Becoming a Celtic legend, partnering Larsson and giving Richard Gough two black eyes - Harald Brattbakk

For that reason alone the Norwegian will always be held close to the Celtic supporter's hearts and revered as a club legend.

The day that mattered - 9th May 1998. It is etched on every Celtic fan's mind.

The day Scottish football said "Cheerio to ten-in-a-row."

Brattbakk scored the clinching goal during Celtic's 2-0 win over St Johnstone that shattered Rangers' hopes of claiming their 10th successive Scottish title.

READ MORE: Marc Rieper Big Celtic Interview: Shattering the 10, the League Cup win that set it in motion and teammates sick with worry

With one sidefoot of the right boot, Brattbakk entered Scottish football folklore. The rest as they say is history.

Brattbakk arrived in Glasgow in December 1997 from Norwegian champions Rosenborg with a reputation as a lethal striker.

He had garnered a reputation for sporting an impressive domestic and European goalscoring record having plundered Champions League goals for Rosenborg against Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

The Norwegian was very much a man in demand when Celtic came calling for his services.

Brattbakk said: "Signing for Celtic was a huge thing in my life and my career.

"I was in my second spell at Rosenborg and I wanted to have a new challenge if I was allowed to. Several clubs were interested in me but Celtic were the ones who were most eager to get me and I was delighted to move to Glasgow.

"AEK Athens wanted me and Venezia in Italy were also sniffing around and I think St Etienne in France were credited with an interest but I am happy that I opted to move to Celtic.

"It's funny because stopping 10-in-a-row is somehow a better feat than making it nine-in-a-row. Wherever I go I will always be remembered as the man that scored the goal that prevented 10-in-a-row.

"It is strange how that one game and that one season is so important to the Celtic fans. I'm really glad and I am still amazed how much that means to people. I get that it is all to do with the rivalry but it is a wonderful memory to be remembered by."

READ MORE: Tosh McKinlay on Celtic under Tommy Burns, The Three Amigos and stopping the 10 - The Big Interview

In his three year stint at Celtic, Brattbakk scored 20 goals in 60 games for the club.

He actually became more famous for some glaring misses in front of goal. The striker never shied away from that despite the fact that at times during his spell in Paradise he was often a figure of ridicule.

Brattbakk said: "Oh yes, I missed many chances for Celtic. I can't run away from that.

"I always just brushed it aside, played on and hoped that I would score the next one.

"I had that mindset where I would just try and score with the next opportunity that came along. What I couldn't understand was that Celtic fans were so eager to see the ball being put away.

"Every goal counted during the 1997/98 season because of the rivalry between the two clubs. All the supporters were as nervous as the players when it came to scoring goals that season That's how it should be at a club like Celtic.

"The expectations and demands are so high and that's what gives the club such a high profile. If those expectations and demands are not there then the club will not succeed. That is part of the game."

Brattbakk insists there were huge expectations on the shoulders of the Celtic players and Dutch manager Wim Jansen during the 1997/98 season to halt the Rangers juggernaut.

READ MORE: Jock Brown on plugging Celtic dressing room leaks, saving a fortune on Larsson, Jansen mistakes and debates with McCann - The Big Interview

He readily admits that his grounding at Rosenborg prepared him for life at Celtic and how to handle the pressure of the Glasgow goldfish bowl.

He attributes the title-winning season to both Jansen and assistant Murdo MacLeod who made sure that every Celtic player in the dressing room was a teammate on the pitch but a close friend off it.

It was that team spirit and camaraderie that was nurtured and fostered that drove Celtic to the flag that season despite it being a relatively new squad.

Brattbakk said: "In many ways, I was used to being under pressure playing for Rosenborg for many seasons. We always seemed to win the league in good fashion. I was kind of getting used to people not being happy when a player played a bad pass or did not score a goal.

"When I came to Celtic that pressure seriously intensified during the 1997/98 season. I just grasped right away that this was something that was so important for the club and the supporters. It was a wonderful dressing room with that Celtic team.

