Celtic
From UefaWiki
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. Since its formation in 1888, Celtic has won the Scottish crown on 42 occasions and is the only Scottish team to have won Europe's premier football competition, the European Cup, in 1967.
The full name of the club is The Celtic Football Club ("Celtic" is pronounced with a soft "c" sound). Until 1994, the club's full name was The Celtic Football and Athletic Company Ltd, whilst outside Scotland they are often referred to as Glasgow Celtic. Celtic play home games at Celtic Park (commonly referred to as Parkhead) which has a capacity of 60,832, making it the largest football stadium in Scotland. Together with their rivals, Rangers, they form the Old Firm which is one of the most famous and most fierce rivalries in sport. Celtic has traditionally been linked with its founding roots which originate from the Irish immigrant community in Glasgow.
In 1967, Celtic became the first British team to win the European Cup, which had previously been the preserve of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish clubs. Managed by Jock Stein, Celtic won every competition that they entered that season: the Scottish League Championship, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the European Cup and the Glasgow Cup. Because of this feat, Celtic became the first team to win an unofficial "Continental Quadruple".
Celtic are the only club ever to win the trophy with a team composed entirely of home-grown talent. as all of the players in the side were Scottish, and all were born within a 30-mile radius of Celtic Park. This team became known as the Lisbon Lions. Celtic again reached the European Cup final in 1970, only to be beaten by Feyenoord in extra time. In 2003 Martin O'Neill led the team to the UEFA Cup final in Seville where they lost 3-2 to F.C. Porto after extra time. Close to 80,000 Celtic supporters travelled to Seville for the final, believed by UEFA to be the largest foreign travelling support in history at the time.
The club's traditional playing colours are green and white hooped shirts and white shorts with white socks. Celtic have an estimated fan base of nine million.
Information
- Name: Celtic Football Club
Formation
Celtic Football Club was formally constituted at a meeting in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church hall on East Rose Street (now Forbes Street), Calton, Glasgow, by an Irish Marist monk named Brother Walfrid original from County Sligo on 6 November, 1887.
The charity established by Brother Walfrid was named 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 F.C. who were formed out of the immigrant Irish population a few years earlier in Edinburgh.
On 28 May, 1888, Celtic played their first official match against Rangers and won 5-2 in what was described as a "friendly encounter". Celtic had 8 'guest' players from Hibernian playing that day.
The Old Firm and sectarianism
The term sectarian refers to a group who belongs to a religious and cultural sect, and display contempt, hatred or dislike of all others, not belonging to their sect.
Celtic have had a historic association with the peoples of Ireland. As a consequence, the club and its supporters have been embroiled in issues surrounding sectarianism. At its worst extreme this sectarianism has manifested itself in sectarian violence; the reproduction of cultural prejudices; and a perceived anti-Celtic bias, which some fans believe to be a part of a wider anti-Catholic bias in Scotland.
In the context of Scottish football, sectarianism is beyond the control of any individual football club. It is a much wider issue, rooted in social, cultural, historical and religious circumstances. Nevertheless, both Celtic and Rangers accept that they have a problem with sectarianism. Both Celtic and Rangers admit that a proportion of their supporters have been, and continue to be, guilty of perpetuating sectarian beliefs and cultural intolerance.
A minority of Celtic fans with Irish Republicanism sympathies sing Irish Republican Army songs at games, especially the away support. This is in comparison to a minority of Rangers fans, who are traditionally Loyalist, that sing songs such as Billy Boys. In recent times both clubs have taken measures to combat sectarianism. Working alongside the Scottish Parliament, church groups and community organisations, the Old Firm has clamped down on sectarian songs, inflammatory flag-waving, and troublesome supporters, using increased levels of policing and surveillance. In 1996, for instance, Celtic launched their Bhoys Against Bigotry campaign, later followed by Youth Against Bigotry to "educate the young on having ... respect for all aspects of the community - all races, all colours, all creeds", according to then chief executive Ian McLeod
Celtic and the media
Celtic have always attempted to engage directly with the fans and bypass the traditional media outlets as a method of communicating accurate information to the outside world about the inner workings of the club.
