Celtic’s Scott Brown shows no remorse for Killie celebration red card

Scott Brown celebrates his late winner against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. Picture: Gary Hutchison/SNS

Brown netted a dramatic 90th-minute winner for the champions against Kilmarnock, sparking wild scenes which saw Celtic supporters spill on to the pitch at both ends of the ground.

Having been booked earlier in the match, Brown received a second yellow card from referee Bobby Madden for climbing over an advertising hoarding behind the goal as he celebrated.

It has prompted some criticism of the former Scotland skipper, who will be suspended for Celtic’s home game against Motherwell this weekend, but he is unrepentant.

“We got the result that we wanted, whether it was a last-minute goal or a first-minute goal,” said Brown as he  discussed the incident for the first time.

“For me, it had been a long time since I’d scored and then I got two in a week, having scored against St Johnstone the previous Sunday, so it was emotional.

“I tried to stop myself before I went over the board, but, as soon as you score, the lads go towards you and I was either going to collapse into the board or jump  over it. I jumped over it and I didn’t run to the fans. They ran to me. A lot of people made a big issue of it, but I was happy with the result and I was happy with my  celebration.

“There are a few guys got away with it in other games [last weekend], but I understand the rule, especially if there are kids at the front of the stand and there are people there getting squashed.

“You don’t want to see people sprinting on to the park or anything, but I didn’t exactly sprint off to them. I jumped over a hoarding, but as soon as I did it I saw  Bobby with his cards out. I just walked off.

“To be honest, the people criticising me for it are probably people who have never kicked a ball in their lives who are sitting in the house being keyboard warriors, but I’m doing a job I love and it’s a celebration at the end of the day.

“Some referees might give you a booking, some might not, it’s just your luck. Bobby did what the rule says if you go off the pitch a tiny bit, but everyone has to be in the same boat, although I know it is hard for referees to be consistent like that.”

Brown certainly won’t temper his celebrations tonight if he manages to lead Celtic to an unlikely comeback in their Europa League last-32 tie against Valencia in the Mestalla Stadium, seeking to overturn the 2-0 defeat suffered in the first leg last week.

“It is a great opportunity for everyone, but it is going to be hard with us being 2-0 down,” added Brown.

“We need the first goal to try and put them under pressure and see if we can play. We’ll need to be more patient with the ball, we gave it away too much last week, so we need to be more controlled in possession and press them a bit better than we did as well.

“We usually turn these scorelines over when the second leg is at home, but this is different. The pitch here is a bowling green, the stadium looks good and the fans will be with us, so we need to make sure we go out and give a good performance.”