'THEY'LL DO ME IN'
Celtic hero Leigh Griffiths on the one football stadium he’ll NEVER feel safe in – and it’s not Ibrox or Tynecastle
LEIGH GRIFFITHS has revealed there's one stadium he will NEVER be able to set foot in again.
And it isn't necessarily where you might think.
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Griffiths, 32, ruffled plenty of feathers during his time in Scottish football.
No stranger to a hostile reception, the former Celtic striker particularly ruffled feathers at both Ibrox and Tynecastle.
Griffiths enraged Rangers and Hearts fans by tying a Hoops scarf to the goalposts at both venues.
He also caused a stir on a separate occasion at Ibrox, wiping his bogies on the corner flag carrying the Rangers badge.
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However, it isn't either Ibrox or Tynecastle that Griffiths reckons he couldn't step inside again - in fact it isn't a stadium in Scottish football.
Griffiths reckons that Windsor Park in Belfast is the one venue he could never return to.
He featured for Celtic in a Champions League qualifier against Linfield back in 2017.
And it certainly proved to be an eventful night for Griffiths.
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While waiting to take a corner, the striker had a BUCKFAST bottle hurled at him from the stands, with other objects also being flung towards the forward.
The ugly scenes saw Griffiths receive a yellow card, with Uefa subsequently banning him for a match for 'provoking supporters.'
Griffiths had gestured towards the Linfield fans before the bottle was thrown, holding up a '5-1' scoreline with his fingers.
This was in reference to the Hoops' recent thumping win over rivals Rangers, a club with close ties to Linfield.
Linfield were also fined by Uefa over the throwing of the bottle.
But Griffiths wasn't done there and further scenes were sparked when he once again got hold of a Celtic scarf before tying it to the Windsor Park post.
Riot police and stewards quickly moved in to prevent furious Linfield fans from entering the pitch.
Discussing the incident on the 26 Podcast, Griffiths said: "I only ever did it (tying the scarf) if we played Rangers at Ibrox or at Hampden if we won a trophy.
"But I remember one game we played at Linfield away and I was getting dog's abuse. Linfield is a massive Rangers culture.
"I was taking a corner. The last time we had played Rangers we beat them 5-1 at Ibrox.
"Corner comes in, I'm getting dog's abuse, I go like this behind me (5-1 salute with his fingers).
"Next thing, a Buckfast bottle comes flying past my head. I'm like that - 'oh ya f******.'
"I got and pick it up and show the ref. I get booked!
"I picked the bottle up, hand it to the ref and the ref books me. I'm like 'mate, I've just about been killed by a Buckfast bottle getting thrown from the crowd and you want to book me.'
"I run back, put the ball down and smash in the corner.
"That was it. After the game, I was like 'nah f*** this they're not getting away with this.
"Celtic had 100, 150 fans. They never took a lot over to Linfield, they knew it was going to be dangerous.
"I said to one of the stewards 'that guy's going to give me a scarf, can I get the scarf please?'
"So he runs over and gives me it - straight on to the post, bosh! Type this in on YouTube, I'm not kidding you. They had to get the ARMY across the corner, the fans were going to kill me."
It's more than six years since those events but Griffiths reckons he will NEVER be able to return to Windsor Park.
Although he concedes his Scotland career looks over, Griffiths says he couldn't go if he was part of a squad to face Northern Ireland.
Griffiths even reckons there'd be people WAITING for him.
He added: "I probably can't set foot back in Windsor Park without getting a doing. Someone will do me in. Nuts.
"If I ever play for Scotland again and touch wood I do, don't think I will, but if we ever played Northern Ireland at Windsor Park, I couldn't go.
"There'd be people waiting at the hotel, the airport, outside the stadium.
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"At the time I thought it was funny. I ended up getting a ban from Uefa as well. Uefa gave me one game ban.
"There was never, ever any intention of being malicious. It was just a bit of banter."
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