When Jock Stein was Celtic manager, he instigated a trend in British football that subsequently became known as the "tracksuit manager", where he trained publicly with the playing staff and hosted media/press conferences.
In 1965 Celtic began publishing the The Celtic View, the UK's first ever regular football club newspaper.
In 2004 Celtic launched its own digital TV channel Celtic TV available in the UK through Setanta Sports on satellite and cable platforms. Since 2002 Celtic's Internet TV channel, Channel67 (previously known as Celtic Replay), has broadcast Celtic's own content worldwide, offers live match coverage to subscribers outside the UK, and now provides 3 online channels.
Recent seasons
2005-2006
Former Aberdeen player and Scotland international Gordon Strachan from Edinburgh took charge of the club on 1 June 2005, on a 12-month rolling contract, similar to O'Neill's arrangement with the club; his contract effectively extending for one calendar year from any current date. Garry Pendrey was appointed as Strachan's assistant manager.
In his first competitive match, against Artmedia Bratislava on 27 July, 2005, Celtic lost 5-0 in the first leg of an important Champions League 2nd Round qualifier, suffering the worst European defeat in the club's history and the widest margin of defeat since the 1963-64 season, when the club lost 6-0 to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
In Strachan's first domestic match of the 2005-2006 SPL season, Celtic relinquished a 3-1 half-time lead over Motherwell at Fir Park on 30 July 2005, the game ending in a 4-4 draw after Celtic managed to equalise through a goal by Craig Beattie.
The nine goals against Celtic in Strachan's first two competitive matches is the biggest goal tally scored against the club in successive matches for 14 years.
In the return leg of the Champions League 2nd Round qualifier against Artmedia at Celtic Park, Strachan's vastly improved side won 4-0 but were eliminated from European competition 5-4 on aggregate.
However, following these setbacks, and a defeat against Rangers in the pair's first match of the season at Ibrox, Celtic recorded a series of victories, including beating Rangers twice, and returned to the top of the SPL - a vast improvement on their form at the start of the season.
Celtic knocked arch rivals Rangers out of the League cup on 19 November 2005. Celtic were knocked out of the Scottish Cup on 8 January 2006 by First Division Clyde
Celtic beat Rangers again on 12 February to make it 17 wins from the previous 21 Old Firm games. Celtic won the CIS Cup, with a 3-0 win over Dunfermline on 19 March. They have already created a new scoring record for the SPL, an 8-1 victory against Dunfermline in February 2006.
On 5 April 2006 Celtic clinched their 40th title thanks to a goal from John Hartson in a 1-0 win against Heart of Midlothian at Celtic Park. The title was Celtic's fourth title in six years. This feat was achieved with six games remaining until the end of the season and before the Scottish Premier League split. The Bhoys lifted the SPL trophy on Easter Sunday 2006 at home to Hibernian F.C., after a 1-1 draw.
In April 2006, Celtic's reserve and Under-19 teams also won their championships, completing a clean sweep of Scotland's league competitions. It was the fifth consecutive league title for the reserve team. Celtic's reserve team have now won their league 4 years in a row and the Under-19 have won their league 5 years in a row.
2006-2007
Celtic started season 2006-07 looking to retain the Scottish Premier League trophy and the Scottish League Cup. They will also compete in the Scottish Cup, and entered the Champions League at the group stage, where they played Manchester United, Benfica and FC Copenhagen.
True to recent form in Europe, Celtic won all 3 home games and lost all 3 away, conceding no goals at home and 9 away. This was enough to allow them to reach the last 16 for the 1st time since the Champions League was initiated in 1993, where they lost 1-0 on aggregate after extra time to AC MIlan with brazilian playmaker Kaka socring the winning goal.
Celtic finally sealed the championship away to Kilmarnock after poor form seen them have to wait for their 2nd successive championship under Gordon Strachan, a few weeks after this feat, Celtic club captain Neil Lennon anounced he would be leaving the champions after the campaign which finished at Hampden Park in the Scottish Cup final where Celtic won 1-0 against Dunfermline Athletic with Jean-Joel Perrier Doumbe scoring the winning goal on the 84th minute.
