What does Trophy Day at Celtic Park really look like?

The pomp and ceremony, the fireworks, the ticker tape...fondue set and the cuddly toy, you name it, everything is thrown in for good measure as the victors celebrate their achievements. This Saturday, Celtic will be presented with the Scottish Premiership trophy for the third year in succession as they take on St Mirren. It may not have been a vintage season for Brendan Rodgers and his Celtic side but the Northern Irishman was true to his word.

Last June, when he was officially unveiled as Ange Postecoglou's successor he uttered these words. "So for those who are with me and always have been, let's enjoy the journey. For those whom I need to convince, I will see you here in May." Rodgers delivered and kept up his end of the bargain. The Celtic fans will see him on the steps again...this month. Celtic could well add another trophy to the cabinet next weekend when they face Rangers in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park on May 25th.

Ever wondered what Trophy Day means to the Celtic players? Then wonder no more. TCW's Tony Haggerty spoke to some former Celtic players who knew all about the business of winning titles. We were given a unique insight as to what happens on the much-lauded Trophy Day.

John Hartson (3 x Scottish Premier League winner - 2001/02, 2003/04, 2005/06)

"Trophy day is a day an occasion to be enjoyed. The first team squad will stay in the hotel the night before and you turn up to the stadium on the bus and there is a euphoria whenever the players arrive at the ground.

"On Trophy day that is heightened as thousands of Celtic supporters line up to cheer you off the bus. It is an amazing feeling. Brendan Rodgers's team will be swamped by thousands of Celtic fans when they step off the bus for the St Mirren game. No club gives you the adulation that you get from the Celtic fans when you win the title. It is incredible. There is a lot of pomp and ceremony as you go up on the rostrum and collect your league winner's medal and it's party time after that. All of this normally takes place after the game and the club usually drafts in a club legend to present the players with their medals.

"I was given the honour of handing the Celtic players their medals when Neil Lennon's side won the title. I handed Neil and all of the players their medals after shaking their hands and I loved performing that duty. Trophy day is always a great moment, it's a great feeling. You get to celebrate your achievements with your teammates and what you have done over the season. A 38-game season is always a slog so there is no better feeling than knowing that you have clinched it when you get presented with that winner's medal.

"I was lucky enough to win the title three times with Celtic during my time at the club. The celebrations are great and everybody wants to be involved. It is a time when players are only too happy to speak to the Sky Sports TV cameras and conduct press interviews galore. The players usually milk the applause and the lap of honour takes ages as the fans throw their hats and scarves on and you just thank them for their support throughout the season.

"It is hard to put into words what it means when 60,000 supporters are paying homage to a title-winning Celtic team. It is an unbelievable day. People ask me what was my favourite time at Celtic and it was the first title. My first trophy day experience was when we beat Livingston 5-0 at Celtic Park in 2002, Henrik Larsson scored three and I scored two and we played like champions that day. We did a lap of honour and my family and kids all came onto the pitch. It was a boiling hot day and it was an unbelievable feeling.

"It is a family day too now. This is a fairly new tradition in football that has been brought in over the last couple of decades. On trophy day now everybody seems to get involved. Players' kids can come onto the pitch and boot the ball into the net or whatever and the wives and girlfriends and mums and dads are all there. Celtic is a family club and on trophy day they pull out all the stops to make sure everybody is involved. It is joyous. I never did this with any other club that I played for. Trophy day is all about winners and celebrating the fact that you are the best. It is a day for the supporters and the families.

"With Celtic being in the Scottish Cup final against Rangers the following week against Rangers the players and their families will be treated to a celebration. There will be only one party and that will usually be held at Celtic Park. They will open all the lounges to the families. The manager will probably say a few words to the Celtic supporters milling about outside the ground. The players will take their bow and then they will probably have a meal and toast their success.

"The directors and the hierarchy will be in attendance. The players will have a drink or two that night but it will be nothing excessive as it will be business as usual come Sunday or Monday. The players will be back at it in training as they know they will still have one more game to play before the season officially comes to a close."

Paul Lambert (4 x Scottish Premier Division/League winner - 1997/98, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2003/04)

"I was one of those players who didn't like to get caught up in the pomp and ceremony of Trophy Day, believe it or not. I just wanted to get things done. Win the title and then move on to the next one. I was trophy-driven. I was never monetary-driven or driven by sentimentality.

