Scott Bain

The 33-year-old, who this week joined Falkirk after six years at Celtic, spoke exclusively to CeltsAreHere about the personal and professional crossroads he found himself at before deciding to move on from Parkhead.

I could have stayed at Celtic and been comfortable, I could have stayed another year,” Bain revealed. “I actually think as I look back, I probably stayed on longer at Celtic for more my family in terms of trying to look after my family where contracts and things are concerned.”


Bain arrived at Celtic on loan in January 2018, famously making his debut in a 3-2 win at Ibrox after a late call-up. He earned a permanent move that summer and would go on to make over 70 appearances for the club, winning multiple league titles, cups, and playing his part in an unprecedented Quadruple Treble run. While he spent recent seasons as a backup, his professionalism and influence inside the dressing room were widely respected.



It became a case of having a fiancée, a little boy… sometimes being guaranteed wages comes first and you need to put family first as everyone does,” Bain admitted. “Where can you make the most money at that time?”

Now, with that part of his life secure, Bain says he’s relishing the chance to play regularly again—and remind people what he’s capable of.


I think it was the right time as I’m 33 now, I don’t know how long I’ll be playing for,” he said. “Now I’ve looked after my family for the last five or so years, put them first, now it’s an opportunity to enjoy playing football again and put football above everything else.”



Bain also opened up about how quickly the game moves when you’re not in the spotlight.

“Football moves fast so when you go from playing regularly to not playing much you do get forgotten,” he said. “Now it’s about reminding people what I’m about as a goalkeeper, the player I am.”

Falkirk have landed a goalkeeper with top-level experience and a hunger to prove himself again. As for Bain, he’s walking away from Celtic with a clear conscience—and the fire still burning

 

Fair play to him for going out and playing first team football … if I was in Bains position I would be absolutely sound with just hanging about Lennoxtown, collecting a handsome wage and ripping the * out of the buffet knowing full well I wouldn’t be playing.


Sounds like the life to me

 

Nice reunion fer him last night and couple of nice saves, definitely a well liked figure it seems.

 

Former Celtic goalkeeper Scott Bain has admitted he should have left the club sooner after earning a Scotland recall.


Bain spent seven-and-a-half years at Parkhead during which he made 78 appearances across all competitions, winning 16 major honours.

For the majority of his time at Celtic, he was the number two or even number three keeper.

After joining Falkirk in the summer, however, Bain has proved himself as one of the best stoppers in the William Hill Premiership and was rewarded with his first Scotland call-up in six years last week following an injury to Angus Gunn.

"It honestly wasn't something when I first joined Falkirk that I thought might have been achievable," said Bain of his international recall [Sky Sports].

"As the season has went on, as I've built into the games and grew the confidence and started performing better then, it was something in the distance.

"Looking back now I probably should have left Celtic and made the jump to get back into football a little bit quicker.

"But it's difficult at times when you've got a family, you've got your house and mortgage, and the same as everyone else you've got bills to pay, so it's difficult to leave a contract that's there for you.



And it's easy in hindsight to say I should have done it years ago, but I've done it now and I'm thankful that I've been given the opportunity.

"The circumstances maybe didn't allow for that at the time, but 100 per cent I feel like I made the right decision because of this."

Bain is the first Falkirk player to have received a Scotland call-up since Darren Barr in 2008.

"I actually got a text the night before just asking if I was fit and available, which I hadn't had before," he revealed.

"I just texted back saying, 'yeah I'm good to go'. "I actually found out, just when everyone else found out, and got an email from the SFA after that.

"I was in here so I was just sort of chilling on the physio bed getting a rub and got the news, so it's amazing.

"It's actually a £5 fine I've got, so we get fined for everything here.

"International call-up is now a £5 fine, so they're delighted for me, so it's been great."

Although Bain enjoyed his time at Parkhead, he missed regularly being part of matchday squads.

He said: "I used to sit in meetings at Lennoxtown [Celtic's training ground] and we would analyse the team that were playing and I would just sort of drift off at times and think that could be me, I could be in that analysis there.

"Getting in and getting in about it and really having the build-up to a game, it took me a while to sort of what's my routine for a game, what's my warm-up going to be.

"And I think we've really nailed that down now and I feel really comfortable going into games.

"Whether I play or not, I'll make sure that I do my best when I'm there. I represent Falkirk and I represent Scotland the best that I can.

"I feel the most ready I've probably felt in years. I feel in a good rhythm. I feel like I'm playing well."

Bain will compete for minutes this international break against his old Celtic teammate Craig Gordon and Rangers stopper Liam Kelly.

 

He should be the one that plays, he's the only keeper in the Scotland side with any real minutes this season.

So watch it be 43 year old Gordon instead

 

He's a total diddy. Probably the biggest flapper in the league..

 

Good guy.

I'll always like Scotty. He came to us after that big fall out with that Hun * Neil McCann, done a good job here, and was the life and soul of the Celtic squad by all accounts.

Wish him all the best with his new club and his renewed Scotland career. He deserves it.