BILLY DODDS has revealed he came close to signing for Celtic TWICE.
The former Rangers striker spent three years at Ibrox at the turn of the millennium after signing for his boyhood team from Dundee United halfway through the 1999/2000 season.
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He was in red-hot form at the time, which made then-Light Blues boss Dick Advocaat splash out £1.3million on the Scotland frontman who was just entering his 30s.
Dodds came in as an emergency replacement for star summer signing Michael Mols who suffered a horror knee injury against Bayern Munich in the Champions League that autumn.
And what a bargain he proved to be as the forward’s two goals against St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park in April 2000 sealed the league title for Gers as they finished a whopping 21 points ahead of their Old Firm rivals.
But he could have very easily been wearing the hoops instead.
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Speaking to the Daily Mail, he revealed Celtic initially went in for him when legend Henrik Larsson also suffered a season-ending injury early in that campaign.
But Dodds admits they preferred to snap up Arsenal legend and Premier League winner-turned-pundit Ian Wright.
He said: “As a wee boy, your dream is to play at a big club and play for Scotland. My boyhood heroes were Rangers but I nearly signed for Celtic, twice.
“They had Henrik Larsson out injured, it came down to either me or Ian Wright and they plumped for him!
“There was another time too when Celtic were showing an interest in signing me.
“If they’d gone through with it I’d have jumped at the chance. But as soon as Michael Mols got injured, Rangers made their move.”
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