johnreid 
Ian MacNicol/Getty Images Sport
Fraser Forster has to be considered as one of Celtic’s best ever goalkeepers. That might be a bold statement, but during his two spells at Celtic he was at the heart of many of the club’s triumphs.
He was remarkably consistent for the Hoops, and the club have yet to find a goalkeeper who lives up to his standards.
Forster originally joined the Hoops on loan from Newcastle in 2010. After two productive seasons on loan, the goalkeeper joined the Bhoys on a permanent basis in 2012.
That was when Forster really came into his own. Who can forget his incredible performance against Barcelona in the Bhoys’ 2-1 Champions League victory in 2012? He was a one-man barrier to the Spanish side, and he was nicknamed ‘The Great Wall’ by the Spanish press.
YouTube: Celtic vs Barcelona (2-1) | Historic Win | UCL 2012/13 | Extended Highlights | English Commentary
The accolades continued in 2014, when the shot stopper set a new Scottish League record for minutes without conceding. Forster recorded 13 clean sheets in a row in the league. That is an incredible feat, and showed the powers of concentration that the player has.
Forster performed so well for the Hoops that he was given an England call-up during his time in Glasgow, which is a rarity, as English players in Scotland often miss out on international honours.
With all of his good performances it was no surprise that clubs were interested in signing the goalkeeper, and a move to the Premier League in England seemed inevitable, and so it proved when Southampton signed Forster for a reported fee of £10m in August 2014.
That was good money for Celtic, and it was too much to turn down. If that had been the end of Forster’s time in Glasgow, he would have been remembered as a hero, but he made a return a few years later which made him into a Celtic legend.
After falling out of favour at Southampton, Forster returned to Celtic on loan in 2019. It didn’t take long for him to display his goalkeeping prowess once more, as he helped the Hoops defeat Lazio at Celtic Park with some superb saves.
The game that he will be most remembered for in the second spell came against Rangers in the League Cup Final.
The Hoops were under the cosh for practically the entire game as Rangers created chance after chance. That didn’t faze Forster though, who was up to the challenge.
He pulled off a series of saves, and the Bhoys managed to win the game thanks to a Christopher Julllien goal. The centre-back might have scored the winner, but the man who really earned Celtic the win was Forster, in what has to be one of the best ever performances by a Celtic goalkeeper.
YouTube: EVERY Fraser Forster Save from the Betfred Cup Final! | Rangers v Celtic | Betfred Cup Final 2019/20
Covid brought Forster’s loan spell to an early end, and he is currently back at Southampton, as no deal could be agreed to keep him at Celtic.
With Joe Hart in goals for the Bhoys there is probably no place for Forster at the club, perhaps that will eventually change in the future and he will return to the Hoops for a third spell. Even if he doesn’t, Fraser Forster is a Celtic legend.
