![CelticFC League Performance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/CelticFC_League_Performance.svg)
The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club based in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, which plays in the
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...
. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the
immigrant Irish population in the
East End of Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. They played their first match in May 1888, a friendly match against
Rangers which Celtic won 5–2. Celtic established themselves within Scottish football, winning six successive league titles during the first decade of the 20th century. The club enjoyed their greatest successes during the 1960s and 70s under
Jock Stein
John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...
, when they won nine consecutive league titles and the
1967 European Cup. Celtic have played in green and white throughout their history, adopting hoops in 1903, which have been used ever since.
Celtic are one of only five clubs in the world to have won over 100 trophies in their history. The club has won the
Scottish league championship
The Scottish League Championship (currently the Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the fi ...
52 times, most recently in
2021–22, the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,[Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...](_blank)
20 times. The club's greatest season was
1966–67, when Celtic became the first British team to win the
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
, also winning the
Scottish league championship
The Scottish League Championship (currently the Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the fi ...
, the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,[League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...](_blank)
and the
Glasgow Cup
The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rules ...
. Celtic also reached the
1970 European Cup Final
The 1970 European Cup Final was a football match held at the San Siro, Milan, on 6 May 1970, that saw Feijenoord of the Netherlands defeat Celtic of Scotland 2–1 after extra time. Ove Kindvall's goal in the 117th minute meant the trophy was won ...
and the
2003 UEFA Cup Final
The 2003 UEFA Cup Final was played on 21 May 2003 between Celtic of Scotland and Porto of Portugal. Porto won the match 3–2 in extra time thanks to a goal from Derlei. This was also the first game to use the silver goal rule, although it did no ...
, losing in both.
Celtic have a long-standing fierce rivalry with
Rangers, and the clubs are known as the
Old Firm
The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...
, seen by some as the world's biggest football derby. The club's
fanbase
A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significant p ...
was estimated in 2003 as being around nine million worldwide, and there are more than 160 Celtic supporters clubs in over 20 countries. An estimated 80,000 fans travelled to
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
for the 2003 UEFA Cup Final, and their "extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour" in spite of defeat earned the club
Fair Play
Fair play or Fairplay usually refers to sportsmanship.
Fair play or Fairplay may also refer to:
Media
* ''Fair Play'' (1925 film), an American silent film
* ''Fair Play'', a 1972 TV movie starring Paul Ford
* ''Fair Play'' (2014 film), a Czech ...
awards from
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
and
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
.
History
![BrotherWalfrid(AndrewKerins)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/BrotherWalfrid%28AndrewKerins%29.jpg)
Celtic Football Club was formally constituted at a meeting in
St. Mary's church hall in East Rose Street (now Forbes Street),
Calton, Glasgow
Calton ( gd, A' Challtainn, lit=the hazel wood, sco, Caltoun), known locally as The Calton, is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde, and just to the east of the city centre. Calton's most famous ...
, by Irish
Marist Brother Walfrid
Andrew Kerins ( ga, Aindreas Ó Céirín; 18 May 1840 – 17 April 1915), known by his religious name Brother Walfrid, was an Irish Marist Brother and is best remembered for being the founder of Scottish football club Celtic.
Life
Walfrid was ...
on 6 November 1887, with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the East End of Glasgow by raising money for the charity Walfrid had instituted, the ''Poor Children's Dinner Table''. Walfrid's move to establish the club as a means of fund-raising was largely inspired by the example of
Hibernian, which was formed out of the immigrant Irish population a few years earlier in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. 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. The club has the official nickname, ''The Bhoys''. However, according to the Celtic press office, the newly established club was known to many as "the bold boys". A
postcard
A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...
from the early 20th century that pictured the team and read "The Bould Bhoys" is the first known example of the unique spelling. The extra ''h'' imitates the spelling system of Gaelic, wherein the letter ''b'' is often accompanied by the letter ''h''.
![Celtic fc 1889](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Celtic_fc_1889.jpg)
On 28 May 1888, Celtic played their first official match against
Rangers and won 5–2 in what was described as a "friendly encounter".
Neil McCallum scored Celtic's first goal.
Celtic's first kit consisted of a white shirt with a green collar, black shorts, and emerald green socks.
The original club crest was a simple green
cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
on a red oval background.
In
1889
Events
January–March
* January 1
** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada.
** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the ...
Celtic reached the final of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,[Third Lanark
Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...](_blank)
. Celtic reached the final again in
1892
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States.
* February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado.
* February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...
and this time were victorious after defeating
Queen's Park 5–1, the club's first major
honour
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
. Several months later the club moved to its new ground,
Celtic Park
Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...
, and in the following season won the
Scottish League Championship
The Scottish League Championship (currently the Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the fi ...
for the first time.
In 1895, Celtic set the League record for the highest home score when they beat
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
11–0.
In 1897, the club became a
private limited company
A private limited company is any type of business entity in "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Examples include the '' LLC'' in the United Sta ...
and
Willie Maley
William Patrick Maley (25 April 1868 – 2 April 1958) was an Irish-born Scottish international football player and manager. He was the first manager of Celtic Football Club, and one of the most successful managers in Scottish football history. ...
was appointed as the first 'secretary-
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
'. Between
1905
As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...
and
1910
Events
January
* January 13 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; live performances of the operas '' Cavalleria rusticana'' and ''Pagliacci'' are sent out over the airwaves, from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York C ...
, Celtic won the Scottish League Championship six times in a row.
They also won the Scottish Cup in both
1907
Events
January
* January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000.
February
* February 11 – The French warship ''Jean Bart'' sinks off the coast of Morocco. ...
and
1908
Events
January
* January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica.
* January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...
, the first times a Scottish club had ever won the
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* Th ...
.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Celtic won the league four times in a row, including 62 matches unbeaten between November 1915 and April 1917.
The mid-1920s saw the emergence of
Jimmy McGrory
James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...
as one of the most prolific goalscorers in British football history; over a sixteen-year playing career, he scored 550 goals in 547 games (including 16 goals for
Clydebank
Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...
during a season on loan in 1923–24), a British goal-scoring record to this day.
In January 1940, Willie Maley's retirement was announced. He was 71 years old and had served the club in varying roles for nearly 52 years, initially as a player and then as secretary-manager.
Jimmy McStay
James McStay (1 April 1895 – 31 December 1973) was a Scottish football player and manager. He spent most of his career at Celtic, and was a captain and manager for the club.
Career
A full back (successfully converted from left half by ma ...
became manager of the club in February 1940. He spent over five years in this role, although due to the Second World War no official competitive league football took place during this time. The Scottish Football League and Scottish Cup were suspended and in their place regional league competitions were set up. Celtic did not do particularly well during the war years, but did win the Victory in Europe Cup held in May 1945 as a one-off
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
match to celebrate
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...
.
Ex-player and captain Jimmy McGrory took over as manager in 1945.
