Celtic F.C.
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Celtic F.C.

Full name	The Celtic Football Club
Nickname(s)	"The Bhoys" "The Hoops" "The Celts"
Founded	1888
Ground	Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland (Capacity: 60,832)
Chairman	Dr John Reid
Manager	Gordon Strachan
League	Scottish Premier League
2007-08	Scottish Premier League, 1st (champions)
Home colours 　 Away colours

The Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. Celtic are the champions of Scotland, having completed a hat-trick of titles on 22 May 2008, the final day of the 2007-08 season. Since its formation in 1888, Celtic has won the Scottish crown on 42 occasions and is the only Scottish team to have won Europe's premier football competition, the European Cup, in 1967 and also hold the record for the most number of Scottish Cups (34).

The full name of the club is The Celtic Football Club ("Celtic" is pronounced with a soft "c" sound). Until 1994, the club's full name was The Celtic Football and Athletic Company Ltd, whilst outside Scotland they are often referred to as Glasgow Celtic. Celtic play home games at Celtic Park (commonly referred to as Parkhead) which has a capacity of 60,832, making it the largest football stadium in Scotland. Together with their rivals, Rangers, they form the Old Firm which is one of the most famous and most fierce rivalries in sport. Celtic has traditionally been linked with its founding roots which originate from the Irish immigrant community in Glasgow.

In 1967, Celtic became the first British team to win the European Cup, which had previously been the preserve of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish clubs. Managed by Jock Stein, Celtic won every competition that they entered that season: the Scottish League Championship, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the European Cup and the Glasgow Cup. Because of this feat, Celtic became the first team to win an unofficial "Continental Quadruple".

Celtic are the only club ever to win the trophy with a team composed entirely of home-grown talent.^[1][2] as all of the players in the side were Scottish, and all were born within a 30-mile radius of Celtic Park. This team became known as the Lisbon Lions. Celtic again reached the European Cup final in 1970, only to be beaten by Feyenoord in extra time. In 2003 Martin O'Neill led the team to the UEFA Cup final in Seville where they lost 3-2 to F.C. Porto after extra time. Close to 80,000 Celtic supporters travelled to Seville for the final, believed by UEFA to be the largest foreign travelling support in history at the time.^{[3] [4]}

The club's traditional playing colours are green and white hooped shirts and white shorts with white socks. Celtic have an estimated fan base of nine million, including one million in North America. ^[5]

Formation and history

Main article: History of Celtic F.C.

Celtic Football Club was formally constituted at a meeting in St. Mary's Church Hall on East Rose Street (now Forbes Street), Calton, Glasgow, by an Irish Marist brother named Brother Walfrid originally from Ballymote in County Sligo on 6 November 1887. The purpose stated in the official club records as "being to alleviate poverty in Glasgow's East End parishes".

Walfrid's move to establish the club as a means of fund raising for his charity, The Poor Children's Dinner Table, was largely inspired by the example of Hibernian F.C. who were formed out of the immigrant Irish population thirteen years earlier in Edinburgh. Walfrid's own suggestion of the name 'Celtic' (pronounced Seltik), was intended to reflect the club's Irish and Scottish roots, and was adopted at the same meeting.

On 28 May 1888, Celtic played their first official match against a Rangers Reserve team and won 5-2 in what was described as a "friendly encounter". Celtic had 8 'guest' players from Hibernian playing that day.

Celtic and the media

The Celtic View, the oldest football club magazine in the United Kingdom.

Celtic have always attempted to engage directly with the fans and bypass the traditional media outlets as a method of communicating accurate information to the outside world about the inner workings of the club.^{citation needed}

In 1965 Celtic began publishing The Celtic View, the UK's first ever regular football club newspaper.^{citation needed}

In 2004 Celtic launched its own digital TV channel Celtic TV available in the UK through Setanta Sports on satellite and cable platforms. Since 2002 Celtic's Internet TV channel, Channel67 (previously known as Celtic Replay), has broadcast Celtic's own content worldwide, offers live match coverage to subscribers outside the UK, and now provides 3 online channels.

Old Firm and sectarianism

See also: Sectarianism in Glasgow

Celtic have a historic association with the people of Ireland and Scots of Irish extraction, who are both predominantly Catholic. Fans of rivals Rangers tended to come from Protestant backgrounds and were supporters of British Unionism. As a result both clubs became linked to the opposing factions in the political difficulties of Northern Ireland, which intensified the rivalry in Scotland.

