STEVEN PRESSLEY arrived at Celtic at the ripe old age of 33.
Yet he could so easily have signed for Rangers had fate not intervened.
Interestingly enough Elvis - as he affectionately became known in Scottish football circles - was a man in demand after spending eight-and-a-half years at Tynecastle with Hearts.
He revealed how a deal to join Rangers fell through at the last minute which actually paved the way for him to join Glasgow rivals Celtic instead.
The former Rangers, Hearts, Celtic and Falkirk star was being chased by three clubs when he opted to leave Tynecastle in 2006 - Rangers, Charlton and Celtic after spending eight years with the Capital club.
The 27 times capped Scotland defender admits that a meeting with Rangers chairman David Murray was scrapped because the club was embroiled in a dispute with Frenchman Paul Le Guen which would eventually lead to his sacking.
Le Guen's dismissal scuppered any chances of a return to Ibrox for the Elgin-born stopper who had started his career with the Light Blues in 1990.
However, Pressley reckons that it was the persuasive tongue of Celtic boss Gordon Strachan as well as family issues that made him reject a move to the English Premier League with Charlton and sign on the dotted line for Celtic in an 18-month deal.
Pressley who made Scottish football history at Celtic as he became the first man to lift the Scottish Cup with three different teams - Rangers, Hearts and Celtic - said: "The truth of the matter was that when I left Hearts, I had a number of options to sign for three different clubs.
"One was Charlton who was in the English Premier League at the time. One was Rangers during the Paul Le Guen era. The other club was Celtic.
"The Rangers deal actually fell through. I was scheduled to meet David Murray up in Perth for signing talks.
"The meeting ended up getting cancelled on the back of a situation that had developed with then Rangers manager Paul Le Guen which resulted in him leaving the club.
"I met with Gordon Strachan at Celtic and they made me an offer.
"I then travelled down to London to speak to Charlton and I had gone through all aspects of the medical and everything had been agreed in principle and I was all set to become an English Premier League player.
"On the way up the road, Gordon phoned me again and I explained the situation to him and that Charlton had offered me considerably more money than Celtic.
"He told me to wait and not commit to anything and he would come back to me within the hour which he did.
"Celtic came back with an improved offer that matched that of Charlton's.
"Gordon Strachan is a very persuasive man."
Football can unite as well as divide and conquer but Pressley is adamant that he joined Celtic after making a decision based on purely footballing reasons.
He is still annoyed to this day that a niggling back injury robbed him of the chance to play a greater part in his Celtic chapter during the second season.
He said: "I didn't grow up with allegiances to any particular football club.
"I supported Aberdeen when I was a boy but when I was at Rangers I supported them because I signed for them when I was 12.
"It was all about playing football for me.
"When I pulled on the jersey of any club that I played for that was my team.
"I gave my all for those colours and Celtic was no different.
"The only disappointment for me was the second season as I had been plagued with a back injury throughout my career.
"Not long after pre-season, I had to go in for a back operation which set me back three months or so.
"It had a big impact on my second season at the club but it did not detract from my time at Celtic Park. I loved it."
Pressley recalls that he was very much a misunderstood character on the field but that was in stark contrast to his persona off it.
Former Celtic striker John Hartson, for example, speaks glowingly of time spent in his company.
Elvis retains many of his friendships from his Celtic playing days even if he did not exactly hit it off with former captain and manager Neil Lennon straight away.
The duo has since become firm friends after an initial snub on the team bus by the Northern Irishman. Pressley can laugh about it all now.
“I have said this many times before people misunderstand me.
"For 90 minutes I do what it takes to win. I’m hugely intense about football. It’s a drug.
"I look back at some of my antics on a football park and I do think to myself: 'What was I doing?'
"You become a pantomime villain on a football park and people seem to hate you at times.
"A lot of players would remember what I used to get up to on a park but I did what I could to win a game of football.
"A lot of my antics were what sporting people would deem being in the zone.