"That's why I hated the exhibition feel and surreal nature of the Trophy Day football match at times. I played in the most fraught Trophy Day ever which was the title decider in 1997/98. I loved the fact that everything was at stake and on the line at Celtic Park that day. The Celtic supporter's nerves were shot on that occasion inside Parkhead and I fully understood why because of the significance of Rangers winning 10 in a row. Try being a Celtic player during that whole season and coping with that pressure daily over a 38-game campaign. Failure was not an option. Those kinds of things toughen you up as a footballer.

"I was never one for waving to fans and getting caught up in the sentimentality of it all. I cared, by God I cared you have to care when you are at Celtic. Winning trophies and leagues is in your DNA when you play for that football club. Celtic is not a development club. You have to win. You are expected to win trophies and then move on. That's why I was just driven in a whole different way.

"Trophy Days are great days, don't get me wrong. I always wanted to burst through the tape even on Trophy Day. I didn't want to let up even on the last day of the season. I was never into the whole party day stuff. I hated if Celtic let their standards slip but that's just who I was as a footballer. I never swapped jerseys with opposition players for the same reason. I was never a souvenir hunter. It was enough for me to know that I had lived the experience. Nobody can take that memory away from you once you have lived the experience.

"The funny thing is if you have still to play the Scottish Cup final then you might have a small affair at Celtic Park with the family and the wives and girlfriends but it's business as usual in terms of preparation for the Scottish Cup final. The only problem with that is sometimes you miss out on celebrating winning the title because you lost the Scottish Cup final.

"One of my fondest memories of Trophy Days is smoking cigars in the dressing room with my Celtic teammates to celebrate the job being done. It was never anything more than celebrating the fact that it was a job done. I remember smoking cigars and having a laugh with the rest of the squad in terms of our title celebrations but that moment is fleeting. You don't have time to dwell on it because your thoughts immediately turn to how you are going to win the next one. Nowadays modern-day players just want to breakdance - don't they?

"When Celtic gets their hands on the Premiership trophy against St Mirren they will probably celebrate with a wee function at Celtic Park but none of the players will cut loose because the Scottish Cup final against Rangers is on the horizon and it is not the time for celebrating and letting yourself go as the season is not finished. It is not over until the final ball of the season is kicked and you know that you are going to have to perform against Rangers as there is a League and Scottish Cup double at stake. Celtic can go into the Scottish Cup final as champions with the mindset that they are going to lay down another marker and beat Rangers again. That's exactly what you want to do.

"There is also the added carrot for some Celtic players who may feature on Trophy Day against St Mirren that they can go full gas and be on it and potentially play their way into the cup final team. I always wanted to be bang at it and win every game I played. At Celtic winning is demanded. Every game. That includes the likes of Trophy Day even if you had wrapped up the league title. My mind was always focused on the job and it was a callous thing but it was only because I didn't want to get caught up in the sentimentality of it all. When it is all done and the kids and families are on the field celebrating after it then all of that is great but get the job done first and foremost."

Paul Hartley (2 x Scottish Premiership winner - 2006/07, 2007/08)

"The first year I was at Celtic we won the title at Kilmarnock when Shunsuke Nakamura scored the last-gasp free-kick. I had signed for the club in January. The second year we got the trophy presented to us was at Tannadice when we beat Dundee United in midweek on the last game of the season. It was a Thursday night and that is the one that always sticks with me. The helicopter was buzzing above Tannadice all evening and there was a feeling that Celtic were going to win the title.

"It went right down to the wire that season. It is a special moment and it is magical. We got presented with the trophy that night but the best part of it all was the bus journey back to Celtic Park. That was magnificent. Most players will tell you that it is things like that which they remember most. Lifting that trophy is a wonderful feeling. I had loads of tickets for the game which I distributed among my friends and family and it was a joy to see all of them on Tayside that night. Everybody wanted to go.

"Celtic had a huge build-up to that as we had to beat Rangers twice at Parkhead in a matter of days and we won 3-2 and 2-1 and we felt that we were on to something. The sad passing of Tommy Burns also drove us on that season. That was a huge thing for all of the Celtic players. We were desperate to do it for Tommy. We won the last seven games to win the title and there were those two Rangers games sandwiched in between.

