Celtic F.C.

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Celtic F.C.
Full name The Celtic Football Club
Nickname(s) The: 'Bhoys', 'Hoops', 'Celts'
Founded 1888
Ground Celtic Park
Parkhead
Glasgow
Scotland
Capacity 60,832
Chairman Scotland Brian Quinn
Manager Scotland Gordon Strachan
League Scottish Premier League
2005-2006 Scottish Premier League, 1st
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away colours

Celtic Football Club (pronounced "seltik", /sɛltɪk/ in IPA) AIM: CCP is a Scottish football club, competing in the Scottish Premier League, the highest form of competition in Scotland. The club is based in the east end of the city of Glasgow.

The club is officially nicknamed the Bhoys, or unofficially the Hoops. Although the full name of the club is The Celtic Football Club, it is sometimes incorrectly called "Glasgow Celtic" (or "Celtic Glasgow"), particularly by foreign commentators.

Celtic play home games at Celtic Park, which is currently the second largest club stadium in the United Kingdom and was until the expansion of Old Trafford in recent years the largest in the UK. In 2005-06, Celtic Park attracted an average attendance of 58,149 [1], making Celtic second only to Manchester United [2] in average attendance for any British football club.

Together with their rivals, Rangers F.C., they form the Old Firm which is one of the most famous and fiercest rivalries in sport. The club has traditionally been identified with the Catholic community of Glasgow and has strong support from the Catholic population of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Celtic's home kit is green and white hooped jerseys, white shorts and white socks.

In 1967, Celtic became the first British team to win the European Cup. Before this historic win, no other club in Northern Europe had won the tournament, which had been the preserve of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish clubs. Celtic won every competition that they entered that season: Scottish League, Scottish FA Cup, Scottish League Cup, European Cup and the Glasgow Cup.

Additionally, Celtic remain the only Scottish club ever to have reached the final, and are the only club ever to win the trophy with a team composed entirely of home-grown talent; [3] [4] all of the players in the side were Scottish, and all were born within a 30-mile radius of Celtic Park in Glasgow. 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. Around 80,000 [5] [6] [7] Celtic supporters travelled to Seville for the final.

Contents

[edit] 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 brother named Brother Walfrid originally 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.

[edit] 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 (see History of Celtic F.C.), which some fans believe to be a part of a wider anti-Catholic bias in Scotland (see Irish-Scots).

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.

Some Celtic fans with Republican sympathies sing IRA songs at games, and some Rangers fans, who are traditionally Loyalist, 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. [8] [9] 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 [10].

[edit] 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.

[edit] Recent seasons

Further information: History of Celtic F.C.

[edit] 2003-04

Further information: Celtic F.C. season 2003-04

After a draw in the opening game of the season, Celtic notched up a record-setting 25-match winning run, giving Celtic a healthy lead in the title race. Celtic did not lose a game until after the club's 39th championship was delivered.

The 2003-04 season also saw Celtic notch up four league wins over Rangers, and one in the Scottish Cup - the first time in either club's history when a five-match "whitewash" had been achieved.

Club hero Henrik Larsson played his final professional match for Celtic in the 2004 Scottish Cup Final victory over Dunfermline, scoring two goals, with Bulgarian Stilian Petrov's goal following Larsson's goals to overturn an early setback, and handing Celtic their second double under Martin O'Neill.

Larsson is now widely acknowledged as one of the club's greatest ever players, and ranks amongst the top three goalscorers in the club's history.

[edit] 2004-05

Following a close 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 a win at Motherwell F.C. 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 league.

However, Motherwell's Scott McDonald netted two last-minute goals. Rangers defeated Hibernian F.C. 1 – 0 at Easter Road, thereby winning the league championship title. Earlier in the season Celtic recorded a record seventh straight win over city rivals Rangers.

Celtic ended the season one week later with a 1–0 win over Dundee United F.C. 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 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 ill with lymphoma.

Martin O'Neill is now recognised as Celtic's most successful manager since Jock Stein, third greatest after Stein and Willie Maley and is credited with helping to restore some pride in Celtic's ability to compete on the European stage. However, O'Neill was not able to emulate Stein's dominance of the game in Scotland and in Europe.

[edit] 2005-06

Further information: Celtic F.C. season 2005-06

Former Aberdeen F.C. 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 F.C. at Rugby Park.