In recent times both clubs have taken measures to combat sectarianism. Working alongside the Scottish Parliament, church groups and community organisations, the Old Firm has clamped down on sectarian songs, inflammatory flag-waving, and troublesome supporters, using increased levels of policing and surveillance.^[6][7] In 1996, for instance, Celtic launched their Bhoys Against Bigotry campaign, later followed by Youth Against Bigotry to "educate the young on having ... respect for all aspects of the community - all races, all colours, all creeds", according to then chief executive Ian McLeod.^[8]

Recent seasons

2004-05

Further information: Celtic F.C. season 2004-05

Following a race for the SPL title, with Rangers closely following, the club extended their lead at the top of the SPL table to two points as they lined up for the final game of the season, with a win at Motherwell F.C. required to seal the title. With two minutes remaining on the clock, Celtic were leading 1-0; a result which would have handed them the league.

However, Motherwell's Scott McDonald (who later signed for and is currently playing for Celtic) netted two last-minute goals. Rangers defeated Hibernian 1-0 at Easter Road, thereby winning the league championship title. Earlier in the season Celtic recorded a record seventh straight win over city rivals Rangers.

Celtic ended the season one week later with a 1-0 win over Dundee United F.C. in the Scottish Cup Final, which was marked by fans as Martin O'Neill's final match as manager.

On 25 May 2005, O'Neill announced he would resign as manager of Celtic at the end of 2004-05 season along with first team coach Steve Walford and assistant manager John Robertson. It was widely reported that O'Neill decided to take time out of football in order to care for his ailing wife Geraldine, who was ill with lymphoma [1]. He is currently manager of Aston Villa F.C.

2005-06

Further information: Celtic F.C. season 2005-06

With a new season starting, Celtic also had a new manager: Gordon Strachan, the former Scotland, Aberdeen and Manchester United midfielder took over from Martin O'Neill. Garry Pendrey was appointed as Strachan's assistant manager.

Before his first game, he was already getting criticized by the press for signing unknown players such as Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura from relegation battlers Reggina of Serie A and Polish goalkeeper Artur Boruc from Legia Warsaw. In Celtic's first competitive game under Strachan, they lost 5-0 in a UEFA Champions League qualifier to Slovakian minnows Artmedia Bratislava. After this game, many expected Strachan to be sacked before the end of the season. Strachan was under more pressure after the first SPL game of the season after his side lost a 3-1 lead away to Motherwell and only escaped with a point after grabbing a late equaliser in a 4-4 draw. The shoots of recovery started to grow with a 4-0 win in the home leg of the Champions League tie with Artmedia and although Celtic lost 3-1 to Rangers in the first Glasgow derby of the season, the team went on a 13 game unbeaten run, winning 12 of those games before losing to Dunfermline.

Celtic showed their Championship credentials on New Year's Day 2006, after staging a late comeback to beat rivals Hearts 3-2 in a top-of-the-table clash at Tynecastle thanks to two late goals from centre-half Stephen McManus.

After signing Roy Keane from Manchester United in January 2006, Celtic lost to Clyde 2-1 in the Scottish Cup. Their impressive league form continued however and on 19th February Celtic set a new scoring record for the SPL, an 8-1 victory at East End Park against Dunfermline in February 2006, where Maciej Żurawski scored 4 goals and assisted in 2 others.

On 19th March 2006, Gordon Strachan won his first trophy for Celtic with a 3-0 win over Dunfermline in the final of the CIS Cup.

On 5 April 2006 Celtic clinched their 40th title thanks to a goal from John Hartson in a 1-0 win against Hearts at Celtic Park. The title was Celtic's fourth title in six years. This feat was achieved with six games remaining until the end of the season and before the SPL split. The Bhoys lifted the SPL trophy on Easter Sunday 2006 at home to Hibernian, after a 1-1 draw.

In April 2006, Celtic's reserve and Under-19 teams also won their championships, completing a clean sweep of Scotland's league competitions. Celtic's reserve team had won their league 5 years in a row and the Under-19s had won their league 4 years in a row.

2006-07

Further information: Celtic F.C. season 2006-07

Such was the good form of Celtic and the lack of a clear rival in the early stages of the 2006/07 season, that bookmakers Paddy Power took the unprecedented step of paying out on Celtic as the winners of the SPL on November 4, 2006, only 13 games into the season.^{citation needed} By mid-November Celtic were 15 points clear of their nearest challengers.

