Celtic F.C.
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Celtic Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Celtic (pronounced 'sel-tic') or 'the Bhoys', are one of the World's most famous football clubs. Based in the Scottish city of Glasgow, the club is officially nicknamed the Bhoys, or unofficially the Hoops. Together with their city rivals Rangers, they have dominated Scottish football for over 100 years as part of the Old Firm, forming one of the most famous and bitter rivalries in sport.
Celtic's home kit is green and white hooped jerseys, white shorts and white socks (although it is also not uncommon for them to wear green and white hooped socks). The club play their home matches at the 60,830 all-seater stadium Celtic Park in the east end of Glasgow, which is widely regarded as one of the most famous stadia in Europe.
In 1967, the club became the first British and Northern European team to win the European Cup, which had previously been the preserve of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish clubs.
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History
Celtic FC were founded in 1888 by Marist Brother Walfrid as a way to raise money for deprived Irish immigrants living in the east end of Glasgow.
Under their first manager, Willie Maley, the club won 30 major trophies in 43 years. In 1939, Celtic also defeated Everton of England 1–0 at Ibrox Stadium to claim the Empire Exhibition Trophy, which, along with the Coronation Cup (won in 1953), is amongst the most highly-regarded by the club's supporters, due to its unique status as a one-off competition.
Former player Jimmy McStay became manager of the club during the war years of 1940-1945. However, no official competitive league football took place during these years, and McStay was seen as something of an interim manger.
Ex-player and captain Jimmy McGrory took over in 1945. Under McGrory, Celtic defeated Arsenal, Manchester United and Hibernian to win the Coronation Cup, a one-off tournament held in May 1953 to commemorate the coronation of Elizabeth II.
On 10 October, 1957, Celtic trounced Rangers a record 7–1 in the final of the Scottish League Cup, retaining the trophy they had won for only the first time the previous year.
Jock Stein succeeded McGrory in 1965. A former player and team captain, Stein gained most of his fame as Celtic's manager, but is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest football managers of all time. He guided Celtic to nine straight Scottish League wins from 1966 to 1974 — a Scottish record, which was not equalled until 1997.
1967 was to be Celtic's best ever year. The club won every competition they entered: the Scottish League, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the Glasgow Cup, and the European Cup. Under the leadership of Stein, and captained by Billy McNeill, the club defeated Inter Milan 2–1 at the Estadio Nacionale in Lisbon, Portugal. The 11 players who walked on to the pitch that day and made history subsequently became known as 'The Lisbon Lions'. Jimmy 'Jinky' Johnstone, Bobby Lennox and Bobby Murdoch formed part of that famous team, and now rank amongst the greatest ever Celtic players. The entire east stand at Celtic Park is dedicated to The Lisbon Lions.
Celtic reached the European Cup Final again in 1970, but were beaten 2–1 by Feyenoord in the San Siro Stadium, Milan.
In 1994, expatriate businessman Fergus McCann gained control of the club, ousting the family dynasties which had controlled Celtic since its foundation. In order to alleviate the club's considerable financial debt, Celtic were reconstituted as a public limited company, resulting in one of the most successful share flotations in British financial history. The issue netted £14million towards the refinancing of the club, but for many of the supporters, the ramifications of the takover changed Celtic FC forever. Despite this, in recent years the club has remained relatively successful, whilst also maintaining a frugal approach to finances.
Early in the club's history, Celtic elected to sign and field Protestant players. Today, the playing staff at Celtic FC is multinational, multiracial, and non-denominational.
In 2003, many Celtic fans fans travelled to watch the club compete in the UEFA Cup final in Seville, in southern Spain. Celtic eventually lost the match in extra time under Uefa's now-defunct Silver Goal rule, despite two world-class goals from Henrik Larsson, but the exemplary conduct of the 80,000+ travelling Celtic supporters received widespread praise from the people of Seville, and the fans were awarded prestigious Fair Play Awards from both FIFA and UEFA.
On 13 May 2005, Celtic FC also became the first professional football club in the world to grant a blogger access to their weekly media conference, when Paul Brennan of Celtic Quick News (http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk) started attending Celtic's regular press briefings.
Recent Achievements
The current manager, as of June 2005, is former Scotland international Gordon Strachan from Edinburgh. He has yet to prove himself with Celtic. However, the previous manager, Martin O'Neill, left an enduring memory with the club. Under O'Neill's leadership, Celtic won three SPL league championships out of five, and in his first season in charge, Celtic won the domestic treble. The 2000-2001 season was additionally memorable for Celtic fans, having also included some varied results against the club's rivals Rangers, among which were a 5-1 defeat and a famous 6-2 victory.
Under O'Neill, the club also reached the 2003 UEFA Cup final, but lost 3–2 to Porto in extra time, and in 2004 Celtic continued to prosper in the UEFA Cup, reaching the quarter-finals, but eventually losing out to the Spanish side, Villarreal CF (3–1 on aggregate).