Under McGrory, Celtic defeated
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
,
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
and Hibernian to win the
Coronation Cup
The Coronation Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards (2, ...
, a one-off tournament held in May 1953 to commemorate the coronation of
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
. He also led them to a League and Cup double in 1954. On 19 October 1957, Celtic defeated
Rangers in the final of the
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
at
Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
in Glasgow, retaining the trophy they had won for the first time the previous year; the
7–1 scoreline remains a record win in a British domestic cup final. The years that followed, however, saw Celtic struggle and the club won no more trophies under McGrory.
Former Celtic captain
Jock Stein
John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...
succeeded McGrory in 1965. He won the Scottish Cup in his first few months at the club, and then led them to the League title the following season.
1967 was Celtic's
annus mirabilis
''Annus mirabilis'' (pl. ''anni mirabiles'') is a Latin phrase that means "marvelous year", "wonderful year", "miraculous year", or "amazing year". This term has been used to refer to several years during which events of major importance are rem ...
. The club won every competition they entered: the Scottish League, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the
Glasgow Cup
The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rules ...
, and the
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
. Under the leadership of Stein, the club defeated
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...
2–1 at the
Estádio Nacional
The Estádio Nacional (English: National Stadium), also known as National Stadium Sports Complex ( pt, Complexo Desportivo do Estádio Nacional) and as ''Jamor Sports Complex'' ( pt, Complexo Desportivo do Jamor), is a national football stadium ...
in Lisbon, on 25 May 1967 to become the first British team,
and indeed the first from outside Spain, Portugal and Italy to win the competition. They remain the only Scottish team to have reached the final. The players that day, all of whom were born within 30 miles of Glasgow, subsequently became known as the "
Lisbon Lions
The Lisbon Lions is the nickname given to the Celtic team that won the European Cup at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose ma ...
". The following season Celtic lost to
Racing Club Racing Club may refer to:
Football
* Racing Club Abidjan, Ivory Coast
* K.R.C. Genk, Belgium
* Racing Club Bafoussam, Cameroon
* Racing Club Beirut, Lebanon
* Racing Club de Avellaneda, Argentina
* Racing Club Haïtien, Haiti
* Racing Club Port ...
of Argentina in the
Intercontinental Cup.
Celtic reached the European Cup Final again in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
, but were beaten 2–1 by
Feyenoord
Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...
at the
San Siro
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...
in Milan.
The club continued to dominate Scottish football in the early 1970s, and their Scottish Championship win in 1974 was their
ninth consecutive league title, equalling the joint world record held at the time by
MTK Budapest
Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre is a multi-sports club from Budapest, founded in 1888. It has sections for football, handball, basketball, volleyball, futsal, ice hockey, water polo, cycling, gymnastics, athletics, fencing, canoeing, boxing, wrestlin ...
and
CSKA Sofia
CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...
.
Celtic enjoyed further domestic success in the 1980s, and in their
Centenary season of 1987–88 won a
Scottish Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...
and Scottish Cup double.
The club endured a slump in the early 1990s, culminating in the
Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...
informing directors on 3 March 1994 that it was calling in the receivers as a result of the club exceeding a £5 million
overdraft
An overdraft occurs when something is withdrawn in excess of what is in a current account. For financial systems, this can be funds in a bank account. For water resources, it can be groundwater in an aquifer. In these situations the account is s ...
.
However, expatriate businessman
Fergus McCann
Fergus John McCann (born 26 February 1941) is a Scottish–Canadian businessman and entrepreneur.
Biography
McCann's wealth stemmed initially from a golf vacation company, based in Montreal and Phoenix. He is best known for his involvement in C ...
wrested control of the club, and ousted the family dynasties which had controlled Celtic since its foundation. According to media reports, McCann took over the club minutes before it was to be declared bankrupt. McCann reconstituted the club business as a
public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company ...
– Celtic PLC – and oversaw the redevelopment of Celtic Park into a 60,832 all-seater stadium. In
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
Celtic won the title again under Dutchman
Wim Jansen
Wilhelmus Marinus Antonius Jansen (; 28 October 1946 – 25 January 2022) was a Dutch professional football player and manager.
As a midfielder or defender, he spent most of his career at Feyenoord, winning honours including the European Cup ...
and prevented Rangers from beating their nine-in-a-row record.
Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...
took charge of the club in June 2000. Under his leadership, Celtic won three
SPL
SPL may refer to:
Association football
* Saudi Professional League
* Scottish Premier League
* SportPesa Premier League, Kenya
* Singapore Premier League
* RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots
Computing Program ...
championships out of five (losing the others by very small margins) and in his first season in charge the club also won the domestic treble, making O'Neill only the second Celtic manager to do so after Jock Stein. In 2003, around 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to watch the club compete in the
UEFA Cup Final in
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
.
[ Celtic lost 3–2 to ]Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
after extra time, despite two goals from Henrik Larsson
Edward Henrik Larsson (born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional football coach and former player, formerly an assistant manager of Barcelona. Playing as a striker, Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. In 1992, he moved to Hels ...
during normal time. The conduct of the thousands of travelling Celtic supporters received widespread praise from the people of Seville and the fans were awarded Fair Play Awards from both FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
and UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
"for their extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour".
Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...
was announced as O'Neill's replacement in June 2005 and after winning the SPL title in his first year in charge, he became only the third Celtic manager to win three titles in a row. He also guided Celtic to their first UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
knockout stage in 2006–07 and repeated the feat in 2007–08 before departing the club in May 2009, after failing to win the SPL title. Tony Mowbray
Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender.
He began his coaching career with Ip ...
took charge of the club in June 2009, and he was succeeded a year later by Neil Lennon
Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player.
During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...
. In November 2010, Celtic set an SPL record for the biggest win in SPL history, defeating Aberdeen 9–0 at Celtic Park.
Celtic celebrated their 125th anniversary in November 2012, the same week as a Champions League match against Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. They won 2–1 on the night to complete a memorable week, and eventually qualified from the group stages for the round of 16. Celtic finished the season with the SPL and Scottish Cup double. The club clinched their third consecutive league title in March 2014, with goalkeeper Fraser Forster
Fraser Gerard Forster (born 17 March 1988) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur.
Forster sta ...
setting a new record during the campaign of 1,256 minutes without conceding a goal in a league match. At the end of the season, manager Neil Lennon announced his departure from the club after four years in the role.
Norwegian Ronny Deila
Ronny Deila (born 21 September 1975) is a Norwegian football manager and former player, who is the manager of Standard Liège.
He spent most of his playing career at Odd before becoming head coach at Strømsgodset, winning the Norwegian Cup in ...
was appointed manager of Celtic on 6 June 2014. He went on to lead the team to two consecutive league titles and a League Cup, but the team's performances in European competition were poor. After being eliminated from the Scottish Cup by Rangers in April 2016, Deila announced he would leave the club at the end of the season.