On November 21, Celtic defeated Manchester United 1-0 at home earning them qualification to the knockout stage of the last 16 teams for the first time since the format was altered in 1993, drawing AC Milan. After both legs of the tie ended 0-0, Celtic's Champions League run was ended by a solitary Milan goal in extra-time by Kaka.

During the January 2007 transfer window Celtic signed Scotland internationals and former Hearts players Steven Pressley and Paul Hartley, full-back Jean-Joël Perrier-Doumbé from Rennes on loan and goalkeeper Mark Brown from Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

On April 22, 2007 Celtic won their 41st league championship, and second in a row. The title was won by an injury-time free-kick from Shunsuke Nakamura in a 2-1 victory against Kilmarnock, after Jan Vennegoor Of Hesselink had the Hoops in front, before Colin Nish equalized for Kilmarnock just after half-time. ^[9] The result left Celtic 13 points clear of Rangers with four matches remaining. They then finished the season 12 points above Rangers.

On 26 May 2007 Celtic won the Scottish Cup for a record 34th time after beating Dunfermline 1-0. The winner was scored by Jean-Joël Perrier-Doumbé in the 84th minute.

2007-08

Further information: Celtic F.C. season 2007-08

Last Old Firm clash of the season results in 3:2 victory for Celtic.

Celtic bolstered their side for the 2007-08 season, signing Scott Brown, Chris Killen, Scott McDonald and Massimo Donati. Skipper Neil Lennon left for Nottingham Forest after seven years with the club, with Stephen McManus taking over the club captaincy.^[10] However Lennon returned to the club later in the season as a coach.

Wikinews has related news:

UEFA Champions League 2007/08: Celtic 1-1 Spartak Moscow

Celtic was drawn against Russian side Spartak Moscow in the third round of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League 2007-08. The tie ended in a penalty shootout, with Artur Boruc saving twice to ensure Celtic's passage to the next round. This was Celtic's first European penalty shootout victory.^{citation needed} They competed against AC Milan, Benfica and FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stages, who they beat 2-1, 1-0, and 2-1 respectively at home, but losing all their away matches. They finished second in their group, ensuring qualification to the knockout stage for the second year in succession. Celtic were drawn against FC Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League. The first leg, played at Celtic Park, saw them defeated 3-2, after being ahead 1-0 and 2-1. In the second leg Barcelona grabbed an early goal through Xavi and held on for a 1-0 win on the night and 4-2 win overall.

The club's first signing of the winter transfer window was Andreas Hinkel. They followed up by signing Japanese youngster Koki Mizuno, Greek international striker Georgios Samaras on loan from Manchester City, Barry Robson from Dundee Utd as well as young striker Ben Hutchinson from Middlesbrough.

Although leading for the early part of the season, Celtic found themselves 7 points behind Rangers having played a game more with only seven weeks of the season left, because of this the manager was badly criticised and there was speculation that he might be sacked or resign. However, the club made a remarkable comeback, winngin their last 7 games, including two victories over rivals Rangers at Celtic Park 2-1 and 3-2, and won the league on 22nd May 2008, the last day of the season with a 1-0 win over Dundee United. Meanwhile Rangers lost to Aberdeen at Pittodrie. The victory was dedicated to the memory of Tommy Burns, former player and manager, who had died the previous Thursday. The result also meant Gordon Strachan became only the third Celtic manager to win three consecutive league championships.

2008-09

Further information: Celtic F.C. season 2008-09

Celtic signed Pat McCourt from League of Ireland side Derry City on a 3 year contract on 19th June.

Celtic have already qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League after winning a 3rd consecutive SPL title.

The first SPL game of the season is at home to St Mirren on Sunday 10th August.

