I played in fierce Premier League derbies but nothing compares to Old Firm rivalry between Celtic and Rangers
Nobody knows more about UK football rivalries than Kolo Toure.
The legendary defender has played in all of the Premier League's most famous derbies, from north London to Manchester and Merseyside.
But for the former Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City defender, there is one match which outranks them all.
The Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers.
After 14 years in the Premier League, Toure finished his career at Celtic Park with a swansong treble-winning campaign under Brendan Rodgers.
The Ivory Coast icon timed his arrival perfectly – because it coincided with the return of Rangers to the Scottish Premiership following a four-year exile.
Starting next to a young, up-and-coming defender called Kieran Tierney, Toure was part of the Hoops team which thrashed their Glasgow rivals 5-1 in September 2016.
Celtic would also go on to dump Rangers out of the Scottish Cup and win 5-1 at Ibrox later in the season.
Toure experienced Ivory Coast matches that brought a warring nation together, but he never saw anything like the fever surrounding Parkhead that day in 2016.
He told talkSPORT.com: “The Glasgow derby is incredible because for me it's more than football. You can feel the tension. You can feel like two teams don't like each other, but it's more than football and it's more religion than anything else.
“And you know when it goes to religion, everybody is really passionate. The passion is high in religion.”
Once upon a time, the Old Firm derby was graced by the likes of Brian Laudrup, Paul Gascoigne and Henrik Larsson — but the football always played second fiddle.
Grounded in religion and politics, the bitterness between Celtic and Rangers has shaped the very cultural fabric of Scotland.
While Celtic traditionally stands for
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