2007/08
Celtic bolstered their side for the 2007-08 season, signing Scott Brown, Chris Killen, Scott McDonald and Massimo Donati. Skipper Neil Lennon left for Nottingham Forest after seven years with the club, with Stephen McManus taking over the club captaincy. However Lennon returned to the club later in the season as a coach.
Celtic was drawn against Russian side Spartak Moscow in the third round of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League 2007-08. The tie ended in a penalty shootout, with Artur Boruc saving twice to ensure Celtic's passage to the next round. This was Celtic's first European penalty shootout victory.[citation needed] They competed against A.C. Milan, S.L. Benfica and FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stages, going unbeaten at home but losing all their away matches. They finished second in their group, ensuring qualification to the knockout stage for the second year in successions. Celtic were drawn against FC Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League. The first leg, played at Celtic Park, saw them defeated 3-2. In the second leg Barcelona grabbed an early goal through Xavi and held on for a 1-0 win on the night and 4-2 win overall.
The club's first signing of the winter transfer window was Andreas Hinkel. They followed up by signing Japanese youngster Koki Mizuno, Greek international striker Georgios Samaras (on loan from Manchester City), Barry Robson from Dundee Utd as well as young striker Ben Hutchinson from Middlesbrough.
Although leading for the early part of the season, Celtic found themselves 7 points behind Rangers having played a game more with only seven weeks of the season left, because of this the manager was badly criticised and there was speculation that he might be sacked or go. However, the club made a remarkable comeback, including two victories over rivals Rangers at Celtic Park 2-1 and 3-2, and won the league on 22nd May 2008, the last day of the season with 1-0 win over Dundee United. Meanwhile Rangers lost to Aberdeen at Pittodrie. The victory was dedicated to the memory of Tommy Burns, former player and manager, who had died the previous Thursday. The result also meant Gordon Strachan became only the third Celtic manager to win three consecutive league championships.
2008-09
Celtic signed winger Pat McCourt from Derry City, and Greek international striker Georgios Samaras, who had spent the second half of the 2007/08 season on loan, signed on a permanent basis. Celtic also added the signings of Marc Crosas, Glenn Loovens and the return of Shaun Maloney from Aston Villa before the closure of the summer transfer window.
As SPL Champions, Celtic gained automatic entry to the UEFA Champions League, but after being drawn with Manchester United, Villarreal, and AaB Aalborg, they finished fourth in their group.
In the January transfer window, Celtic signed winger Niall McGinn from Derry City, left back Milan Mišůn from FK Příbram, and midfielder Willo Flood from Cardiff while also agreeing a deal to sign Dundee United goalkeeper Łukasz Załuska on 1 June 2009.
Celtic won the League Cup Final against Rangers at Hampden Park on 15 March 2009. This victory marked the end of a 20 year gap since Celtic last defeated Rangers in a domestic cup final. That occasion was the Scottish Cup Final on 20 May 1989.
On the final day of the season, Celtic failed in their quest for a fourth successive title, with Rangers defeating Dundee United 3-0 at Tannadice to win the Championship and Celtic playing out a 0-0 draw with Hearts. The following day, manager Gordon Strachan resigned from the club and was replaced by former Celtic player Tony Mowbray, who had been manager of West Bromwich Albion.
2009-10
In the summer transfer window, Celtic signed Marc-Antoine Fortune for around £3.8million along with AS Nancy team mate Landry N'Guemo who arrived on a season-long loan, Daniel Fox from Coventry City for an undisclosed fee and Josh Thompson from Stockport County. Shunsuke Nakamura left the club to join Espanyol, and Paul Hartley joined Bristol City. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Bobo Balde also left the club as their contracts had not been renewed. Celtic won their first game, and the Translink Cup, 3-0 against Brisbane Roar in Australia under Tony Mowbray. On 26 July, they added their second piece of silverware, lifting the Wembley Cup, after beating Egyptian and African Champions Al-Ahly 5-0 and Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 while fielding a side full of reserve players, to top the group.
In the third round of qualifying for the Champions League, Celtic faced Dynamo Moscow at Celtic Park on 29 July, losing 1-0, but won 2-0 in the second leg in Moscow. Celtic lost 0-2 at home against Arsenal in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League play-off, with Arsenal becoming the first English team in 26 years to beat Celtic at Celtic Park. Arsenal won the second leg on 26 August 3-1. The loss meant that Celtic entered the group stage of the inaugural UEFA Europa League, and were drawn in Group C alongside SV Hamburg, Hapoel Tel Aviv and old European Cup Winners Cup rivals Rapid Vienna. Celtic finished 3rd in the group with 6 points and failed to reach the knockout stages.