On 20 May 2016, Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City.
Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed un ...
was announced as Deila's successor. His first season saw the team go on a long unbeaten run in domestic competitions, during which time the club won their 100th major trophy, defeating Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
3–0 in the League Cup Final in November 2016. Celtic also clinched their sixth successive league title in April 2017 with a record eight league games to spare, and eventually finished with a record 106 points, becoming the first Scottish side to complete a top-flight league season undefeated since Rangers in 1899. Celtic clinched their fourth treble by defeating Aberdeen 2–1 in the 2017 Scottish Cup Final
The 2017 Scottish Cup Final was the 132nd final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the 2016–17 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match took place at Hampden Park on 27 May 2017 and was contested ...
, the result of which saw the club go through the entire domestic season unbeaten.
Celtic continued their unbeaten domestic run into the following season, eventually extending it to 69 games, surpassing their own 100-year-old British record of 62 games, before finally losing to Hearts in November 2017. Celtic retained the League Cup that same month by defeating Motherwell in the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
, and went on to clinch their seventh consecutive league title in April 2018. They went on to defeat Motherwell again in the 2018 Scottish Cup Final
The 2018 Scottish Cup Final was the 133rd final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the 2017–18 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match took place at Hampden Park on 19 May 2018 and was contested ...
to clinch a second consecutive domestic treble (the "double treble"), the first club in Scotland to do so. Rodgers left the club midway through following season to join Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
; Neil Lennon returned as caretaker manager for the rest of the season and helped Celtic secure an unprecedented third consecutive domestic treble (the "treble treble"), defeating Hearts 2–1 in the 2019 Scottish Cup Final
The 2019 Scottish Cup Final was the 134th final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the 2018–19 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match took place at Hampden Park on 25 May 2019 and was contested ...
. Later that month, he was confirmed as the club's new manager.
In December 2019, Lennon led Celtic to a 1–0 win over Rangers in the 2019 Scottish League Cup Final
The 2019 Scottish League Cup Final was an association football match that took place on 8 December 2019 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. It was the final match of the 2019–20 Scottish League Cup, the 74th season of the Scottish League Cup (known as ...
, the club's tenth consecutive domestic trophy. By March 2020, Celtic were 13 points ahead in the league when professional football in Scotland was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...
. they were confirmed as champions in May 2020 following a SPFL
The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As we ...
board meeting where it was agreed that completing the full league campaign was infeasible. The completion of the 2019–20 Scottish Cup
The 2019–20 Scottish Cup was the 135th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament was sponsored by bookmaker William Hill in what was the final season of a nine-year partnership, after contract negotiat ...
was delayed, with the semi-finals and final – between Celtic and Hearts as in the previous year – not taking place until late autumn/winter of 2020. Celtic won on penalty-kicks after the sides tied at 3–3 after extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
, clinching a fourth successive treble. However, Celtic struggled throughout the 2020–21 season with poor performances in Europe, knocked out of the League Cup by Ross County, and by February 2021 were trailing 18 points behind Rangers in the league – effectively ending their hopes of winning "ten in a row" league titles. Lennon resigned on 24 February 2021, with assistant manager John Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
taking interim charge of the team. In the closing weeks of the season, Celtic were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Rangers which condemned them to their first trophy-less season since 2010, and finished the league campaign 25 points behind their Glasgow rivals.
Crest and colours
For most of Celtic's history their home strip has featured green and white horizontal hoops, but their original strip consisted of a white top with black shorts and black and green hooped socks. The top also featured the Marist Brothers' badge on the right hand side, consisting of a green Celtic cross
The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses er ...
inside a red circle. In 1889, the club changed to a green and white vertically striped top and for the next fourteen years this remained unchanged although the colour of the shorts alternated between white and black several times over this period. The top did not feature a crest.
In 1903, Celtic adopted their now famous green and white hooped tops. The new design was worn for the first time on 15 August 1903 in a match against Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
. Black socks continued to be worn until the early 1930s, at which point the team switched to green socks. Plain white socks came into use in the mid-1960s, and white has been the predominant colour worn since then.
The club began using a badge in the 1930s, featuring a four leaf clover logo surrounded by the club's formal title, "The Celtic Football and Athletic Coy. Ltd". However, it was not until 1977 that Celtic finally adopted the club crest on their shirts. The outer segment was reversed out, with white lettering on a green background on the team shirts. The text around the clover logo on the shirts was also shortened from the official club crest to "The Celtic Football Club". For their centenary year in 1988, a commemorative crest was worn, featuring the Celtic cross that appeared on their first shirts. The 1977 version was reinstated for season 1989–90.
From 1945 onwards numbered shirts slowly came into use throughout Scotland, before becoming compulsory in 1960. By this time Celtic were the last club in Britain to adopt the use of numbers on the team strip to identify players. The traditionalist and idealistic Celtic chairman, Robert Kelly, baulked at the prospect of the famous green and white hoops being disfigured, and as such Celtic wore their numbers on the players' shorts. This unusual tradition survived until 1994, although numbered shirts were worn in European competition The European Competition is a student competition in which students of all ages submit creative, artistic, or written pieces of work on the activities of the European Union. Tendered by European Movement Germany, it is the oldest student competition ...
from 1975 onwards. Celtic's tradition of wearing numbers on their shorts rather than on the back of their shirts was brought to an end when the Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...
instructed Celtic to wear numbers on their shirts from the start of the 1994–95 season. Celtic responded by adding numbers to the top of their sleeves, however within a few weeks the football authorities ordered the club to attach them to the back of their shirts, where they appeared on a large white patch, breaking up the green and white hoops.
In 1984 Celtic took up shirt sponsorship for the first time, with Fife-based double glazing firm CR Smith having their logo emblazoned on the front of the team jersey. In season 1991–92, Celtic switched to Glasgow-based car sales company Peoples as sponsors. The club failed to secure a shirt sponsor for season 1992–93, and for the first time since the early 1980s Celtic took to the field in 'unblemished' hoops. Despite the loss of marketing revenue, sales of the new unsponsored replica top increased dramatically. Celtic regained shirt sponsorship for season 1993–94, with CR Smith returning as shirt sponsors in a four-year deal.
In 2005 the club severed their connection with Umbro, suppliers of their kits since the 1960s and entered into a contract with Nike, Inc., Nike. To mark the 40th anniversary of their European Cup win, a special crest was introduced for the 2007–08 season. The star that represents this triumph was retained when the usual crest was reinstated the following season. In 2012, a retro style kit was designed by Nike that included narrower hoops to mark the club's 125th anniversary. A special crest was introduced with a Celtic knot design embroidered round the traditional badge. A third-choice strip based on the first strip from 1888 was also adopted for the season.
In March 2015, Celtic agreed a new kit deal worth £30 million with Boston-based sportswear manufacturer New Balance to replace Nike, Inc., Nike from the start of the 2015–16 season.
