Veteran commentator Clive Tyldesley shared a journey with Rangers fans to their historic title success under Steven Gerrard as he described the action through an unforgettable Invincible Scottish Premiership campaign for supporters who were locked out of Ibrox Stadium.
But his latest comments probably won’t go down too well with the blue half of Glasgow after the 68-year-old picked out rivals CELTIC as, along with English giants Liverpool, having the best atmosphere he has experienced during a long and distinguished career behind the microphone.
Tyldesley was hired by the club during the Covid-hit season to work for Rangers TV and while he didn’t get to experience the famous raucous Ibrox atmosphere in that campaign, he has been at many high profile European nights involving the Light Blues. Yet he picked out Parkhead and Anfield on a European night under the lights as the best he has sampled.
Tyldesley, often paired with Rangers strike legend Ally McCoist in the commentary box for ITV during the World Cup in Qatar, was asked on Stand Out. Sport: “Within your extensive career, what’s the greatest atmosphere you have ever experienced?”
And his reply will have raised eyebrows among Rangers fans. He said: "Well you can’t beat a football match under lights, so, night matches you almost tend to think automatically about, European games, Champions League games.
"I think Anfield and Celtic Park are both very very special on a major European night. Somehow the connection between the football club and the fans transcends that virtually anywhere else I’ve known.
"I mean I’ve seen wild atmospheres in Turkey and Greece but, in terms of the actual engagement with the football club, I think that Liverpool and Celtic have a history of getting that right. And that creates an atmosphere which gives a genuine home advantage, home advantage isn’t what it is cranked up to be sometimes, particularly if you are not playing very well, you are under pressure from the first mistake.
"The positivity you get and that element of intimidation for the opponent walking out into that atmosphere, seeing You’ll Never Walk Alone, sang at both grounds, beforehand. Yeah, I mean, Champions League night at Anfield or Celtic Park."
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