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Celtic F.C.

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Celtic F.C.
Celtic crest
Full nameThe Celtic Football Club
Nickname(s)The Bhoys (official)
The Celts
The Hoops
Founded1888
GroundCeltic Park, Glasgow, Scotland
Capacity60,837
ChairmanScotland John Reid
ManagerVacant
LeagueScottish Premier League
2008–09Scottish Premier League, 2nd
Current season

The Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. Since the club's formation in 1888, Celtic have won the Scottish championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the 2007/08 season, and the Scottish Cup 34 times. They won the European Cup in 1967, beating Internazionale in the final. Celtic's home stadium is Celtic Park, the biggest football stadium in Scotland, with a capacity of 60,832. Together with their Glasgow rivals, Rangers, they form the Old Firm, one of the most famous and fierce rivalries in sport. The club's traditional playing colours are green and white hooped shirts with white shorts and white socks.

In 1967, Celtic became the first British team to win the European Cup and are one of only two clubs (with Steaua Bucharest) to have won the competition with a team composed entirely of players from the club's home country.[1][2] All of the players, subsequently known as the Lisbon Lions, were born within a 30-mile radius of Parkhead. Celtic won every competition they entered that season: the Scottish League Championship, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the European Cup and the Glasgow Cup, the only team to achieve this. Celtic also reached the 1970 European Cup Final, but were beaten by Feyenoord.

In 2003 Celtic reached the UEFA Cup final, where they lost 3–2 to FC Porto. Over 80,000 Celtic supporters travelled to Seville, despite many lacking match tickets. Celtic fans received awards from UEFA and FIFA for their behaviour throughout the tournament.[3][4][5] The club has an estimated fan base of nine million people, including one million in North America.[6]

Formation and history

Main article: History of Celtic F.C.

Celtic were formally founded in St. Mary's Church Hall on East Rose Street (now Forbes Street), Calton, Glasgow, by Brother Walfrid, an Irish Marist brother, on 6 November 1888.

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

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 club's first ever goal was scored by Neil McCallum in this match. During these formative years, Celtic played in a white shirt with a green collar and a red Celtic cross on the breast, then switched to green and white vertical stripes around 1890. They made the switch to their iconic green-and-white hoops in 1903.

Recent seasons

2006-07

Main article: Celtic F.C. season 2006-07

Such was the good form of Celtic and the lack of a clear rival in the early stages of the 2006/07 season, that bookmakers Paddy Power paid out on Celtic as the winners of the SPL on 4 November 2006, only 13 games into the season.[7] By mid-November Celtic were 11 points clear of their nearest challengers.

Having qualified automatically for the group stage of the Champions League, Celtic were drawn with Benfica, FC Copenhagen, and Manchester United. Although Celtic lost their 3 away games, a 100% record at home earned them qualification to the knockout stage for the first time since the group format was introduced in 1992/93. Their opponents in the last 16 were AC Milan. After both legs of the tie ended 0–0, Celtic's Champions League run was ended by a solitary Milan goal in extra-time by Kaká.

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

On 22 April 2007 Celtic won their second consecutive league championship, and 41st overall. The title was secured by an injury-time free-kick from Shunsuke Nakamura in a 2–1 victory against Kilmarnock.[8] The result left Celtic 13 points clear of Rangers with four matches remaining. They finished the season 12 points above Rangers.

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

2007-08

Main article: Celtic F.C. season 2007-08
Last Old Firm clash of the season results in 3:2 victory for Celtic.

Celtic bolstered their side for the 2007/08 season, signing Scott Brown, Chris Killen, Scott McDonald and Massimo Donati. Skipper Neil Lennon left for Nottingham Forest after seven years with the club, with Stephen McManus taking over the club captaincy.[9] However Lennon returned to the club later in the season as a coach.

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Celtic were drawn against Russian side Spartak Moscow in the third round of qualifying for the 2007/08 Champions League. 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.[10] They competed against AC Milan, Benfica and FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stages, who they beat 2–1, 1–0, and 2–1 respectively at home, but lost all their away matches. They finished second in their group, ensuring qualification to the knockout stage for the second year in succession. Celtic were drawn against FC Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League. The first leg, played at Celtic Park, saw them defeated 3–2, after being ahead 1–0 and 2–1. In the second leg Barcelona grabbed an early goal through Xavi and held on for a 1–0 win on the night and 4–2 on aggregate.

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

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. However, the club made a remarkable comeback, winning their last 7 games, including two victories over rivals Rangers at Celtic park 2–1 and 3–2, and won the league on 22 May 2008, the last day of the season with a 1–0 win over Dundee United. Meanwhile Rangers lost to Aberdeen at Pittodrie. The victory was dedicated to the memory of Celtic's coach Tommy Burns, who had died the previous Thursday. The result also meant Gordon Strachan became only the third Celtic manager to win three consecutive League Championships.