"What makes a good team? It is the connection you make with the players away from the dressing room and that 1997/98 team spirit and camaraderie was amazing. We had all kinds of personalities in that team but they all fitted into the environment so well.

"We had Paul Lambert a consummate professional who was the first guy in and the last guy out of the training ground. We had Craig Burley who was brilliant, we had Tom Boyd who was another good player, Jackie McNamara, Jonathan Gould in goal.

"We had a magnificent collection of players who just made the dressing room that good. The players were a huge part of the success we enjoyed.

"The management team of Wim Jansen and Murdo MacLeod played an instrumental part in driving us to the championship and halting 10-in-a-row."

Brattbakk revealed that the biggest pleasure he got at Celtic Park was to play alongside the phenomenon that was Henrik Larsson.

READ MORE: Facing Henrik Larsson: Celtic's magnificent seven as seen by the defenders he tormented

The Super Swede bagged an incredible 242 goals in 315 games for Celtic. Brattbakk insists that Larsson had no equal.

He remembers during one particular game when he was having a hard time in front of goal, Larsson who was on a hat-trick went clean through on goal but unselfishly squared the ball to him for a tap-in rather than claim the treble glory because he was the consummate professional and a total team player.

Braattbak said: "I am really delighted that I got the chance in my football career to play alongside Henrik Larsson. He is the best player I have ever played with because of his goal-scoring ability.

"Henrik also showed through everything he did that he was a 100 per cent professional. He was a special player and I am glad that I was in the team with him.

"Henrik loved it at Celtic and the reason he stayed for seven years was that he really enjoyed himself with the different managers and teammates. He loved the place though.

"I remember the match where he squared the ball to me when he was on a hat-trick and he wanted me to score. That was the kind of player Henrik was.

"He was never the tallest but he had a great leap in the air. He was never the quickest but somehow he always ended up in front of defenders. He was never the strongest in terms of physique but he was rarely outmuscled. He was the smartest player I ever played with as a striker. His smartness allied to his other abilities helped me shine in a Celtic shirt.

"I got two match balls from my time at Celtic. I scored a hat-trick one and I also scored all four goals against Kilmarnock in a match once. I donated one ball to charity and I kept the other.

"I've always been a team player and I could never have done it without my teammates' help. I can't remember all of the four goals I scored Kilmarnock but I am sure Henrik would have been involved in the assists."

One of Brattbakk's most vivid memories of playing for Celtic was the New Year game against Rangers in 1998.

Craig Burley and Paul Lambert netted in a 2-0 win for Celtic.

It was the first time that the men in green and white felt that the pendulum of power in Glasgow could swing back to the East end come May.

Brattbakk also remembers how he gave Rangers skipper Richard Gough two black eyes after a nasty clash of heads.

He remains proud of that to this day.

Brattbakk said: "I didn't truly grasp the situation that season but I did come January 2nd, 1998. I understood from the stands and from the newspapers that this was important to Celtic's quest for stopping 10-in-a-row.

"The Rangers games were always high intensity and high profile encounters. These are the games that you train for every day and what you live for.

"When you have that rivalry between Celtic and Rangers it makes it even more fun when you are able to succeed. The game where Craig Burley and Paul Lambert scored in the 2-0 win over Rangers set the pace and the standard for winning the league flag.

"What impressed me so much about Wim and Murdo was that they did not put any great emphasis on winning that specific game.

"They told us to go out and do what we normally did and that was a really important part of being a good manager as you just have to give the right players the right tools to do the job so that they could go out there and give 100 per cent.

"Wim and Murdo did not place any great stress on winning that match per see but obviously when we were out on the pitch even during the warm-up we could see that it meant so much to so many people connected with the club.

"Once you get on the pitch and start playing you realise that you are involved in something special. I have told everybody who will listen and who talk about the great football derbies around the world that they would love to be a part of the Glasgow derby between Celtic and Rangers. It is something that is unique in world football.