All of the kits for the 2017–18 Celtic F.C. season, 2017–18 season paid tribute to the Lisbon Lions
The Lisbon Lions is the nickname given to the Celtic team that won the European Cup at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose ma ...
, with the kits having a line on each side to represent the handles of the European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
. The kits also included a commemorative crest, designed specifically for the season. The regular crest was reinstated the following season, although the away strip featured a Celtic cross once again in reference to the club's heritage.
In March 2020, Celtic announced a new five-year partnership with Adidas starting on 1 July 2020, in a deal believed to be the biggest kit sponsorship ever in Scottish sport.
Stadium
Celtic's stadium is Celtic Park
Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...
, which is in the Parkhead area of Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. Celtic Park, an all-seater stadium with a capacity of , is the List of football stadiums in Scotland, largest football stadium in Scotland and the List of British stadiums by capacity, eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom, after Murrayfield Stadium, Murrayfield, Old Trafford, Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, Wembley Stadium, Wembley, the Olympic Stadium (London), London Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Millennium Stadium. It is commonly known as Parkhead or Paradise.
Celtic opened the Celtic Park (1888–92), original Celtic Park in the Parkhead area in 1888. The club moved to a different site in 1892, however, when the rental charge was greatly increased. The new site was developed into an oval shaped stadium, with vast terracing sections. The record attendance of 83,500 was set by an Old Firm
The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...
derby on 1 January 1938. The terraces were covered and floodlights were installed between 1957 and 1971. The Taylor Report mandated that all major clubs should have an all-seated stadium by August 1994. Celtic was in a bad financial position in the early 1990s and no major work was carried out until Fergus McCann
Fergus John McCann (born 26 February 1941) is a Scottish–Canadian businessman and entrepreneur.
Biography
McCann's wealth stemmed initially from a golf vacation company, based in Montreal and Phoenix. He is best known for his involvement in C ...
took control of the club in March 1994. He carried out a plan to demolish the old terraces and develop a new stadium in a phased rebuild, which was completed in August 1998. During this development, Celtic spent the 1994–95 in Scottish football, 1994–95 season playing at the national stadium Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
, costing the club £500,000 in rent. The total cost of the new stadium on its completion was £40 million.
Celtic Park has been used as a venue for Scotland national football team, Scotland internationals and Cup Finals, particularly when Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
has been unavailable. Before the First World War, Celtic Park hosted various other sporting events, including composite rules shinty-hurling, track and field and the 1897 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Track Cycling World Championships. Open-air Eucharist in the Catholic Church, masses, and First World War recruitment drives have also been held there. In more recent years, Celtic Park has hosted the Opening ceremony, Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the Special Olympics Great Britain, 2005 Special Olympics National Games and the 1990 Special Olympics European Games. Celtic Park has occasionally been used for concerts, including performances by The Who and U2.
In July 2016, Celtic Park became the first British football stadium to have a "Safe standing#Rail seats, rail seating" (safe standing) area in the ground. Rail seating is particularly common in Germany's Bundesliga, most notably at Borussia Dortmund's Westfalenstadion, a ground with a reputation on par with Celtic Park for its intensity and atmosphere.
In June 2018, Celtic announced a series of stadium improvements that would be implemented before the 2018–19 season. These include the installation of new Light-emitting diode, LED floodlights and a new entertainment system, a stadium-wide Public address system, PA system and a new GrassMaster, hybrid playing surface.
Supporters
In 2003 Celtic were estimated to have a fan base of nine million people, including one million in the US and Canada. There are over 160 Celtic Supporters Clubs in over 20 countries around the world.
An estimated 80,000 Celtic supporters, many without match tickets, travelled to Seville in Spain for the UEFA Cup Final in May 2003. The club's fans subsequently received awards from UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
and FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
for their behaviour at the match.[Alt URL]
[
Celtic has the highest average home attendance of any Scottish club. They also had the 12th highest average league attendance out of all the football clubs in Europe in 2011. A study of stadium attendance figures from 2013 to 2018 by the ''International Centre for Sports Studies, CIES Football Observatory'' ranked Celtic at 16th in the world during that period, and their proportion of the distribution of spectators in Scotland at 36.5%, the highest of any club in the leagues examined.
In October 2013, French football magazine published a list of whom they considered the 'best' football supporters in the world. Celtic fans were placed third, the only club in Britain on the list, with the magazine highlighting their rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone before the start of European ties at Celtic Park.
On 23 October 2017, Celtic fans were awarded with the FIFA Fan Award for their tifo commemorating the 50th anniversary of the club's European cup win. The award "celebrates the best fan moment of November 2016 to August 2017".
]
Sectarianism
Celtic's traditional rivals are Rangers; collectively, the two clubs are known as the Old Firm
The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...
and seen by some as the world's biggest football derby. The two have dominated Scottish football's history; between them, they have won the Scottish league championship 107 times (as of May 2022) since its inception in 1890 – all other clubs combined have won 19 championships. The two clubs are also by far the most supported in Scotland, with Celtic having the sixth highest home attendance in the UK during season 2014–15. Celtic have a historic association with the people of Ireland and Scots of Irish descent, both of whom are mainly Catholic Church, Roman Catholic.["What is being asserted is two identities: Rangers and Celtic. There are other boundaries: Protestant and Catholic / Unionist and Republican / Conservative and Socialist...."] Traditionally fans of rivals Rangers came from Scottish or Northern Irish Protestant backgrounds and support Unionism in Ireland.
The clubs have attracted the support of opposing factions in the The Troubles, Troubles in Northern Ireland. Some supporters use songs, chants and banners at matches to abuse or show support for the Protestant or Catholic religions and proclaim support for Northern Irish paramilitary groups such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, IRA and Ulster Volunteer Force (1966), UVF.
There have been over 400 Old Firm matches played. The games have been described as having an "atmosphere of hatred, religious tension and intimidation which continues to lead to violence in communities across Scotland." The rivalry has fuelled many assaults and even deaths on Old Firm Derby days. Admissions to hospital emergency rooms have been reported to increase ninefold over normal levels and in the period from 1996 to 2003, eight deaths in Glasgow were directly linked to Old Firm matches, and hundreds of assaults.
Both sets of fans fought on the pitch after Celtic's victory in the 1980 Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
. There was serious fan disorder during an Old Firm match played in May 1999 at Celtic Park; missiles were thrown by Celtic fans, including one which struck referee Hugh Dallas, who needed medical treatment and a small number of fans invaded the pitch.
Celtic have taken measures to reduce sectarianism. In 1996, the club launched its ''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".
Irish republicanism
Some groups of Celtic fans have expressed their support for Irish republicanism and the Irish Republican Army by singing or chanting about them at matches.