In the January transfer window Celtic added to their squad by signing Ki Sung-Yong from FC Seoul, Jos Hooiveld from AIK Solna, Norwegian teenager Thomas Rogne from Stabæk and Morten Rasmussen from Brøndby. On transfer deadline day Celtic added defender Edson Braafheid and strikers Diomansy Kamara and Robbie Keane to their squad on loan until the end of the season.
Defender Gary Caldwell was sold to Wigan Athletic, Danny Fox moved on to Burnley, while Barry Robson, Willo Flood, Chris Killen, Stephen McManus and Scott McDonald joined former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan at Middlesbrough.
In the Scottish League Cup Celtic beat Falkirk 4-0 at home before losing 1-0 to Hearts in the quarter-final. Celtic started their Scottish Cup campaign with a 1-0 win away to Morton before beating Dunfermline Athletic 4-2 and Kilmarnock 3-0. In the semi-final Celtic lost 2-0 to Ross County.
After a 4–0 defeat to St Mirren on 24 March, Mowbray was sacked as Celtic manager with Neil Lennon taking over on a temporary basis.
By 11 April, Celtic were in second position in the SPL, 13 points behind leaders Rangers.
Domestic Honours
- Scottish Football League Champions (36): 1893, 1894, 1896, 1898, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1922, 1926, 1936, 1938, 1954, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1998.
- Scottish Premier League Champions (6): 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
- Scottish F.A. Cup Winners (34) (Record): 1892, 1899, 1900, 1904, 1907, 1908, 1911, 1912, 1914, 1923, 1925, 1927, 1931, 1933, 1937, 1951, 1954, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007.
- Scottish League Cup Winners (15): 1957, 1958, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1983, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2009.
European Honours
- European Champions Cup Winners: 1967.
- European Champions Cup Runners-up: 1970.
- UEFA Cup Runner-up 2003.
World Wide Honours
- FIFA World Club Cup/Intercontinental Cup runners-up (1): 1967
Club records
- The Scottish Cup final win against Aberdeen F.C. in 1938 was attended by a crowd of 146,433 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, which remains a record for a club match in European football.
- Celtic currently hold the UK record for an unbeaten run in professional football: 62 games (49 won, 13 drawn), from 13 November, 1915 until 21 April, 1917- a total of 17 months and four days in all (they lost at home to Kilmarnock on the last day of the season). Although this was during the 1st World War years.
- Celtic also hold the SPL record for an unbeaten run of home matches (77), spanning from 2001 to 2004 (this run was ended by a 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen on 21 April, 2004), and the record for the longest run of consecutive wins in a single season (25 matches).
- Record victory: 11-0, against Dundee in 1895.
- Record defeat: 0-8 against Motherwell in 1937.
- Record home defeat: 0-5 against Hearts in 1895.
- Record post war home defeat 1-5 Aberdeen 1948.
- The four Record European victories 9-0 KPV Kokkola (Finland), 1970. 8-1 Suduva (Lithuania), 2003. 7-0 Waterford (Rep.Ireland), 1970, 7-0 Valur Rekjavik, 1975.
- Record European defeat: 0-5 against FC Artmedia Bratislava on 27 July]], 2005.
- Record victory against Rangers: 7-1 1957 Scottish league cup final.
- Record points earned in a season: 72 (Premier Division, 1987/88, 2 points for a Win); 103 (Scottish Premier League, 2001/02, 3 points for a win), which is also the SPL points tally record.
- Record home attendance: 92,000 against Rangers in 1938. A 3-0 victory for Celtic.
- Most capped player: 102, Kenny Dalglish: Scotland
- Most Scotland caps: 102, Kenny Dalglish.
- Record appearances: Billy McNeill, 790 from 1957 - 1975.
- Most goals in a season: Henrik Larsson, 53.
- Record scorer: Jimmy McGrory, 468 (plus 13 whilst on-loan at Clydebank).
