The 2009–10 season was the 116th season of competitive
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
by
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
.
Celtic started their 2009–10 campaign by playing in the pre-season
Wembley Cup
The Wembley Cup was an invitational football tournament. The only edition for professional teams was the first edition of the tournament which took place between 24 and 26 July 2009 at Wembley Stadium, Wembley Park, London, United Kingdom. The wi ...
. Their first competitive game of the season was at
Celtic Park
Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...
on 29 July where they were beaten 1–0 by
Dynamo Moscow
MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (), is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first institution created from the All-Union Dynamo Sports Club.
Dynamo Mosco ...
Dynamo Stadium Dynamo Stadium or Dinamo Stadium is a stadium that often associated with the Dynamo (sports society).
It may also refer to:
Albania
*Selman Stërmasi Stadium, Tirana, formerly "Dinamo Stadium"
Belarus
* Dinamo Stadium (Brest), Belarus
*Dinamo St ...
on 5 August, Celtic won 2–0 (2–1 on aggregate) thanks to a 44th-minute goal by
Scott McDonald
Scott Douglas McDonald (born 21 August 1983) is an Australian former professional footballer and is the current head coach for National Premier Leagues club Gold Coast Knights. Originally a striker, McDonald could also play as an attacking mi ...
and a late injury-time strike from
Georgios Samaras
Georgios Samaras (, ; born 21 February 1985) is a Greek former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward.
Samaras started his career at OFI Crete F.C., OFI, before moving on to Erediv ...
, giving Celtic a first away win in Europe since their 1–0 win over MTK Hungaria at
Stadium Puskás Ferenc
A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...
in 2003. The win took Celtic through to the Champions League play-off round, where they lost 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 ...
.
Celtic kicked off their
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
campaign with a 3–1 win over
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
at
Pittodrie Stadium
Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, from which the surrounding residential area has taken its name, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for Association football, football, it has been the home ground o ...
. After 30 games of the season,
Tony Mowbray
Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...
was sacked following Celtic's 4–0 loss to St Mirren, with Celtic 10 points behind league leaders Rangers.
Neil Lennon
Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He currently manages Scottish Championship club Dunfermline Athletic.
During his playing career he represe ...
was then appointed
caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...
until the end of the season; his first match in charge was a 3–1 victory over
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...
on 27 March. Lennon won all the remaining league games, but was unable to prevent Rangers from winning the league title.
Celtic lost their
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Ross County 2–0. This was Lennon's only defeat during his tenure as interim manager.Neil Lennon pleased with Celtic record BBC Sport, 7 May 2010 After the end of the season, Lennon succeeded Tony Mowbray as the next Celtic manager on a permanent basis.
Results and fixtures
Scottish Premier League
Scottish League Cup
Scottish Cup
UEFA Champions League
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
UEFA Europa League
Group stage
Player statistics
Appearances and goals
''List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition''