ONE has become a Celtic icon, instantly recognisable around the globe. The other was Sir Rod Stewart.

As he sat at Lennoxtown to plug a new club DVD which is coming out in his honour this Friday, Scott Brown recalled his first meeting with the club’s biggest celebrity fan, a man who has sold over 120 million records worldwide and has now deigned to make an appearance in honour of the Celtic captain.

And no, it didn’t have anything to do with a discussion about the merits of making sure you have a collection of your greatest hits coming out in the shops just before Christmas time.

“We were playing an away game in Europe and I was injured or suspended,” said Brown. “Rod was sitting behind us and I was walking in with the lads.

“I sat down a wee bit shocked, I didn’t want to be the one to say: ‘Rod any chance of a selfie’. But he tapped me on the shoulder and said: ‘Brownie, I’m Rod Stewart, you know’. Just in case I didn’t know.

“I felt like saying ‘you’re MY hero’,” the Celtic captain added. “It is just stuff like that you never thought would happen.

“Growing up, with my mum and dad listening to Rod Stewart and now you’re getting the opportunity to meet him.

“I have met him loads of times at the park and he is a great guy. We went down and went to his house with Gordon [Strachan] as well and we met him there as well.”

When it comes to being captain and figurehead of a club the size of Celtic, having superstars of song and stage coming up and introducing themselves to you is all in the Line of Duty.

The same, after all, applies to another celebrity pal in the form of Martin Compston, a Celtic fan and former professional footballer who was happy to lend his voice for the narration of Broony’s best bits.

“I got him into the dressing room, after one of the cup finals, the treble treble!” said Brown. “He came in and he was buzzing to meet all the lads. He was like ‘lads, its Martin, get in the picture’. He was totally buzzing, and it is great to meet people like that who you never thought you would get to meet. “I played against him as well, in one of the legends matches, I think it was Larsson and Lubo’s game I think. This guy is on telly every day and he is coming along to support me.”

Some guys have all the luck, as Rod the mod might say. Except keeping yourself at the top of your profession for the 12 years Brown has been at Celtic – scooping a total of 19 trophies – is a testament to hard work rather than good fortune.

Come this January it will be an even ten years since Brown first took the Parkhead captaincy under Tony Mowbray.

It is quite an innings, not least considering a rather inauspicious start for the last 15 minutes or so of a 1-0 league defeat to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in February 2011.

“I became captain at the age of 24,” Brown recalled. “I think Tony Mowbray offered it to everyone else first and then felt sorry for me.

“But that was probably the best thing he ever did for me because that extra responsibility calmed me down a little bit.

“I remember my first game as captain because Robbie Keane had just signed and I was on the bench!” he added. “We were 1-0 down to Kilmarnock and Tony told me he was taking Lee Naylor off and putting me on.

“I thought: ‘Great, we’re really going for it here’. Then I asked him where he wanted me to play. He replied: ‘Left-back’, and I said ‘gaffer, you had me at Hibs! You know I’ve never played there before’. But he said I’d be fine.

“It’s gone in rapidly since then. There have been a lot of people writing me off during the last decade but I kept going.”

While Gordon Strachan and Brendan Rodgers both deserve a generous portion of the credit for keeping up his productivity when things appeared to be falling away after the end of the Ronny Deila era, the decision to move on from international football has also helped preserve those legs.

There is a tendency to believe that books and DVDs mark the end of a player’s journey but in a year-and-a-half’s time Brown could have helped Celtic rack up ten top-flight titles in a row. If that isn’t an excuse for another DVD then I don’t know what is.

“When I was a lad, I remember my wee brother and I would watch DVDs of different players,” said Brown. “We had one about Alan Shearer, although I think it was an old video now I’m thinking about it.

“I can think back to Christmas Days in front of the TV. And for me it’s great to have a DVD out of myself because I never thought in my wildest dreams it would ever happen.

“I’ve been very fortunate, I think, to still be here at 34,” he added “It’s been 12 and a half years and I’ve enjoyed every single moment of it. There are always going to be highs and lows. But the DVD is all about the highs!

“It doesn’t mean it’s the end for me. I’ve had a book out too and have come back after that. Gordon was an exceptional player, who used to join in bounce games at Lennoxtown and he’d do pre-season training with us as well. You look at people like him and Gary McAllister, who played at the highest level at a good age. Can I keep going until I’m 40? You never know what’s round the corner – I’ve got a year-and-a-half left on my contract and I’m going to enjoy every moment of it. My second DVD will be out in three years’ time and the third in seven years’ time. So just keep buying, please…”