In 2008 and 2010, there were protests by groups of fans over the team wearing the poppy for Remembrance Day, as the symbol is opposed by Irish Republicans owing to its association with the British military. Celtic expressed disapproval of these protests, saying they were damaging to the image of the club and its fans, and pledged to ban those involved. In 2011, UEFA and the Scottish Premier League investigated the club over pro-IRA chants by fans at different games. UEFA fined Celtic £12,700, while the SPL took no action, as the club had taken all reasonable action to prevent the chants.
Celtic media
In 1965, Celtic began publishing its own newspaper, ''The Celtic View'', now the oldest club magazine in football. It was the brainchild of future chairman Jack McGinn, who at the time was working in the circulation department of Beaverbrook Newspapers. McGinn himself edited the paper for the first few years, with circulation initially reaching around 26,000 copies. By 2020, it was a 72-page glossy magazine with over 6,000 weekly readers, and the top selling club magazine in the United Kingdom. In the spring of 2020, the magazine saw a temporary cease of production due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. However, in August 2021, Celtic announced the restart of the production activities for the magazine, which was turned into a 100-page, quarterly publication.
From 2002, Celtic's Internet TV channel Channel67 (previously known as Celtic Replay) broadcast Celtic's own content worldwide and offered live match coverage to subscribers outside the UK. It also provided three online channels. In 2004, Celtic launched their own digital TV channel called Celtic TV, which was available in the UK through Setanta Sports on satellite and cable platforms. Due to the collapse of Setanta in the UK in June 2009, Celtic TV stopped broadcasting, although the club hoped to find a new broadcast partner. In 2011, Celtic TV was relaunched as an online service and replaced Channel 67.
Influence on other clubs
Due to Celtic's large following, several clubs have decided to emulate or have been inspired by Celtic. As the club has a large following, especially in Northern Ireland, several clubs have been founded there by local Celtic fans. The most notable and successful was Belfast Celtic, formed in 1891 simply as ''Celtic''. Upon incorporation as a limited company in 1901, however, the club adopted the name "Belfast Celtic", the title "Celtic Football Club Ltd" already being registered by the Glasgow club. Their home from the same year was Celtic Park (Belfast), Celtic Park on Donegall Road in west Belfast, known to the fans as ''Paradise''. It was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew from the Irish Football League, Irish League in 1949. Donegal Celtic, currently playing in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League, was established in 1970, with the Celtic part being taken on due to the massive local following for Scotland's Celtic and formerly Belfast Celtic. They are nicknamed ''The Wee Hoops'' and play at Donegal Celtic Park on Suffolk Road in Belfast.
A club by the name of Lurgan Celtic was originally formed in 1903, with the obvious slant of aiming towards the Roman Catholic community of the Lurgan, town, adopting the name and colours of the Glaswegian Celtic. The County Armagh club currently plays in the NIFL Championship. In the Republic of Ireland, both Tuam Celtic A.F.C. and Castlebar Celtic F.C. play at grounds called Celtic Park.
Throughout Scotland and England, other clubs have been named after and adopted Celtic's kit. These include the now defunct Scottish club Blantyre Celtic F.C.; Irish club Listowel Celtic F.C.; and English lower-league clubs Cleator Moor Celtic F.C., which was founded in 1908–09 by Irish immigrants employed in the local iron ore mines, Celtic Nation F.C. (now defunct) and West Allotment Celtic F.C.
Somerset club Yeovil Town F.C., who traditionally wore an all-green shirt, modified their uniform to emulate Celtic's, inspired by the Scottish club's 2003 UEFA Cup run.
Outside the British Isles, South African club Bloemfontein Celtic F.C., one of the most popular club in the country with a large fan base in the Free State (South African province), Free State, is also named after Celtic F.C. Founded in 1969 as ''Mangaung United'', in 1984, the then owner Molemela took over the club and changed the name to ''Bloemfontein Celtic''. Based in Bloemfontein, they play in the Premier Soccer League. In the United States of America, Hurricanes F.C. of Houston, Houston, Texas rebranded as Celtic FC America in 2019 and play in the Texas Premier Soccer League.
Celtic and charity
Celtic was initially founded to raise money for the poor in the East End of Glasgow and the club still retain strong charitable traditions today. In 1995 the Celtic Charity Fund was formed with the aim of "revitalising Celtic's charitable traditions" and by September 2013 had raised over £5 million. The Charity Fund has since then merged with the Celtic Foundation, forming the Celtic FC Foundation (charity), Celtic FC Foundation, and continues to raise money for local, national and international causes.
On 9 August 2011 Celtic held a testimonial match in honour of former player John Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
. Due to the 2011 Horn of Africa famine, humanitarian crisis in East Africa, the entire proceeds were donated to Oxfam. An estimated £300,000 was raised.
Celtic hold an annual charity fashion show at Celtic Park
Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...
. In 2011 the main beneficiaries were Breast Cancer Care, Breast Cancer Care Scotland.
Yorkhill Hospital is another charity with whom Celtic are affiliated and in December 2011 the club donated £3000 to it. Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said that; "Celtic has always been much more than a football club and it is important that, at all times we play an important role in the wider community. The club is delighted to have enjoyed such a long and positive connection with Yorkhill Hospital."
Ownership and finances
Private company
Celtic were formed in 1887, and in 1897 the club became a Limited Company, Private Limited Company with a nominal share capital of 5000 shares at £1 each. The following year a further share issue of 5000 £1 shares was created to raise more capital. The largest number of shares held were by businessmen from the East End of Glasgow, notably James Grant, an Irish publican and engineer, James Kelly (footballer, born 1865), James Kelly, one of the club's original players turned publican, and John Glass, a builder and driving force in the early years of the club. His shares, upon his death in 1906, passed on to Thomas White. The Grant, Kelly and White families' shareholdings dominated ownership of the club throughout the 20th century.
The late 1940s saw Robert Kelly, son of James Kelly, become chairman of the club after having been a director since 1931. Desmond White (footballer), Desmond White also joined the board around this time, upon the death of his father Thomas White. By the 1950s, a significant number of shares in the club had passed to Neil and Felicia Grant, who lived in Toomebridge, County Antrim. These shares accounted for more than a sixth of the club's total issue. Club chairman Robert Kelly's own family share-holding was of a similar size, and he used his close relationship with the Toomebridge Grants to ensure his power base at Celtic was unchallengeable. When Neil Grant died in the early 1960s, his shareholding passed to his sister Felicia, leaving her as the largest share-holder in Celtic. This gave rise to the myth among Celtic supporters of the "old lady in Ireland" who supposedly had the ultimate say in the running of the club.
Celtic's board of directors had a reputation of being miserly and authoritarian. In particular they were known for frequently selling their top players and not paying their staff enough; they were also seen as lacking ambition, which caused friction with several managers. Jimmy McGrory
James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...
's tenure as manager is generally considered a period of underachievement, but with Chairman Robert Kelly's domineering influence. many have questioned how much authority McGrory ever had in team selection. Even Jock Stein
John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...
