Craig Bellamy believes Old Firm was the best derby

Nothing quite matched the feeling of Old Firm day, and Craig Bellamy believes it’s the best he’s played in.

Speaking on Sky Sports Monday Night Football programme after Everton and Crystal Palace drew 1-1, Bellamy was asked which derby was the best he had played in; the South Wales derby, the Merseyside derby or the Old Frim.

Bellamy was fortunate to play in three of the best derbies in the United Kingdom during his career, and picked Celtic against Rangers over his hometown club’s derby.

When asked which was the best, he said:

Old Firm, because the league depends on it. Obviously there’s a lot more that goes along with an Old Firm game.

When you went into it was ‘well if you lose today we are not just losing against our rivals, we could end up losing the league’. And that just threw an extra spanner in the work again.

For the intensity and obviously the atmosphere and what it means to people for certain reasons.

The winger was involved in two Old Firm derbies during his short loan spell in 2005, including a 2-0 defeat on his debut in February and a 2-1 win later that year.

Bellamy scored nine goals for Celtic in 15 appearances, including one in that 2-1 win at Ibrox in April and a hat-trick against Dundee United.

However it wasn’t enough to steer Celtic to another league title, on what was Martin O’Neill’s final year in charge at the club. Instead Bellamy returned to Newcastle with a Scottish Cup winners medal.