Scott Bain has revealed he engineered a life-changing move to Celtic by asking his agent to pitch a transfer on deadline day. The goalkeeper spent seven-and-a-half years in Glasgow after joining the club in 2018 in one of Scottish football's most complicated deals.
Bain was on loan at Hibernian from Dundee at the time when he heard on Sky Sports News that Celtic were targeting emergency goalkeeping cover. The Hoops were locked in talks with Motherwell over an 11th-hour deal for shot-stopper Trevor Carson, but could not agree on a fee. After Bain's representative alerted Parkhead goalkeeping coach Stevie Woods to his availability, Brendan Rodgers made his move.
Speaking on the Open Goal podcast, Bain said: "I saw it on Sky Sports News that they were going to sign big Trevor, so I just texted my agent and said, 'Give Woodsy a text and say I'll come.' He text Woodsy and Woodsy said, 'I didn't think he could come because he's been at two clubs.' But I hadn't played for Hibs at the time. I think they were hung up on the fee, so it was taking a wee bit of time. So that's when I texted my agent and said, 'Tell Woodsy I'll come,' just as a brass neck."
Woods then phoned Bain directly. "I think they were still a bit between the two. The next day, it was on, it was off. I was on my phone all day. But at Hibs we had a game against Motherwell at home, so I'm at pre-match and I've not got a clue what's going on for the game. My phone's going, I'm answering the phone. It's off, it's on."
Then Hibs manager Neil Lennon called Bain into his office just before the team was due to get ready. "I've got my Hibs trackie on. So I go into his office and he basically says, 'Look, I wouldn't have let you go, but it's Celtic. I think that you go. You'll love it there.' At the time they needed a midfielder in. He was like, 'I'm going to let you go.' I was like, 'Brilliant.' That was just like an off-the-cuff chance of going."
With time running out, Bain dashed to the car and drove to Celtic Park, famously arriving in his Hibs tracksuit. "I jumped in the car, met my agent on the motorway, still got my Hibs trackie on. I never went to the house to change. And I'm coming from Dundee, where if someone's signing for Dundee, no one's bothered. So I'm thinking no one's going to be there. I'll just walk up. Anyway, get out of the car and they start flashing, and I've got my Hibs gilet on, ready to go."
However, the switch was not without obstacles. Bain had to terminate his Easter Road loan, with Scott Allan cutting short his Dundee loan from Celtic before moving to Hibs. Meanwhile, Simon Murray went in the opposite direction, swapping Hibs for Dens Park. Bain explained: "But the funny thing about that deal was it was quite complicated. I had to go back to Dundee as a loan player, Simon Murray went from Hibs to Dundee, Scotty Allan had to go back to Celtic and then to Hibs. So it was like a three-way move. That deal actually never got completed till 11:45pm. I can't remember what the cut-off point was."
Asked if he was worried the move might collapse, Bain said: "A wee bit, but if I had gone home and got changed, that might not have even happened. It might have gone over the time, and that might never have happened. I was actually going to sign for Falkirk in my Celtic trackie, but I thought I'd better not, just to keep it going... a wee routine!"
Back-up goalkeeper Bain went on to play his part in one of the most golden chapters in Celtic's history, helping the club to an incredible four Trebles in seven years. Now at Falkirk, he added: "I was pretty nervous on the drive through to Celtic Park with signing, thinking, 'Is this a jump too much?' I went from Dundee to Hibs, which I thought I would have done no bother, but you start thinking these things in the car. Thankfully, I had seven and a half years there and I loved it. The last year was a bit tough, but I loved every minute of it."