's time as manager ended on a sour note when he was offered a place on the Celtic board, but in a role involving ticket sales. Stein felt that this was demeaning, stating he was "a football man, not a ticket salesman". He declined this offer and decided to stay in football management, joining Leeds United instead. Billy McNeill won a trophy in each of his five seasons as manager, but was still paid less than the managers of Rangers, Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
and Dundee United F.C., Dundee United. He left the club in June 1983 after his request for a contract and pay rise was publicly rebuffed by the board. McNeill moved on to manage Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, stating that to remain at Celtic would have been humiliating. McNeill's successor, Davie Hay, also had his difficulties with the Celtic board. When trying to sign players in 1987 to strengthen his squad to compete with high-spending Rangers, the board refused to pay for them; chairman Jack McGinn was quoted as saying that if Hay wanted these players, "he will have to pay for them himself".
By the end of the 1980s the Celtic board consisted of chairman McGinn and directors Kevin Kelly, Chris White, Tom Grant and Jimmy Farrell. Neither McGinn nor Farrell were members of the traditional family dynasties at Celtic. Farrell was a partner in the Shaughnessy law firm that had long-standing connections with Celtic, and was invited to become a director in 1964. McGinn had set up ''The Celtic View'' in the 1960s and later became the club's commercial manager. He was given a seat on the board and became chairman in 1986. In May 1990 the former Lord Provost of Glasgow, Michael Kelly (Lord Provost), Michael Kelly, and property developer Brian Dempsey (businessman), Brian Dempsey were invited to join the Celtic board. Dempsey did not last long however, as a dispute about a proposed relocation to Robroyston resulted in him being voted off the board five months later.
McCann takeover and transition to plc
Throughout the 1960s and 70s Celtic had been one of the strongest clubs in Europe. However, the directors failed to accompany the wave of economic development facing football in the 1980s, although the club continued to remain successful on the field, albeit limited to the domestic scene in Scotland. In 1989, the club's annual budget was £6.4 million, about a third as much as Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, with a debt of around 40% and on-field success deteriorating. In the early 1990s the situation began to worsen as playing success declined dramatically and the club slipped further into debt.
In 1993 fans began organising pressure groups to protest against the board, one of the most prominent being "Celts for Change". They supported a takeover bid led by Canadian-based businessman Fergus McCann
Fergus John McCann (born 26 February 1941) is a Scottish–Canadian businessman and entrepreneur.
Biography
McCann's wealth stemmed initially from a golf vacation company, based in Montreal and Phoenix. He is best known for his involvement in C ...
and former director Brian Dempsey (businessman), Brian Dempsey. Football writer Jim Traynor described McCann's attempt to buy the club as "good against evil". Despite declining attendances and increasing unrest amongst supporters, the Kelly, White and Grant family groupings continued to guard their control of Celtic.
On 4 March 1994, McCann bought Celtic for £9 million, finally wresting control from the family dynasties that had run the club for almost 100 years. When he bought the club it was reported to be within 24 hours of entering receivership due to exceeding a £5 million overdraft with the Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...
. He turned Celtic into a public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company ...
through a share issue which raised over £14 million, the most successful share issue in British football history. He also oversaw the building of a new stadium, the 60,000 seater Celtic Park
Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...
, which cost £40 million and at the time was Britain's largest club stadium. This allowed Celtic to progress as a club because over £20 million was being raised each year from season ticket sales.
McCann had maintained that he would only be at Celtic for five years and in September 1999 he announced that his 50.3% stake in Celtic was for sale. McCann had wanted the ownership of Celtic to be spread as widely as possible and gave first preference to existing shareholders and season-ticket holders, to prevent a new consortium taking over the club. 14.4 million shares were sold by McCann at a value of 280 pence each. McCann made £40 million out of this, meaning he left Celtic with a £31 million profit. During his tenure, turnover at Celtic rose by 385% to £33.8m and operating profits rose from £282,000 to £6.7m. McCann was often criticised during his time at Celtic and many people disagreed with him over building a stadium which they thought Celtic could not fill, not investing enough in the squad and being overly focused on finance. However, McCann was responsible for the financial recovery of the club and for providing a very good platform for it to build on. After he left Celtic, the club were able to invest in players and achieved much success such as winning the Treble (association football), treble in 2000–01 Celtic F.C. season, 2000–01 and reaching the 2003 UEFA Cup Final
The 2003 UEFA Cup Final was played on 21 May 2003 between Celtic of Scotland and Porto of Portugal. Porto won the match 3–2 in extra time thanks to a goal from Derlei. This was also the first game to use the silver goal rule, although it did no ...
.
After McCann's exit, Irish billionaire Dermot Desmond was left as the majority shareholder. He purchased 2.8 million of McCann's shares to increase his stake in the club from 13% to 20%.
In 2005, Celtic issued a share offer designed to raise £15 million for the club; 50 million new shares were made available priced at 30p each. It was also revealed that majority shareholder Desmond would buy around £10 million worth of the shares. £10 million of the money raised was for building a new training centre and youth academy, expanding the club's global scouting network and investing in coaching and player development programmes. The rest of the money was to be used to reduce debt. Building a youth academy was important for Celtic to surpass both Hearts and Rangers who had superior youth facilities at the time. The share issue was a success and Celtic had more applicants than shares available, The new Lennoxtown training centre was opened in October 2007.
Celtic have been ranked in the Deloitte Football Money League six times. This lists the top 20 football clubs in the world according to revenue. They were ranked between 2002 (2000–01 Celtic F.C. season, 2000–01 season), 2006 (2004–05 Celtic F.C. season, 2004–05 season) and 2008 (2006–07 Celtic F.C. season, 2006–07 season).
Celtic's financial results for 2011 showed that the club's debt had been reduced from £5.5 million to £500,000 and that a pre-tax profit of £100,000 had been achieved, compared with a loss of over £2 million the previous year. Turnover also decreased by 15% from £63 million to £52 million.
In May 2012, Celtic were rated 37th in Brand Finance's annual valuation of the world's biggest football clubs. Celtic's brand was valued at $64 million (£40.7 million), $15 million more than the previous year. It was the first time a Scottish club had been ranked in the top 50. Matt Hannagan, Sports Brand Valuation Analyst at Brand Finance, said that Celtic were constrained by the amount of money they got from the SPL and that if they were in the Premiership then, due to their large fan base, they could be in the top 10 clubs in the world. Later that month David Low, the financial consultant who advised Fergus McCann on his takeover of Celtic in 1994, said that Celtic's 'enterprise value' (how much it would cost to buy the club) was £52 million.
Players
First-team squad
Out on loan
Academy squads
''For more details on the academy squads, see Celtic F.C. B Team and Academy.''
Women's team
Celtic have a pathway for female players, from eleven years old upwards. In 2007 the club launched their Celtic F.C. Women, women's first team, sometimes known as Celtic Women. The women's team reached the Scottish Women's Cup Final in their first season, and won their first trophy in 2010, the Scottish Women's Premier League Cup. In December 2018 they announced a move to full-time training, becoming the first Professional sports, professional women's football team in Scotland.
