The Irish striker enjoyed the finest years of his club career at Celtic but will be looking to score against them next season.
A little under a month ago and all looked bleak for Anthony Stokes. The Dubliner had his contract terminated by Blackburn Rovers, was without a club and was copping grief from disgruntled fans.
In the middle of it all, he had a birthday to celebrate but 29-year-old footballers are probably less attractive to clubs than 28-year-old footballers. Football was moving on without him.
And then Hibernian, and his old Celtic boss Neil Lennon, stepped in.
Stokes was signed up on a two-year deal and returns to Hibs for his third spell with the club. Ahead of the Scottish Premiership season, Stokes spoke with The Daily Record about his third coming and made a surprising admission about Celtic and his most cherished memories.
“Celtic has always been my club and it always will be,” he said.
“I think winning the first league title with Celtic was probably the biggest thing I have done in my career; it was probably the happiest day of my life. However that [Scottish Cup win with Hibs] surpassed it in the end.”
Stokes claimed four league titles with Celtic during his six-year stay with the club, as well as two Scottish Cup victories. As a staunch Celtic fan, it is odd to hear that he regards the Hibs cup success as his greatest to date. However, when you hear him speak of that day, in May 2016, it makes more sense.
Stokes commented, “I think it was just the scenes at the end – and even the next day with the parade – I’ve never experienced anything like that in football before.
“For me, that probably did top things. And I never thought that would be the case.”
The Republic of Ireland international knows how fondly regarded he is for his goalscoring feats in that cup triumph but he knows he cannot rest on his laurels.
“If I go five or six games without scoring this season it will all be forgotten about quickly,” he remarked. “That’s football.”
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