- First British club to reach the final of the European Cup.
- First and only Scottish club to reach the final of the European Cup.
- First Scottish, British and northern European team to win the European Cup.
- Only club in history to have won the European Cup with a team comprised entirely of home-grown talent (all last four in 1967, in which year Celtic achieved the feat of winning every competition they played in).
- Hold the record for the highest score in a domestic cup final: Celtic 7 - 1 Rangers, Scottish League Cup Final 1957.
- Hold the record for the highest attendance for a European club competition match: Celtic v Leeds Utd in the European Cup semi-final 1970 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Official attendance 133,961.
- Fastest hat-trick in European Club Football - Mark Burchill v Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg in 2000.
- Earliest SPL Championship won. Won with 6 games to go against Kilmarnock on 18 April ,2004 and Hearts on 5 April, 2006.
Other honours
- Glasgow Cup (29): 1891, 1892, 1895, 1896, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1939, 1941, 1949, 1956, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1975*, 1982 (* 1975 shared with Rangers after 2-2 draw)
- Glasgow Merchant's Charity Cup (23)
- Glasgow International Exhibition Cup: 1902
- Scottish League Commemorative Shield: 1904/05, 1909/10
- Ferencvaros Vase: 1914
- Empire Exhibition Trophy: 1938
- Victory In Europe Cup: 1945
- Saint Mungo Cup: 1951
- Coronation Cup: 1953.
- Alfredo di Stefano Trophy: 1967
- Statuette of Samothrace: 1970 (L'Equipe European Team of the Year)
- Drybrough Cup: 1974.
- Polar Bear Trophy: 1975 (Presented by Valur of Iceland)
- Real Madrid Silver Cabin: 1980
- Tennents' Sixes: 1992.
All time scorers
Top 10 all time goal-scorers (including, League, Scottish Cup, League Cup and European goals):
- Jimmy McGrory - 468 (McGrory also holds the record for the most professional career league goals in British football history).
- Bobby Lennox - 273
- Henrik Larsson - 242
- Stevie Chalmers - 231
- Jimmy Quinn - 217
- Patsy Gallacher - 192
- John Hughes - 188
- Sandy McMahon - 177
- Jimmy McMenemy - 168
- Kenny Dalglish - 167
Top 10 League goal-scorers:
- Jimmy McGrory- 397
- Jimmy Quinn - 187
- Patsy Gallacher - 186
- Henrik Larsson - 174
- Bobby Lennox - 167
- Stevie Chalmers - 159
- Jimmy McMenemy - 144
- Sandy McMahon - 130
- Adam McLean - 128
- John Hughes - 115
All time appearances
Top 10
- Billy McNeill- 790
- Paul McStay - 678
- Roy Aitken - 669
- Danny McGrain - 661
- Pat Bonner - 642
- Bobby Lennox - 587
- Bobby Evans - 548
- Jimmy McMenemy - 515
- Jimmy Johnstone - 515
- Tommy Burns - 504
Managers
- Willie Maley, 1897 - 1940
- Jimmy McStay, 1940 - 1945
- Jimmy McGrory, 1945 - 1965
- Jock Stein, 1965 - 1978
- Billy McNeill, 1978 - 1983
- David Hay, 1983 - 1987
- Billy McNeill, 1987 - 1991
- Liam Brady, 1991 - 1992
- Lou Macari, 1992 - 1994
- Tommy Burns, 1994 - 1997
- Wim Jansen, 1997 - 1998
- Jozef Vengloš, 1998 - 1999
- John Barnes, 1999 - 2000
- Martin O'Neill, 2000 - 2005
- Gordon Strachan, 2005 - 2009
- Tony Mowbray, 2009 - 2010
- Neil Lennon (interim) 2010
Links
 Clubs Representing Scotland in Europe
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| Aberdeen | Airdrieonians | Celtic | Dundee | Dundee United | Dunfermline Athletic Falkirk | Greenock Morton | Gretna | Heart of Midlothian | Hibernian | Kilmarnock | Livingston Motherwell | Partick Thistle | Queen of the South | Raith Rovers | Rangers | St Johnstone | St Mirren Scottish Clubs Results in Europe: by Club | by Season | by Opposition |