Former players
For further information, see List of Celtic F.C. players for players with over 100 appearances or other stated notability, List of Celtic F.C. international footballers and :Celtic F.C. players, Celtic FC players for a general list of ex-players.
Club captains
For further information, see List of Celtic F.C. players#Club captains, Celtic club captains
Greatest ever team
In 2002 the greatest ever Celtic team was voted by supporters:
* 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
Edward Henrik Larsson (born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional football coach and former player, formerly an assistant manager of Barcelona. Playing as a striker, Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. In 1992, he moved to Hels ...
– Voted Celtic's greatest ever foreign player
Club officials
Board of directors
Management
For Celtic's B Team and youth management, see Celtic F.C. Under-20s and Academy#Staff, Celtic F.C. Under-20s and Academy.
Managerial history
Halls of Fame
Scotland Football Hall of Fame
As of 1 June 2020, 27 Celtic players and managers have entered the Scottish Football Hall of Fame:
* Roy Aitken
* Bertie Auld
* Stevie Chalmers
* John Clark (footballer, born 1941), John Clark
* Jim Craig (Scottish footballer), Jim Craig
* Paddy Crerand
* Sir Kenny Dalglish Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE
* Jimmy Delaney
* Bobby Evans (footballer), Bobby Evans
* Tommy Gemmell
* Mo Johnston
* Jimmy Johnstone
* Paul Lambert
* Henrik Larsson
Edward Henrik Larsson (born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional football coach and former player, formerly an assistant manager of Barcelona. Playing as a striker, Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. In 1992, he moved to Hels ...
* Bobby Lennox
* Willie Maley
William Patrick Maley (25 April 1868 – 2 April 1958) was an Irish-born Scottish international football player and manager. He was the first manager of Celtic Football Club, and one of the most successful managers in Scottish football history. ...
* Danny McGrain
* Jimmy McGrory
James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...
* Billy McNeill
* Paul McStay
* Bobby Murdoch
* Charlie Nicholas
* Ronnie Simpson
* Jock Stein
John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...
CBE
* Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...
* John Thomson (footballer, born 1909), John Thomson
* Willie Wallace
Scotland Roll of Honour
The Scotland national football team roll of honour recognises players who have gained 50 or more international caps for Scotland. Inductees to have played for Celtic are:
* Roy Aitken (50)
* Tom Boyd (Scottish footballer), Tom Boyd (66)
* Scott Brown (footballer, born June 1985), Scott Brown (52)
* Gary Caldwell (17)
* John Collins (footballer born 1968), John Collins (32)
* Kenny Dalglish Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (47)
* Craig Gordon (14)
* Danny McGrain Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE (62)
* Paul McStay (76)
* Kenny Miller (7)
Numbers in brackets indicate the number of caps the above players won whilst at Celtic.
Scottish Sports Hall of Fame
In the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame, five Celtic players have been selected, they are:
* Knight Bachelor, Sir Kenny Dalglish Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE
* Jimmy Johnstone
* Jimmy McGrory
James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...
* Billy McNeill Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE
* Jock Stein
John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...
CBE
Honours
Domestic honours
![Celtic FC trophy case](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Celtic_FC_trophy_case.JPG)
* List of Scottish football champions, Scottish League Championship: 52
:: 1892–93 Scottish Football League, 1892–93, 1893–94 Scottish Division One, 1893–94, 1895–96 Scottish Division One, 1895–96, 1897–98 Scottish Division One, 1897–98, 1904–05 Scottish Division One, 1904–05, 1905–06 Scottish Division One, 1905–06, 1906–07 Scottish Division One, 1906–07, 1907–08 Scottish Division One, 1907–08, 1908–09 Scottish Division One, 1908–09, 1909–10 Scottish Division One, 1909–10, 1913–14 Scottish Division One, 1913–14, 1914–15 Scottish Division One, 1914–15, 1915–16 Scottish Division One, 1915–16, 1916–17 Scottish Division One, 1916–17, 1918–19 Scottish Division One, 1918–19, 1921–22 Scottish Division One, 1921–22, 1925–26 Scottish Division One, 1925–26, 1935–36 Scottish Division One, 1935–36, 1937–38 Scottish Division One, 1937–38, 1953–54 Scottish Division One, 1953–54, 1965–66 Scottish Division One, 1965–66, 1966–67 Scottish Division One, 1966–67, 1967–68 Scottish Division One, 1967–68, 1968–69 Scottish Division One, 1968–69, 1969–70 Scottish Division One, 1969–70, 1970–71 Scottish Division One, 1970–71, 1971–72 Scottish Division One, 1971–72, 1972–73 Scottish Division One, 1972–73, 1973–74 Scottish Division One, 1973–74, 1976–77 Scottish Premier Division, 1976–77, 1978–79 Scottish Premier Division, 1978–79, 1980–81 Scottish Premier Division, 1980–81, 1981–82 Scottish Premier Division, 1981–82, 1985–86 Scottish Premier Division, 1985–86, 1987–88 Scottish Premier Division, 1987–88, 1997–98 Scottish Premier Division, 1997–98, 2000–01 Scottish Premier League, 2000–01, 2001–02 Scottish Premier League, 2001–02, 2003–04 Scottish Premier League, 2003–04, 2005–06 Scottish Premier League, 2005–06, 2006–07 Scottish Premier League, 2006–07, 2007–08 Scottish Premier League, 2007–08, 2011–12 Scottish Premier League, 2011–12, 2012–13 Scottish Premier League, 2012–13, 2013–14 Scottish Premiership, 2013–14, 2014–15 Scottish Premiership, 2014–15, 2015–16 Scottish Premiership, 2015–16, 2016–17 Scottish Premiership, 2016–17, 2017–18 Scottish Premiership, 2017–18, 2018–19 Scottish Premiership, 2018–19, 2019–20 Scottish Premiership, 2019–20, 2021–22
* Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,[Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...](_blank)
: 20
:: 1956–57 Scottish League Cup, 1956–57, 1957–58 Scottish League Cup, 1957–58, 1965–66 Scottish League Cup, 1965–66, 1966–67 Scottish League Cup, 1966–67, 1967–68 Scottish League Cup, 1967–68, 1968–69 Scottish League Cup, 1968–69, 1969–70 Scottish League Cup, 1969–70, 1974–75 Scottish League Cup, 1974–75, 1982–83 Scottish League Cup, 1982–83, 1997–98 Scottish League Cup, 1997–98, 1999–2000 Scottish League Cup, 1999–2000, 2000–01 Scottish League Cup, 2000–01, 2005–06 Scottish League Cup, 2005–06, 2008–09 Scottish League Cup, 2008–09, 2014–15 Scottish League Cup, 2014–15, 2016–17 Scottish League Cup, 2016–17, 2017–18 Scottish League Cup, 2017–18, 2018–19 Scottish League Cup, 2018–19, 2019–20 Scottish League Cup, 2019–20, 2021–22 Scottish League Cup, 2021–22