Records

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• The Scottish Cup final win against Aberdeen in 1937 was attended by a crowd of 146,433 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, which remains a record for a club match in European football
• Celtic currently hold the UK record for an unbeaten run in professional football: 62 games (49 won, 13 drawn), from 13 November 1915 until 21 April 1917- a total of 17 months and four days in all (they lost at home to Kilmarnock on the last day of the season)
• Celtic also hold the SPL record for an unbeaten run of home matches (77), spanning from 2001 to 2004 (this run was ended by a 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen on 21 April 2004), and the record for the longest run of consecutive wins in a single season (25 matches)
• Record victory: 11-0, against Dundee in 1895
• Record defeat: 0-8 against Motherwell in 1937
• Record home defeat: 0-7 against Dumbarton in 1892.
• Record post war home defeat 1-5 Aberdeen 1948
• Record European victory 9-0 KPV Kokkola (Finland), 1970
• Record European defeat: 0-5 against FC Artmedia Bratislava on 27 July 2005
• Record victory against Rangers: 7-1 1957 Scottish league cup final
• Complete record v Rangers P-371 W-133 D-91 L-147 F-508 A-529
• Record points earned in a season: 72 (Premier Division, 1987/88, 2 points for a win); 103 (Scottish Premier League, 2001/02, 3 points for a win), also the SPL points tally record
• Record home attendance: 92,000 against Rangers in 1938. A 3-0 victory for Celtic
• Most capped player: 102, Kenny Dalglish: Scotland.
• Record appearances: Billy McNeill, 790 from 1957 - 1975
• Most goals in a season: Henrik Larsson, 53
• Record scorer: Jimmy McGrory, 468
• First British club to reach the final of the European Cup
• First Scottish, British and Northern Europe team to win the European Cup
• Only club in history to have won the European Cup with a team comprised entirely of home-grown players (born within a 30 mile radius of the stadium)
• Hold the record for the highest score in a domestic cup final: Celtic 7 - 1 Rangers, Scottish League Cup Final 1957^[11]
• Hold the record for the highest attendance for a European club competition match: Celtic v Leeds United in the European Cup semi-final 1970 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Official attendance 136,505
• Fastest hat-trick in European Club Football - Mark Burchill vs Jeunesse Esch, Luxembourg in 2000^{citation needed}
• Earliest SPL Championship won. Won with 6 games to go against Kilmarnock on 18 April 2004 and Hearts on 5 April 2006
• First weekly club publication in the UK, The Celtic View.
• Biggest margin of victory in the SPL. 8-1 against Dunfermline, February 2006
• First stadium in the UK to stage motorcycle speedway racing on 28 April 1928.
• Celtic and Hibernian hold the record for the biggest transfer fee between two Scottish clubs. Celtic bought Scott Brown from Hibernian on 16 May 2007 for £4.4m^[12][13]

Major honours

Trophy case at Celtic Park

• European Cup: 1
  

1966-67

• Scottish League championships: 42
  

1893, 1894, 1896, 1898, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1922, 1926, 1936, 1938, 1954, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974*, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008

• Scottish Cup: 34 (record)
  

1892, 1899, 1900, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1911, 1912, 1914, 1923, 1925, 1927, 1931, 1933, 1937, 1951, 1954, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007

• Scottish League Cup: 13
  

1957, 1958, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1983, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006

Minor honours

• European Cup runners-up: 1
  

1969-70

• UEFA Cup runners-up: 1
  

2002-03

• FIFA World Club Cup/Intercontinental Cup runners-up: 1
  

1967

• Glasgow Cup: 28
  

1891, 1892, 1895, 1896, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1939, 1941, 1949, 1956, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1975*, 1982

• British League Cup: 1
  

1902[2]

• Ferencvaros Vase: 1
  

1914

• Navy and Army War Fund Shield: 1
  

1918

• Empire Exhibition Trophy: 1
  

1938

• Victory In Europe Cup: 1
  

1945

• Saint Mungo Cup: 1
  

1951

• Coronation Cup: 1
  

1953

• Alfredo di Stefano Trophy: 1
  

1967

• CNE Cup of Champions: 1
  

1968

• Drybrough Cup: 1
  

1974

• World of Soccer Cup: 1
  

1977

• Scottish Youth Cup: 9
  

1984, 1987, 1989, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006

• Under 18 Scottish Premier League: 2
  

2000, 2003

• Under 19 Scottish Premier League: 3
  

2004, 2005, 2006

• Under 21 Scottish Premier League: 3
  

2002, 2003, 2004

• Reserve Scottish Premier League: 4
  

2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

* 1975 trophy shared with Rangers after a 2-2 draw

Individual

All players are from Scotland unless otherwise stated.