"Some of my behaviour did not exactly endear me to some people, mostly opposition fans and players, but that is what you did.
"I remember when I joined Celtic and I got aboard the team bus and I wasn't available for a match against Motherwell.
"I had just signed and came into the club and I travelled with the Celtic players on the bus to the game.
"To a man, all the Celtic players came onto the bus and introduced themselves to me. All except Neil Lennon!
"Neil and I had enjoyed some real verbals and fierce moments on the football field when I played for Hearts.
"He was the only one that didn't come and welcome me and shake my hand when I joined.
"When you come to a club like Celtic and you are a personality like I was at Hearts and Neil is at Celtic you accept that guys like Neil will test who you are. That is how it works.
"The funny thing is that Neil and I grew to really like each other and we now love each other's company. I get on tremendously well with Neil and I always did at the club.
"These things are part of football and we were both fierce competitors.
"I bumped into him in the Sky Sports studio recently and we had a great chat. We've always got on great.
"I made so many good friends at Celtic that I still retain to this day."
For every friend he made in Glasgow East End, Elvis refuses to shy away from the ones that fell by the wayside.
He readily admits there is another side of life that exists even if you are brave enough to cross the Glasgow divide.
Elvis never shirked a tackle in his life and doesn't shirk the issues off the park either.
He said: “When I signed for Celtic, I never heard from certain people again.
"I’m talking about acquaintances more than friends that I had picked up throughout my career.
"People who would send me Christmas cards every year and get in touch when it was your birthday.
"When I signed for Celtic, there were certain people who stopped doing that. It says more about them than it ever will about me.
"It was an eye-opener in that respect.
"At my old club Hearts where I spent the best part of eight-and-a-half years, it changed a lot of people's opinion of me but again that says more about them than me. That is just the way of it.
"It is sad that this is the case. From a career perspective and beyond the playing aspect of signing for Celtic it has its barriers. It has created barriers because of that.
"That is a sad reflection of society rather than my choices. I wouldn't change my choices for the world but they do put certain barriers in front of you but that is problematic in society, not me."
Whilst Pressley was not subjected to poisonous bigotry per se, there was one particular incident that led to him uppings sticks from Glasgow and moving to the safe haven of Edinburgh.
He admits that it is one of the sadder, more deep-rooted aspects of Scottish life that attaches itself to football but has nothing at all to do with the beautiful game.
"I remember one particular day, walking through Glasgow city centre with my young son.
"I watched on as a bus stopped for no apparent reason in the middle of the road.
"The doors opened and the driver was shouting abuse at me and then he drove off.
“After that, I decided to move out of Glasgow and go to Edinburgh because that wasn’t the sort of culture I wanted to bring my kids up in and I did not want to expose my kids to that side of life.
"It was less intense in Edinburgh and I was able to breathe a little bit more."
In fact, one of his neighbours in the same estate was none other than future Celtic and Scotland skipper Scott Brown.
From being ferocious Edinburgh derby rivals with Hearts and Hibs both men formed a solid bond.
Pressley said: "When I moved to Edinburgh, Scott Brown lived in the same area.
"We used to travel together to training every day in the car.
"You can imagine what those car journeys were like. Scott was another boy, I grew to really like and we have a cracking friendship.
"I remember saying to the other Celtic players before Scott arrived never to judge him by what you have witnessed on the football field.
"Scott grew to become one of the most popular Celtic players ever in the dressing room.
"I travelled with him every day and I cannot speak highly enough about him as he was a brilliant boy.
"He was a fantastic listener at a critical time in his career.
"He was quite impressionable at the time and he was lucky though as he had a strong manager in Gordon Strachan who shaped and moulded him.
"Broony took everything on board that Gordon Strachan told him and he absorbed it like a sponge.
"There were a lot of big personalities at the club like Stephen McManus, Gary Caldwell, Neil Lennon who were all strong professionals and Broony needed that at that time in his career.
"Celtic, due to the quality of the personnel they had at the club, was the making of Scott Brown.
