Speaking to Football Fancast, Rangers striker Jermain Defoe has raved about the Ibrox atmosphere, claiming that the noise in the ground during a win over Celtic last season had him in a trance-like state.
It’s exactly a year to the day since the Gers completed a home Premiership double with a 2-0 victory over the Hoops.
James Tavernier opened the scoring early on with a free-kick, and Defoe played a big role in the second with his cute dummy allowing Scott Arfield through to secure the points in the second half.
The England international has played for eight clubs across a 20-year career but says the Old Firm is as good as it gets.
“It’s the best,” he told Football Fancast. “It’s unbelievable. I appreciate all the derbies I’ve played in but when I spoke to Graeme Souness before I signed for Rangers, he told me it’s the best football match in the world.”
“But you have to experience what it’s like, it’s a special game. When we beat them 2-0 at home, the atmosphere was incredible.
“I was looking around, almost in a trance, looking at the crowd bouncing, it gave me goosebumps. It really was amazing.”
Verdict
Rangers fans were extremely excited when Defoe first arrived in January 2019 and the veteran forward has had nothing but praise for the club ever since.
While he’s not always at his most effective when deployed as a loan striker, his goalscoring return has been impressive to date.
He’s netted 25 times in 52 appearances in all competitions and averages a goal every 77 minutes in the Premiership this season.
Defoe is technically still on loan from Bournemouth but a pre-contract ensures he’s committed to remaining at Ibrox until the end of next season.
Perhaps by then, he’ll have made several more joyous derby day memories.