"That night before we got the trophy against Dundee United we stayed in a hotel at the golf course in Carnoustie. The Champions League final was on and we watched that and Gordon Strachan had us all in a calm and relaxed state of mind heading into the match. Seeing the helicopter hovering above Tannadice was a real buzz and the fans Celtic fans informed us that Rangers were losing to Aberdeen. Big Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink scored the header from my corner and we kind of felt that it was going to be our night from that moment on. We felt that once we won the double-header against Rangers it was within our grasp.

"Everybody has written us off after we lost 1-0 to Motherwell at Celtic Park. I can remember the boos ringing around Celtic Park that day. We won seven games on the spin not playing the greatest football but finding a way to win. It is not until you look back at that achievement and see how special it was and the players you played with. Winning the title on the last day of the season and getting presented with the trophy that night is much more special than winning it with games to spare as we did at Rugby Park in 2007.

"The first Trophy Day at Celtic Park, I remember it vividly because I had my boys on my shoulders. They were both quite young at the time and having them on the pitch was a fantastic experience. It is great to look at the photos from that occasion. The memories never leave you. Celtic always lay on a function for the players and their wives, girlfriends and families. Trophy days are brilliant occasions but my one regret as a Celtic player and I am not alone in thinking like this is that when you play for a club like Celtic you cannot celebrate winning the title or the Scottish Cup with an open-top bus tour of the city. Every other team has bus parades - Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, you name it, but we can't do it in Glasgow. I understand why that is but it is a shame that you can't celebrate it properly with everybody."

Steven Pressley (1 x Scottish Premier League - 2006/07)

"I had the experience of winning trophies across the city and as a young player, you think it becomes the norm. It is not. So, when I went to Celtic and won the league title it was a big deal for me. I had been on a real journey as a footballer and realised that it wasn't the norm but I got back to where I wanted to be.

"The title win with Celtic was a very special moment in my career. However, on Trophy Day we lost 3-1 to Hearts and I scored the goal. It wasn't a particularly great performance. It is a great experience and it is for the family. I had my son on my shoulders and I have a treasure trove of memories for it. It is a day of celebration for the family and supporters to enjoy.

"My abiding memory of Trophy Day is Paolo Nuttini being in the Celtic dressing room and joining in the celebrations. The players tried to coax him into giving us a celebratory song and he refused to do it so he got dumped in the bath. There are always great stories to emerge from Trophy Day. Even famous people like Paolo at the time wanted to be associated with the Celtic players and share and celebrate and be a part of the team's success. For that reason, it is a special day.

"Celtic won the league that season with games to spare and we were in the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline. It was hard to replicate that edge when we had wrapped up the title. That largely explains why we won 1-0 on the day due to Jean-Joel Perrier Doumbe's goal and it was a subdued performance. I think it is a consequence of playing a period of games without an edge. Celtic always need pressure and tension surrounding a game. It is when Celtic perform to their best levels. There just wasn't that edge once we had won the title and that lasted right through Trophy Day and into the Scottish Cup final when we played Dunfermline at Hampden Park.

"I remember Celtic had a small function when we won the title at Celtic Park but when we won the Scottish Cup the after-match party was a low-key affair. There were a few reasons for that. It was the likes of Neil Lennon's last game for the club and there was also a feeling of disappointment that we hadn't played well in the cup final against Dunfermline. We were expected to win the cup but we had not performed at all. We did not win the cup with aplomb. It was not enough to win the cup with Celtic, you had to win it in style. That is the expectation of playing for that football club.

"That's why Trophy Day for this Celtic team should be celebrated loudly. A lot of people cast doubt on Brendan and this Celtic team. In the past three or four months they have answered their critics and more. It is a day they should celebrate. At the turn of the year, many people thought that Rangers would win the title this season but Celtic have prevailed.

"Whilst Trophy Day is a wonderful occasion, lots of players will tell you that there is nothing like taking that victory lap of honour in front of the supporters when you are presented with the trophy and the winners' medals. When you are at a club like Celtic, you do crave an open-top bus tour. I had won the Scottish Cup final the year before with Hearts and the celebrations were top-class. We had the big parade in the streets of Edinburgh and the mayor's ceremony, it was magical. Those scenes will live long in my memory. It is such a pity that no Celtic player has ever had the chance to experience something similar in their careers."