Current season 2008-09

Main article: Celtic F.C. season 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 Gordon Strachan resigned from the club.

Celtic media

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

In 1965 Celtic began publishing The Celtic View, the oldest club magazine in football [11].

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

Old Firm and sectarianism

Main article: Sectarianism in Glasgow

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

In recent times both clubs have taken measures to combat sectarianism. Working alongside the Scottish Parliament, church groups and community organisations, the Old Firm has clamped down on sectarian songs, inflammatory flag-waving and troublesome supporters, using increased levels of policing and surveillance.[12][13] In 1996 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.[14] For example, the club acted swiftly when it banned a supporter who was pictured waving a pro IRA banner at an Old Firm match at Ibrox Park on 9 May 2009. [15]

Records

  • The Scottish Cup final win against Aberdeen in 1937 was attended by a crowd of 146,433 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, which remains a record for a club match in European football
  • Celtic currently hold the UK record for an unbeaten run in professional football: 62 games (49 won, 13 drawn), from 13 November 1915 until 21 April 1917 - a total of 17 months and four days in all (they lost at home to Kilmarnock on the penultimate day of the season)
  • Celtic hold the SPL record for an unbeaten run of home matches (77), spanning from 2001 to 2004
  • Record home attendance: 92,000 against Rangers on 1 January 1938. A 3–0 victory for Celtic
  • Most capped current player: 83, Shunsuke Nakamura
  • Most capped player (Scotland): 102, Kenny Dalglish
  • Record appearances: Billy McNeill, 790 from 1957–1975
  • Most goals in a season (all competitions): Henrik Larsson, 53 (2000/01)
  • Most goals in a season (league only): Jimmy McGrory, 50 (1935/36)
  • Record scorer: Jimmy McGrory, 468 (1922/23 - 1937/38)
  • Most goals scored in one Scottish top-flight league match by one player: 8 goals by Jimmy McGrory against Dunfermline in 9–0 win on 14 January 1928
  • First British club to reach the final of the European Cup
  • Only Scottish, and first British team to win the European Cup
  • First club in history to win the European Cup with a team made up only of players from the club's home country (in Celtic's case, all born within a 25 mile radius of The Piggery)
  • The highest score in a domestic cup final: Celtic 7–1 Rangers, Scottish League Cup Final 1957[16]
  • The highest attendance for a European club competition match: Celtic v Leeds United in the European Cup semi-final, 15 April 1970 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. Official attendance 136,505
  • Fastest hat-trick in European Club Football - Mark Burchill vs Jeunesse Esch in 2000, a record at the time.[17]
  • Earliest SPL Championship won. Twice won with 6 games remaining, against Kilmarnock on 18 April 2004 and Hearts on 5 April 2006
  • First weekly club publication in the UK, The Celtic View
  • Biggest margin of victory in the SPL. 8–1 against Dunfermline Athletic, February 2006 and 7-0 against St Mirren on 28 February 2009
  • Celtic and Hibernian hold the record for the biggest transfer fee between two Scottish clubs. Celtic bought Scott Brown from Hibernian on 16 May 2007 for £4.4m[18][19]
  • First European club to sign a player from the Indian sub-continent
  • Appeared in 14 consecutive League Cup finals, from season 1964/65 to 1977/78 inclusive, a world record for successive appearances in the final of a major football competition

National honours

Trophy case at Celtic Park

International club honours

Minor honours

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

Ferencvaros Vase

The Ferencvaros Vase (also known as The Budapest Cup)[20] is a football trophy won by Celtic on a European tour in 1914.

Celtic arrived in Budapest and played Burnley in what evolved into a bad tempered affair. Ferencvárosi TC had agreed to award a trophy to the winner but the match ended in a draw and both teams refused to play extra time. A replay couldn't be organised in Budapest as Celtic were travelling back to Glasgow. After winning the coin toss to play the game at home, Burnley played host to Celtic. The visitors won 2-0 and part of the gate money was sent to the Hungarian Charity Fund, however Celtic were not presented with the trophy, which had been sold to raise funds for the war effort.

Seventy four years later, in 1988, Celtic were celebrating their centenary and Ferencváros remembered they owed the club a trophy. In the absence of the original trophy they brought a decorative white porcelain vase, fashioned in the traditional shape of a football cup, to Glasgow. It was presented at Celtic's centenary championship winning match against Dundee in April 1988.

Victory In Europe Cup

The Victory In Europe Cup was a one-off football tournament won by Celtic on 9 May 1945.

