother to. Which worked out pretty well for us, as Danny, in fact, was a Protestant Rangers supporter and would have gone there in a minute.

(Nowadays being spotted wearing green boots has the same effect.)

Who knows how different history would have looked, because in Celtic colours he became one of the finest players ever produced in Scotland, one of those who the term “world class” genuinely applies, without the merest shadow of a doubt?

But for a single season at Hamilton, right at the end, his entire playing career was at Celtic Park.

He made over 600 appearances for us. As captain, he secured four titles, a League Cup and two Scottish Cups. He also made over 60 appearances for Scotland, and he remains at Celtic Park to this day, on the coaching staff, which he serves with immense distinction.

Danny McGrain is Celtic through and through.

His entire life has been defined by a love affair with our club, and with our great supporters.

He is another Celtic icon.

Jock Stein: The Leader’s Leader Who Took Us All The Way.

Is there anything that needs to be said? Everyone knows everything there is to know about Jock by now; I’m not going to write anything about the man that offers blinding insight, not that I’ve shown any of that in writing about the others!

But Jock’s leadership qualities were clearly on display from the first, even as a Celtic player.

He captained us for three seasons winning a Coronation Cup, a Scottish Cup and a league title; the significance of that title cannot be underestimated though. It was our first in eighteen years and was a foretaste of the phenomenal success that was to come.

Jock was clearly hugely influential at Celtic from the day he walked through the doors. A man like that was always destined to return as manager … and when he did he made of the single greatest decisions ever made by a Scottish football boss.

He kept Billy McNeil as captain, and built the team around him.

There’s Only One King Billy, That’s McNeil.

Billy McNeil is the greatest captain in the history of Scottish football and with respect to those who come after him, that’s how it’s going to stay, probably forever. The unsurpassed glory of his years with the armband is the benchmark by which all other captains, of Celtic and in Scotland, will be measured.

None will match him, not ever.

In his time as Celtic captain, Billy McNeil won an astonishing number of honours; nine league titles, seven Scottish Cups, six League Cups … and the European Champions Cup. Nobody in Scottish football will get a record even remotely close to it again.

Not only was Billy a fantastic player and a great captain, he epitomised Celtic and when Jock passed he effortlessly assumed the mantle of the Greatest Living Celt. He was the leader the Lions and our club looked to, time and time again, which is reflected on the fact that he was manager afterwards not once but twice. Talk about setting an example. Talk about becoming the walking, talking exemplar of everything Celtic stands for and should be.

He’s lived his whole life with honour, with being that example.

As manager he stepped into Jock’s shoes in a way few others could have managed. He wasn’t in the least bit intimidated by that either. Over his two terms as boss he added another four titles, three Scottish Cups and a League cup to what he did with the armband.

His shadow looms almost as large as Jock’s does; there are two giant statues outside Celtic Park holding that European Cup.

I stood in front of Billy’s statue on Sunday, and even knowing everything about what’s on there it is still kind of awesome to consider what he achieved, both as a player and a manager.

The finest hour in our history was a team triumph, but the two men at the helm of it, the manager and the captain, were the rocks on which it, and our modern club, are built.

So How Does Scott Brown Measure Up?

Placing these things in any kind of order is nearly impossible, which is why I didn’t try to rank any of our captains.

It’s also why some people were missing entirely; I picked notable examples, but I know there are others who could have made this list. I wasn’t being disrespectful to any of them; everyone who’s ever worn the armband is special.

Scott is a modern leader, like Lenny and Lambert. The midfield is a great place from which to gain the full measure of what’s going on in a game, and there are times when you could swear this guy misses absolutely nothing.

He is an enforcer, which some Celtic fans find is a weakness in his game, the way he puts himself about. A lot of them think he’s occasionally reckless, such as when he gets involved in things which he’s not supposed to; I think that stuff is great. Brown has, more than once, settled scores on behalf of other players. That’s what a good captain should do, in my view. The rest look to him because they know when the chips are down he’s got their back.

Individual games, and moments, stand out with Brown.

The El Hadji Diouf moment came in a match Brown ran completely.

He owned Joey Barton during the 5-1 game and started the player’s downward spiral at Ibrox.

The season just past was once of the finest I’ve ever seen him have, and he can be considered unlucky that he wasn’t named player of the year.

The brilliance of Scott Sinclair was probably all that prevented it.

He’s played 410 times for our club since signing from Hibs. In no season since has he played less than 30 games and in 2013-14 he played 50 of them. And he shows no signs of slowing down. In the last campaign he played 46 games in addition to stepping in for Scotland when they needed the lift that his presence required. He could hit the 500 games mark in the next two years. He is 32. He will almost certainly get there before he retires.

By the time he reaches that milestone he will probably have acquired as many titles as Billy McNeil.

He has seven already, in addition to three Scottish Cups and two League Cups.

Six of his titles have come whilst wearing the armband. How fitting it would be if he was here for our nine in a row, to beat Billy’s title haul. He could write himself into history if he was still the leader of our team the following year, for the ten.