Top Goalscorers

#	Name	Career	Goals
1	James McGrory	1922-1937	472
2	Bobby Lennox	1961-1978 1979-1980	273
3	Henrik Larsson	1997-2004	242
4	Stevie Chalmers	1958-1971	231
5	Jimmy Quinn	1900-1917	217
6	Patsy Gallacher	1911-1926	192
7	John Hughes	1960-1971	189
8	Sandy McMahon	1891-1903	171
9	Jimmy McMenemy	1902-1920	168
10	Kenny Dalglish	1969-1977	167

Most Appearances

#	Name	Career	Apps
1	Billy McNeill	1957-1975	790
2	Paul McStay	1981-1997	678
3	Roy Aitken	1976-1990	669
4	Danny McGrain	1970-1987	661
5	Pat Bonner	1978-1995	642
6	Bobby Lennox	1961-1978 1979-1980	587
7	Bobby Evans	1944-1960	548
8	Jimmy Johnstone	1962-1975	515
9	Jimmy McMenemy	1902-1920	515
10	Tommy Burns	1975-1989	504

Managers

Players

Current squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Artur Boruc 2 DF Andreas Hinkel 3 DF Lee Naylor 5 DF Gary Caldwell 6 DF Bobo Baldé 7 FW Scott McDonald 8 MF Scott Brown 10 FW Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (vice-captain) 11 MF Paul Hartley 12 DF Mark Wilson 14 FW Derek Riordan 15 MF Evander Sno 16 MF Thomas Gravesen 18 MF Massimo Donati 19 MF Barry Robson 20 MF Patrick McCourt

No. Position Player 21 GK Mark Brown 23 FW Ben Hutchinson 24 DF Jean-Joël Perrier-Doumbé 25 MF Shunsuke Nakamura 26 FW Cillian Sheridan 29 MF Koki Mizuno 33 FW Chris Killen 41 DF John Kennedy 42 FW Michael McGlinchey 44 DF Stephen McManus (captain) 46 MF Aiden McGeady 48 DF Darren O'Dea 49 DF Scott Cuthbert 52 DF Paul Caddis 53 MF Simon Ferry 55 FW Paul McGowan

2007-08 transfers

For a list of Celtic's 2007-08 transfers and a broader view of the 2007-08 season see here.

2008-09 transfers

Click here for a list of Celtic transfers in season 2008-09.

Reserve and youth squads

No. Position Player -- GK Paul Skinner (Reserve) -- DF Laurence Gaughan (Reserve) -- DF Daniel Lafferty (Reserve) -- DF Jason Marr (Reserve) -- DF Marian Pop (Youth) -- DF Kevin Ross (Reserve) -- DF Richie Towell (Reserve) -- MF Sean Anderson (Reserve) -- MF Paul Cahillane (Reserve) -- MF Graham Carey (Reserve) -- MF Richard Filaret (Youth)

No. Position Player -- MF Charles Grant (Reserve) -- MF Ross Hepburn (Reserve) -- MF Tomislav Pavlov (Youth) -- FW Deaglan Bunting (Reserve) -- FW Kevin Cawley (Reserve) -- FW Gary Livingstone (Reserve) -- FW Mark Millar (Reserve) 50 MF Luca Santonocito (Youth) 54 MF Ryan Conroy (Reserve) 62 GK Scott Fox (Reserve)

Non-playing staff

Boardroom

Management

Sponsors

• Carling
• NTL Ireland
• T-Mobile
• Nike, Inc.
• Thomas Cook
• Phoenix Motorcars
• MBNA
• The Big Plus
• Sanyo
• BT
• Scottish Leader (whisky)
• Soccer Savings
• Celtic Village
• Seat Exchange

Notable former players

• Mohammed Abdul Salim - first ever Indian sub continent (Asian) player to play for a European team
• John Thomson - a goalkeeper who was killed in an Old Firm game
• Joe Kennaway - first ever foreign player to play for Celtic

Click here for a full List of Celtic F.C. players or click here for a List of Celtic F.C. international footballers

Greatest ever team

The following team was voted the greatest ever Celtic team by supporters in 2002.^[15]

• Ronnie Simpson
• Danny McGrain
• Tommy Gemmell
• Bobby Murdoch
• Paul McStay
• Billy McNeill - Voted Celtic's greatest ever Captain
• Bertie Auld
• Jimmy Johnstone - Voted Celtic's greatest ever player
• Bobby Lennox
• Kenny Dalglish
• Henrik Larsson - Voted Celtic's greatest ever foreign player

See also

• Richest football clubs
• Sport in Scotland
• Football in Scotland
• Lisbon Lions
• European Cup 1966-67
• UEFA Cup 2002-03
• The Bhoys from Seville
• 1967 European Cup Final
• Hampden in the sun
• List of Celtic F.C. players
• Lennoxtown training ground
• Celtic Boys Club
• Channel67
• The Celtic View

References