To celebrate Victory in Europe Day in 1945, the Glasgow Charity Cup committee presented the Victory in Europe Cup to be awarded to the winners of a charity cup final. Rangers were invited to participate but declined as they had a forthcoming cup tie against Motherwell. This allowed Queen's Park to step in and play Celtic. The game was well contested in front of a large crowd and Celtic won only by the margin of a corner kick after the teams could not be separated by goals.

The winning Celtic team was:Miller, Hogg, P. McDonald, Lynch, Mallan, McPhail, Paton, M. McDonald, Gallacher, Evans and McLaughlin.

After this win Celtic were to endure one of the worst periods in their history only avoiding relegation on the last day of the season in the 1947/48 campaign.

Special honours

Individual

All players are from Scotland unless otherwise stated.
Top Goalscorers
Rank Name Career Goals
1 James McGrory 1922–1937 522
2 Bobby Lennox 1961–1978
1979-1980 		273
3 Henrik Larsson Sweden 1997–2004 242
4 Stevie Chalmers 1958–1971 231
5 Jimmy Quinn 1900–1917 217
6 Patsy Gallacher Republic of Ireland 1911–1926 192
7 John Hughes 1960–1971 189
8 Sandy McMahon 1891–1903 171
9 Jimmy McMenemy 1902–1920 168
10 Kenny Dalglish 1969–1977 167
Top League Goalscorers
Rank Name Career Goals
1 James McGrory 1922–1937 397
2 Jimmy Quinn 1900–1917 187
3 Patsy Gallacher Republic of Ireland 1911–1926 186
4 Henrik Larsson Sweden 1997–2004 174
5 Bobby Lennox 1961–1978
1979–1980 		167
6 Stevie Chalmers 1958–1971 159
7 Jimmy McMenemy 1902–1920 144
8 Sandy McMahon 1891–1903 130
9 Adam McLean 1917–1928 128
10 John Hughes 1960–1971 115
Most Appearances
Rank Name Career Apps
1 Billy McNeill 1957–1975 790
2 Paul McStay 1981–1997 678
3 Roy Aitken 1976–1990 669
4 Danny McGrain 1970–1987 661
5 Packie Bonner Republic of Ireland 1978–1995 642
6 Bobby Lennox 1961–1978
1979–1980 		587
7 Bobby Evans 1944–1960 548
8 Jimmy Johnstone 1962–1975 515
9 Jimmy McMenemy 1902–1920 515
10 Tommy Burns 1975–1989 504

Managers

Name Scottish League Scottish Cup Scottish League Cup European Cup Total
Willie Maley 1897–1940 Scotland 16 14 — — 30
Jimmy McStay 1940–1945 Scotland 0 0 — — 0
Jimmy McGrory 1945–1965 Scotland 1 2 2 — 5
Jock Stein 1965–1978 Scotland 10 8 6 1 25
Billy McNeill 1978–1983 Scotland 3 1 1 0 5
David Hay 1983–1987 Scotland 1 1 0 0 2
Billy McNeill 1987–1991 Scotland 1 2 0 0 3
Liam Brady 1991–1993 Republic of Ireland 0 0 0 0 0
Lou Macari 1993–1994 Scotland 0 0 0 0 0
Tommy Burns 1994–1997 Scotland 0 1 0 0 1
Wim Jansen 1997–1998 Netherlands 1 0 1 0 2
Jozef Vengloš 1998–1999 Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0
John Barnes 1999–2000 England 0 0 0 0 0
Kenny Dalglish 2000 Scotland 0 0 1 0 1
Martin O'Neill 2000–2005 Northern Ireland 3 3 1 0 7
Gordon Strachan 2005–2009 Scotland 3 1 2 0 6

Players

As of 31 January 2009.[21]

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Poland POL Artur Boruc
2 DF Germany GER Andreas Hinkel
3 DF England ENG Lee Naylor
4 DF Scotland SCO Stephen McManus (captain)
5 DF Scotland SCO Gary Caldwell
6 DF Guinea GUI Bobo Baldé
7 FW Australia AUS Scott McDonald
8 MF Scotland SCO Scott Brown
9 FW Greece GRE Georgios Samaras
10 FW Netherlands NED Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (vice-captain)
11 MF Scotland SCO Paul Hartley
12 DF Scotland SCO Mark Wilson
13 MF Scotland SCO Shaun Maloney
14 MF Northern Ireland NIR Niall McGinn
15 DF Czech Republic CZE Milan Mišůn
16 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Willo Flood
17 MF Spain ESP Marc Crosas
18 MF Italy ITA Massimo Donati
19 MF Scotland SCO Barry Robson
20 MF Northern Ireland NIR Paddy McCourt
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 GK Scotland SCO Mark Brown
22 DF Netherlands NED Glenn Loovens
23 FW England ENG Ben Hutchinson
24 DF Cameroon CMR Jean-Joël Perrier-Doumbé
25 MF Japan JPN Shunsuke Nakamura
26 FW Ireland EIR Cillian Sheridan
29 MF Japan JPN Koki Mizuno
33 FW New Zealand NZL Chris Killen
41 DF Scotland SCO John Kennedy
46 MF Ireland EIR Aiden McGeady
47 GK United States USA Dominic Cervi
48 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Darren O'Dea
49 DF Scotland SCO Scott Cuthbert
51 FW Scotland SCO Nicky Riley
52 DF Scotland SCO Paul Caddis
53 MF Scotland SCO Simon Ferry
54 MF Scotland SCO Ryan Conroy
55 FW Scotland SCO Paul McGowan
56 MF Scotland SCO Mark Millar
62 GK Scotland SCO Scott Fox