Continental honours
* European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
** Winners: 1966–67 European Cup, 1966–67
** Runners-up: 1969–70 European Cup, 1969–70
* UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup
** Runners-up: 2002–03 UEFA Cup, 2002–03
* Intercontinental Cup
** Runners-up: 1967 Intercontinental Cup, 1967
Other awards
* BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award: 1
:: 1967
* France Football European Team of the Year: 1
:: 1970
* FIFA Fair Play Award: 1
:: 20031[
* UEFA Fair Play ranking, UEFA Fair Play Award: 1
:: 20031][
* The Best FIFA Football Awards 2017#FIFA Fan Award, FIFA Fan Award: 1
:: 20171
1 Awarded to the fans of Celtic.
]
Trebles
*League Title, Scottish Cup, League Cup: 7
:: 1966–67, 1968–69 Celtic F.C. season, 1968–69, 2000–01 Celtic F.C. season, 2000–01, 2016–17 Celtic F.C. season, 2016–17, 2017–18 Celtic F.C. season, 2017–18, 2018–19 Celtic F.C. season, 2018–19, 2019-20 Celtic F.C. season, 2019–20
Doubles
*League Title and Scottish Cup: 12
::1906–07 Celtic F.C. season, 1906–07, 1907–08 Celtic F.C. season, 1907–08, 1913–14 Celtic F.C. season, 1913–14, 1953–54 Celtic F.C. season, 1953–54, 1970–71 Celtic F.C. season, 1970–71, 1971–72 Celtic F.C. season, 1971–72, 1973–74 Celtic F.C. season, 1973–74, 1976–77 Celtic F.C. season, 1976–77, 1987–88 Celtic F.C. season, 1987–88, 2003–04 Celtic F.C. season, 2003–04, 2006–07 Celtic F.C. season, 2006–07, 2012–13 Celtic F.C. season, 2012–13
*League Title and League Cup: 7
::1965–66 Celtic F.C. season, 1965–66, 1967–68 Celtic F.C. season, 1967–68, 1969–70 Celtic F.C. season, 1969–70, 1997–98 Celtic F.C. season, 1997–98, 2005–06 Celtic F.C. season, 2005–06, 2014–15 Celtic F.C. season, 2014–15, 2021–22 Celtic F.C. season, 2021–22
*Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup: 1
::1974–75 Celtic F.C. season, 1974–75
Records
Club records
* The Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,[Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...](_blank)
in 1936–37 Scottish Cup#Final, 1937 was attended by a crowd of 147,365 at Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
in Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, which remains a world record gate for a national cup final, and also the highest attendance for a club football match in Europe.
* Highest attendance for a European club competition match: 136,505 against Leeds United F.C., Leeds United in the European Cup 1969–70#Semi finals, European Cup semi-final at Hampden Park (15 April 1970).
* Record home Scottish football attendance records, attendance: 83,500 against Rangers on 1 January 1938. A 3–0 victory for Celtic.
* UK record for an unbeaten run in domestic professional football: 69 games (60 won, 9 drawn), from 15 May 2016 until 17 December 2017 – a total of 582 days in all.
* SPL record for an unbeaten run of home matches: 77 games, from 2001 to 2004.
* 14 consecutive League Cup final appearances, from season 1964–65 to 1977–78 inclusive, a world record for successive appearances in the final of a major football competition.
* World record for total number of goals scored in a season (competitive games only): 196 (season 1966–67).
* Most goals scored in one Scottish top-flight league match by one player: eight goals by Jimmy McGrory
James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...
against Dunfermline Athletic F.C., Dunfermline in 9–0 win on 14 January 1928.
* Highest score in a domestic British cup final: Celtic 7–1 Rangers (Hampden in the sun, 1957 Scottish League Cup Final).
* Fastest hat-trick in European Club Football: Mark Burchill against Jeunesse Esch in 2000; 3 minutes (between twelfth minute and fifteenth minute), a record at the time.[
* Earliest Scottish Premiership title won: Won with eight games remaining in 2017, against Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian on 2 April 2017.
* Biggest margin of victory in the SPL: 9–0 against Aberdeen, 6 November 2010.
* Biggest margin of victory in the Scottish Premiership: 9–0 against Dundee United, 28 August 2022.
* Celtic and Hibernian hold the record for the largest transfer fee between two Scottish clubs (Scott Brown (footballer, born June 1985), Scott Brown in May 2007).
* Most expensive export from Scottish football: Kieran Tierney to ]Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
(August 2019).
* First weekly football club publication in the UK: ''The Celtic View''.
* First European club to field a player from the Indian sub-continent: Mohammed Salim (footballer), Mohammed Salim.
* Gil Heron, who signed for Celtic in 1951, was the first black person to play professionally in Scotland; his son Gil Scott-Heron rose to prominence in the 1970s as a hugely influential jazz and soul musician.
Individual records
* Record appearances (all competitions): Billy McNeill, 822 from 1957 to 1975
* Record appearances (League): Alec McNair, 583 from 1904 to 1925
* Most capped player for Scotland: 102 (47 whilst at Celtic), Kenny Dalglish
* Most international cap (sport), caps for Scotland national football team, Scotland while a Celtic player: 76, Paul McStay
* Most caps won whilst at Celtic: 80, Pat Bonner
* Record scorer: Jimmy McGrory, 522 (1922/23 – 1937/38)
* Record scorer in league: Jimmy McGrory, 396
* Most goals in a season (all competitions): Jimmy McGrory
James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...
, 62 (1927/28) (47 in League, 15 in Cup competitions)
* Most goals in a season (league only): Jimmy McGrory
James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...
, 50 (1935/36)
Club partners
As of 12 June 2022, Celtic has partnerships with:
* Adidas
* Dafabet
* C&C Group, Magners
* Intelligent Car Leasing
* JD Sports
* The Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola
* The Coca-Cola Company, Powerade
* Sky Group, Sky Sports
* BT Group, BT Sport
* Eden Mill St Andrews, Eden Mill
* Konami
* Eleven Sports Media
* Forbes on the Square
* Celtic Compare
* Cadbury
* Bauer Media Group, Clyde 1
* Go Radio
* Nirvana Europe
* Primal Strength
* Homeheat
* Utilita Energy
* Be Cordial Hotels
* University of the West of Scotland
* Catapult Sports
* My Personal English Coach
* VitalityHealth, Vitality
* Soccer Supplement
* Squalk
* The Turmeric Co.
* UFL (video game), UFL
* Indigo Unified Communications
* Sorare
Footnotes
References
; Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
Club information
at ''fitbastats.com''
{{Authority control
Celtic F.C.,
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