"In the end, he became the strong, dominant personality in the Celtic dressing room himself and he was the lynchpin of that football club for many years and that was why he was hugely successful and won so many trophies."
READ MORE: Paul Hartley on picking Celtic, why Scott Brown is misunderstood and Nakamura's intense regime
Pressley won the Scottish Premiership title and Scottish Cup in his first season at the club. Uniquely, it was the defender's third trophy with a different Scottish team.
He also experienced the wonder of Champions League nights at Celtic Park as Celtic reached the last 16 in back-to-back campaigns.
During the UEFA Champions League home match with Shakhtar Donetsk, he helped guide Celtic to a crucial win that paved the way for progression to the last 16.
He credits Gordon Strachan for creating a harmonious dressing room and wonderful culture at Celtic during his tenure.
He also enjoyed the boss' wicked sense of humour.
The former Falkirk, Coventry and Carlisle manager said: "I am immensely proud of the fact that I have won the Scottish Cup with three different clubs. I don't really harp on about the past.
"I don't have my medals out on display or on show round my neck when I walk down the streets.
"They are tucked away somewhere.
"I told my sons at the end of my career, I wanted to look back at some tangible evidence of success and they mean a lot to me and my family.
"I won both the title and the Scottish Cup at Celtic at a very late stage in my career and I am proud of those achievements.
"I always felt under Gordon Strachan the dressing room was very united and together even with players who really didn't feature all that much.
"It was strong in that respect as we had really good professionals at the club.
"That had a big bearing on Scott Brown's development.
"I really enjoyed Gordon Strachan's sense of humour.
"After my back injury on my return to Celtic, during my first training session we did the boxes and I was outstanding.
"Gordon quipped: 'Hey Elvis was it your feet that they operated on?'
"That was so typical of Gordon as a manager.
"The thing I always found about Gordon was all he ever asked of you as a player was to be a good teammate and an even better professional in terms of applying yourself.
"If you did that he was super supportive of you as Gordon accepted your failings as a player.
"He did not over-complicate things.
"His training was intense and he demanded standards which all good professionals want.
"It was an enjoyable time. Gordon was a brilliant football manager.
"He had a good group with the coaching staff around him too.
"Gordon, without a doubt, worked with one of the lowest budgets any Celtic manager in recent times has had.
"And yet, he gave them the highest return with two consecutive last 16 Champions League qualifications which no other Celtic manager has achieved.
"Gordon assembled a squad of players like Paul Hartley, Gary Caldwell and myself.
"It was a strong core of Scottish players with a sprinkling of icing on the cake type players like Shunsuke Nakamura.
"It was Gordon who instilled that mentality and togetherness at the club.
"He won three titles in a row after Martin O'Neill who was a hugely popular figure at the club left. That is no mean feat especially when you consider that many thought he was irreplaceable. But Gordon stepped in and filled those managerial shoes very well and enjoyed great success."
Pressley insists that he has never once regretted the career move to join Celtic.
He said: "It made sense to my family at the time and it is a choice that I certainly do not regret.
"I am delighted that I did it. I loved being there and it is amazing to look back on.
"I appreciated it a lot more because I was older and knew how lucky I was to be signing for a club at Celtic at 33. It was a really enjoyable 18 months in my career.
"Celtic was a great club to be at and I would have loved to have spent longer at it. I wish I had arrived sooner rather than at the tail end of my career."
Steven Pressley was the very definition of a heart-on-your-sleeve type player.
He was also a born leader of men who gave his honest toil, blood, sweat and tears for every club he represented every time he stepped out onto a football field.
For possessing those qualities alone and for being brave enough to cross the Glasgow divide Elvis commands and deserves respect from the Celtic faithful.
It was perhaps fitting that he enjoyed an Indian Summer in the twilight of his career.
Misunderstood on the park. Elvis remains genuinely affable, engaging and brilliant company off it.
Celtic legends John Hartson and Neil Lennon, and countless others involved in football, will certainly vouch for that.
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