Celtic legend Scott Brown has lifted the lid on what was hois "worst f*****g nightmare" during his time as a player.

The Fleetwood Town boss admits he would never chase after an opponent to swap shirts at full time, no matter the occasion.

In fact, Broony hated the idea so much that he revealed it made him cringe to see his Hoops teammates do it.

The former Scotland captain won 22 major honours at Celtic Park, including ten league titles before his departure in 2021.

He always played on the big occasion and faced off against some of the world's best players with Celtic taking on the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and AC Milan.

And the Hoops hero takes pride knowing that he never once asked an opposition player for their jersey.

He told The Telegraph: "I never really bothered (with shirt-swapping). I always thought ‘what would people think if I was seen swapping shirts with someone and they had got the better of me?’ If they asked me it was ok but I never ran and asked them.

“I would never run to Messi and say ‘can I have your shirt please’. That’s embarrassing. I have seen it.

"I have been walking up the stairs and we are 4-0 down (at Celtic) to Barcelona and our lads are not worrying about the result but want to swap shirts with Messi, Busquets, Xavi and I am thinking ‘that’s my worst f****** nightmare’. I could never get my head around it: ‘you are embarrassing us out there but you want their shirt?’ That’s not for me.”

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Brown was then asked about his famous bald head. 

He admitted he always relished confrontation on the pitch, insisting his shaved head was all part of an act to "intimidate".

He added: “It was more to intimidate people than anything. I shaved my head before every game and it was to look a bit harder, to look more aggressive, to show that I meant business.

“I would always try and pick on the bigger guy; never the small guy. I wanted to punch above my weight. I wanted to play Champions League. I wanted to play against Barcelona, Bayern Munich. And I loved it. I loved playing against the best players in the world and I did it quite a lot and I thrived off it.

"You could be anyone you wanted for 90 minutes. As soon as I crossed the line I became a different person. I was quite chilled and relaxed away from the pitch. On it, I was a pantomime villain. I could become a bit of an a***hole on the park.

“If I felt we were struggling in games I would try and set the tone with a tackle. I would smash someone or try and play a good pass or win a header: ‘right, come on lads, let’s go.'"