In 2004-2005, Celtic finished last in their group in the Champions League, knocking the club out of European competition (a third-place Champions League group finish would have parachuted Celtic into the UEFA Cup). Following a nerve-wracking race for the SPL title with Rangers closely following, the club extended their lead at the top of the SPL table to two points as they lined up for the final game of the season, with only a win at Motherwell required to seal the title. With two minutes remaining on the clock, Celtic were leading 1–0 - a result which would have handed them the crown. However, Motherwell's Scott McDonald netted two last-minute goals and handed the Fir Park side a stunning victory. Subseqently, Rangers defeated Hibernian 1–0 away from home to pip Celtic for the title. Despite the disappointment, Celtic ended the season one week later with a 1-0 win over Dundee United in the Scottish Cup Final, which was marked by fans as Martin O'Neill's final match as manager.
On 25 May 2005, O'Neill announced that he would resign as manager of Celtic at the end of 2004/05 season, along with first team coach Steve Walford and assistant manager John Robertson. It was widely reported that O'Neill decided to take time out of football in order to care for his ailing wife Geraldine, who is currently battling lymphoma. Former Southampton and Coventry manager Gordon Strachan took charge on June 1 on a 12-month rolling contract, similar to O'Neill's arrangement with the club, which means his contract effectively extends for one calendar year from any current date. Garry Pendrey was appointed as Strachan's assistant manager.
Club Records
- The Scottish Cup final win against Aberdeen FC in 1938 was attended by a crowd of 146,433 at Hampden Park, which remains a record for a club match in Europe.
- Celtic currently hold the UK record for an unbeaten run in professional football: 62 games (49 won, 13 drawn), from November 13, 1915 until April 21, 1917.
- Record Victory: 11-0, against Dundee in 1895.
- Record defeat: 0-8 against Motherwell in 1937.
- 72 (Premier Division, 1987/88, 2 points for a Win); 97 (Premier League, 2002/03, 3 points for a win)
- Record Attendance: 92,000 against Rangers in 1938.
- Most Caps: 76, Paul McStay.
- Record Appearances: Billy McNeill, 486 from 1957-75.
- Most goals in a season: Jimmy McGrory, 50.
- Record scorer: Jimmy McGrory, 550.
Honours
- European Champions Cup (1): 1967.
- Scottish League Champions (39): 1893, 1894, 1896, 1898, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919, 1922, 1926, 1936, 1938, 1954, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004.
- Scottish Cup (33): 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.
- Scottish League Cup (12): 1957, 1958, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1983, 1998, 2000, 2001.
- Drybrough Cup: 1974.
- Tennents' Sixes: 1992.
- Coronation Cup: 1953.
- Scottish league commemorative sheild: 1904/05 1909/10
- Empire Exhibition Trophy: 1938
- Victory In Europe Cup: 1945
- Saint Mungo Cup: 1951
Current Squad
Goalkeepers
| Magnus Hedman | 
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| David Marshall | 
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| Michael McGovern |
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Defenders
| John Kennedy |
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| Scott Cuthbert |
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| Paul Lawson |
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| Bobo Balde | Missing image Guinea_flag_large.png Guinean |
| Ulrik Laursen | 
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| Stanislav Varga | 
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| Mohammed Camara | Missing image Guinea_flag_large.png Guinean |
Midfielders
| Neil Lennon | 
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| Stilian Petrov | 
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| Ross Wallace |
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| Stephen Pearson |
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| Alan Thompson | 
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| Didier Agathe | 
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| Stephen McManus |
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| Aiden McGeady | 
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Strikers
| John Hartson | 
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| Chris Sutton |
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| David Fernandez | 
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| Shaun Maloney |
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| Craig Beattie |
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Celtic 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 (1991-1993)
- Lou Macari (1993-1994)
- Tommy Burns (1994-1997)
- Wim Jansen (1997-1998)
- Josef Venglos (1998-1999)
- John Barnes (1999-2000)
- Kenny Dalglish (2000)
- Martin O'Neill (2000-2005)
- Gordon Strachan (2005-)
Famous Celts
- Roy Aitken
- Bertie Auld
- Tommy Burns
- Dennis Connaghan
- Pat Crerand
- Kenny Dalglish
- Patsy Gallacher
- Tommy Gemmell
- John Hartson
- David Hay
- Harry Hood
- Jimmy Johnstone
- Mo Johnston
- Paul Lambert
- Henrik Larsson
- Neil Lennon
- Bobby Lennox
- Lou Macari
- Willie Maley
- Danny McGrain
- Jimmy McGrory
- Billy McNeill (Caesar)
- Paul McStay
- Charlie Nicholas
- Ronnie Simpson
- Jock Stein
- Chris Sutton
- John Thomson
- Charlie Tully
- William Wallace
See also
External links
- Official club website (http://www.celticfc.net)
- Celtic Online (http://www.cfconline.co.uk)
- Not the View fanzine (http://www.ntvcelticfanzine.com)
- E-Tims online fanzine (http://www.etims.net)
- TalkCeltic (http://www.talkceltic.net)
- Erefugees Celtic Forum (http://www.erefugees.tk)
- Open Football Celtic (http://celtic.openfootball.co.uk)
- Glasgow University CSC (http://www.gucsc.itgo.com)
- Glasgow Celtic (http://www.glasgowpanorama.co.uk/glasgowpanorama/sport_&_leisure/football/glasgow_celtic.php)
- Celtic Quick News (http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk)
de:Celtic Glasgow fr:Celtic FC he:מועדון כדורגל סלטיק ja:セルティック nl:Celtic simple:Celtic F.C. sv:Celtic FC zh:塞尔特人俱乐部 pt:Celtic Football Club