Players out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Ireland EIR Graham Carey (at Bohemians)

Reserve team and youth squad

For Celtic's reserve and youth squads, see here.

2008/09 transfers

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

Non-playing staff

Board of Directors

Position Name
Chairman John Reid
Chief Executive Peter Lawwell
Director of Finance Eric J. Riley
Non-Executive Director Ian Livingston
Non-Executive Director Dermot Desmond
Non-Executive Director Eric Hagman
Non-Executive Director Thomas E. Allison
Non-Executive Director Brian McBride[22]
Non-Executive Director Brian Wilson
Commercial Director Adrian Filby
Director of International Developments Jason Hughes

Management

Position Name
Manager Vacant
Assistant Manager Vacant
First Team Coach Neil Lennon
Reserve Team Coach Willie McStay
Reserve Assistant Team Coach Danny McGrain
Head of Youth Development John McLaughlan
Youth Team Coach Chris McCart
Under 19's Coach Stephen Frail
Under 17's Coach Miodrag Krivokapić
Goalkeeping Coach Jim Blyth
Goalkeeping Coach Chris Hannah
Goalkeeping Coach Stevie Woods
Club Doctor Derek McCormack
Head of Sports Science Gregory Dupont
Physiotherapist Graham Parsons
Physiotherapist Gavin McCarthy
Kit Controller John Clark
Football Development Manager John Park
Chief Scout Ray Clarke
Scout Tommy O'Neill

Sponsors

Notable former players

See List of Celtic F.C. players for players with over 100 appearances, List of Celtic F.C. international footballers and Category:Celtic FC players

Scotland Football Hall of Fame

So far 13 Celtic players and managers have entered the Scottish Football Hall of Fame:[23]

Scottish Sports Hall of Fame

In the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame 5 Celtic players have been selected, they are:

Greatest ever team

Greatest ever Celtic team

The following team was voted the greatest ever Celtic team by supporters in 2002.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ BBC - A Sporting Nation - Celtic win European Cup 1967
  2. ^ SI.com - Soccer - Celtic immersed in history before UEFA Cup final - Tuesday 20 May 2003 07:20 PM
  3. ^ Celtic in Seville: Observer Sport Monthly index | | The Observer
  4. ^ ESPNsoccernet - Report: Celtic vs FC Porto - UEFA Cup
  5. ^ http://www.fifa.com/newscentre/news/newsid=90249.html Celebrating Celtic pride in the heart of Andalusia
  6. ^ "Celtic to launch credit card for US fans". scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  7. ^ Paddy Power pays out on Scottish Premier League title
  8. ^ Colin Moffat, Kilmarnock 1-2 Celtic, BBC Sport, 22 April 2007
  9. ^ Forest win race to capture Lennon, BBC Sport, 12 June 2007
  10. ^ "Celtic Ousts Spartak Moscow 4-3 In Penalty Shootout". WSN. 2007-08-27. Retrieved 2009-03-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Celtic View
  12. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Celtic | Quinn warns on offensive chants
  13. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Rangers | Murray sends sectarianism warning
  14. ^ BBC News | SCOTLAND | Bigotry puzzle for Old Firm
  15. ^ http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article2424066.ece
  16. ^ Lone Star Celtic Supporters Club (n.d.). "1957 Celtic in Seventh Heaven". Retrieved 2007-06-11. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  17. ^ O'Neill tells hat-trick hero Burch: You're not moving
  18. ^ Scott Brown signs for Celtic
  19. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Celtic | Brown completes switch to Celtic
  20. ^ Budapest Cup - Kerrydale Street
  21. ^ "First Team". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  22. ^ Profile of McBride
  23. ^ http://www.scottishfootballmuseum.org.uk/scottish_football.cfm?curpageid=688
  24. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Celtic | Jinky best-ever Celtic player
Preceded by European Cup Winner
1967 		Succeeded by

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