"I tell people if you haven't watched a Celtic/Rangers game to do so and even better if you can attend one then do it. It really is something incredibly special and that is exactly how we feel as players taking part in them.

"I gave Richard Gough two black eyes in the New Year derby in 1998. I have never done that in my career before to any other player nor been in a duel like it. I jumped up and I tried to head the ball backwards and I slammed into his head as I was heading the ball and I made contact. I saw his picture in the newspapers the next day."

The highlight undoubtedly of Brattbakk's three years stay in Glasgow is that goal against St Johnstone. The hitman was never going to top that feeling ever.

Whilst he only played a bit part in the team in the two seasons that followed the medal from the 1997/98 campaign remains a treasured possession.

Bratttbakk may have looked cool as a cucumber as he stroked home the clinching goal after Henrik Larsson had given Celtic an early lead on a day that was fraught with nerves and tension.

Although Brattbakk insists that he would love to relive it all over again as his muted celebrations after such a famous goal did not do the moment justice.

Brattbakk said: "I can't say that I was as cool as a cucumber when I scored that goal. When you are in the moment and you are playing you do not think about that.

"I have been lucky to be a part of good teams in my career and I have been lucky to score a few important goals. What we did with that particular goal was something we had practised in training lots of times.

"That didn't bother me at all. It was a totally different story to be on the pitch instead of in the stands.

"I'm really nervous when my three kids who play football get in front of goal in youth games. When you are out there on the pitch you are able to control the situation and that is something we train for. It was just an everyday situation when you think about it.

"Henrik jumped on my back and all my friends slag me to this day as they tell me that despite scoring so many career goals I have never been able to celebrate properly.

"I think it was more the fact that I had just come on and a few moments later I scored. It was more relief than anything for the team and the supporters. I knew the importance of the goal and it was more of a relief than an outpouring of joy.

"All you could see in the eyes of all the Celtic supporters was total and utter relief. They were exhausted both mentally and physically.

"Nerves played a massive part on that day even though we tried not to be too focused on what was happening off the pitch we still knew that it was an important game. It was really pleasing to see that goal go in.

"Would I celebrate that goal differently now? I think I would as you say in Glasgow parlance - "go off my nut" - if I scored that goal again for Celtic.

"Sadly I am past that stage where I could play again so I will just leave it up to others. I will never tire of speaking about that goal against St Johnstone. It has gone down in Celtic's folklore and it's a wonderful and beautiful thing for me personally.

"Some 24 years after the event I still ask my friends in Glasgow if it really is the case that this game meant so much. What I am proud about and I am really humble about is that I am now a part of Celtic's history.

"I am a small part of the story of this wonderful football club and I would not swap my years in Glasgow for anything. I had a really good time."

When he hung up his boots in 2008, Brattbakk embarked on an entirely different career.

He gained his pilot's licence and is still flying commercial planes for the commercial airline Norwegian Air Shuttle.

He said: "I am still flying aeroplanes for a living now. Most of the time during my whole professional career I was either studying or working part-time.

"Football was the most fun thing I ever did in my life but I am glad I got my pilot's licence.

"I wanted to still do something meaningful when I hung up my boots and stopped playing."

There is still a corner of a field in Glasgow's East End that will forever be Paradise for Brattbakk.

The 50-year-old said: "When you hang up your boots and you finish playing, you do look back at what you've achieved and I have been so fortunate to have been part of that team that stopped 10-in-a-row

"I didn't know when I signed for Celtic in 1997, that five months later I would have a cherished Celtic memory that I could celebrate for the rest of my life. That's the beauty of football.

"I am thankful for my career and winning the 1997/98 league title for Celtic is the top feat and achievement most definitely. I am ever so proud of the fact that I was in that Celtic team who were able to give the fans that unforgettable day in May."

The Norwegian is the high-flyer who grounded Rangers and brought their 10-in-a-row dreams crashing back down to earth.

Harald Brattbakk never missed the target when it truly mattered.

He remains the humblest of all Celtic legends.