Belfast Celtic

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Belfast Celtic football club was founded in 1891 and was one of the most successful teams in Irish football until they withdrew from the Irish League in 1949 at the end of a season which had seen crowd trouble at a match against Linfield five months earlier.

The club was named after Celtic F.C. and was founded on the same principle of raising community spirit and money for charity. Their home was Celtic Park on the Donegall Road in West Belfast, known to the fans as "Paradise." Celtic won their first league title in 1900 after beating fierce rivals Linfield F.C. by a single point.

The political violence that engulfed Northern Ireland in the 1920s spilled on to the terraces of the Irish League and Celtic was forced to withdraw from the league in 1920 in order to ease tension, not rejoining until 1924. Celtic's support base was strongly Roman Catholic and was mistrusted by most other teams.

Despite this, the club went from strength to strength and the inter-war years proved to be Celtic's strongest: they were league champions four years running after their return. The club also produced some of the greatest players of their generation and at one stage had five international goalkeepers in their squad. The famous Charlie Tully, a legend at Celtic F.C., learned how to kick a ball with Belfast Celtic.

The end came on Boxing Day 1948 at the annual Linfield-Celtic game at Windsor Park. The game was traditionally a tense affair but temperatures rose to boiling point when Celtic player Jimmy Jones injured a Linfield player. Celtic were winning for most of the match but Linfield equalised in the last minute, during the celebrations Linfield F.C. fans invaded the pitch and attacked several Celtic players including Jones who suffered a broken leg.

Some felt that the attack had shown that the police were unable to protect Celtic fans and players and the feeble sanctions imposed on Linfield F.C. by the League prompted Celtic to withdraw from the League until they felt that the safety of their supporters could be assured. After the 1948/49 season the mighty Belfast Celtic would never again play a competitive match but played several friendlies including an historic victory over the Scottish national team in the United States in 1953.

Paradise continued to function as a greyhound stadium until the 1980s when it was bulldozed and replaced by The Park Centre, a small shopping mall. Today, a small plaque reminds shoppers of the glory days.

The exciting rivalry between Celtic and Linfield F.C. was the strength behind the League and without that dynamic the league suffered. West Belfast was left without a major football team until the formation of Donegal Celtic in 1970.

[edit] Honours

Irish League: 19
- 1899/00, 1914/15, 1918/19, 1919/20, 1925/26, 1926/27, 1927/28, 1928/29, 1932/33, 1935/36, 1936/37, 1937/38, 1938/39, 1939/40, 1940/41, 1941/42, 1943/44, 1946/47, 1947/48
Irish Cups: 8
- 1917/18, 1925/26, 1936/37, 1937/38, 1940/41, 1942/43, 1943/44, 1946/47
City Cup Winners Cup: 8
- 1925/26, 1927/28, 1929/30, 1930/31, 1932/33, 1939/40, 1947/48, 1948/49
Gold Cup: 10
- 1911/12, 1925/26, 1934/35, 1938/39, 1939/40, 1940/41, 1943/44, 1944/45, 1945/46, 1946/47
County Antrim Shield: 7
- 1894/95, 1926/27, 1935/36, 1936/37, 1938/39, 1942/43, 1944/45