In Strachan's first domestic match of the 2005-06 SPL season, Celtic relinquished a 3-1 half-time lead over Motherwell F.C. 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 side Clyde F.C.

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 Athletic on 19 March. They created a new scoring record for the SPL, an 8-1 victory against Dunfermline in February 2006, where Maciej Żurawski scored 4 goals and assisted in 2 others.

On 5 April 2006 Celtic clinched their 40th title thanks to a goal from John Hartson in a 1-0 win against Hearts 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 SPL split. The Bhoys lifted the SPL trophy on Easter Sunday 2006 at home to Hibernian, 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. Celtic's reserve team have now won their league 5 years in a row and the Under-19 have won their league 4 years in a row.

[edit] 2006-07

Further information: 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 took the unprecedented step of paying out on Celtic as the winners of the SPL on 4 November 2006, only 13 games into the season. By mid-November Celtic were 15 points clear of their nearest challengers. On November 21, Celtic defeated Manchester United 1-0 at home thanks to a Nakamura freekick and a Boruc penalty save in the Champions League, which earned them qualification to the knockout stage of the last 16 teams for the first time since the format was altered in 1993.

[edit] 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 F.C. 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 F.C. in 1937.
  • Record home defeat: 0-5 against Heart of Midlothian F.C. 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 defeat against Rangers: 1-8 January 1, 1943 (in an unofficial war-time game)
  • Record victory against Rangers: 7-1 1957 Scottish league cup final.
  • Complete record v Rangers P371 W91 D133 L147 F508 A529
  • 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 F.C. 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
  • 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.
  • First weekly club publication in the UK.
  • Biggest Margin of victory in the SPL. 1-8 Vs Dunfermline, February 2005/2006.
  • First Scottish team to qualify for Champions League with a game in hand.

[edit] Major honours

  • European Champions Cup (1): 1967. Runner-up 1970.
  • UEFA Cup Runner-up 2003.
  • Scottish Football League Champions (40): 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, 2006.
  • Scottish Premier League Champions (4): 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006.
  • 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 (13): 1957, 1958, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1983, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006.

[edit] Other honours

[edit] All time scorers

Top 10 all time goal-scorers (including, League, Scottish Cup, League Cup and European goals):

  1. Jimmy McGrory - 468 (McGrory also holds the record for the most professional career league goals in British football history).
  2. Bobby Lennox - 273
  3. Henrik Larsson - 242
  4. Stevie Chalmers - 231
  5. Jimmy Quinn - 217
  6. Patsy Gallacher - 192
  7. John Hughes - 188
  8. Sandy McMahon - 177
  9. Jimmy McMenemy - 168
  10. Kenny Dalglish - 167

Top 10 League goal-scorers:

  1. Jimmy McGrory- 397
  2. Jimmy Quinn - 187
  3. Patsy Gallacher - 186
  4. Henrik Larsson - 174
  5. Bobby Lennox - 167
  6. Stevie Chalmers - 159
  7. Jimmy McMenemy - 144
  8. Sandy McMahon - 130
  9. Adam McLean - 128
  10. John Hughes - 115

[edit] All time appearances

Top 10

  1. Billy McNeill- 790
  2. Paul McStay - 678
  3. Roy Aitken - 669
  4. Danny McGrain - 661
  5. Pat Bonner - 642
  6. Bobby Lennox - 587
  7. Bobby Evans - 548
  8. Jimmy McMenemy - 515
  9. Jimmy Johnstone - 515
  10. Tommy Burns - 504

[edit] Managers

[edit] Current squad

No. Position Player
1 Poland GK Artur Boruc
2 Scotland DF Paul Telfer
3 England DF Lee Naylor
4 Scotland DF Adam Virgo
5 Scotland DF Gary Caldwell
6 Guinea DF Bobo Balde
7 Poland FW Maciej Żurawski
8 England MF Alan Thompson
9 Scotland FW Kenny Miller
10 Netherlands FW Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink
11 Scotland MF Stephen Pearson
12 Scotland DF Mark Wilson
14 Scotland FW Derek Riordan
15 Netherlands MF Evander Sno
16 Denmark MF Thomas Gravesen
18 Northern Ireland MF Neil Lennon (captain)
20 Czech Republic MF Jiří Jarošík
No. Position Player
22 Scotland GK David Marshall
25 Japan MF Shunsuke Nakamura
29 Scotland FW Shaun Maloney
37 Scotland FW Craig Beattie
38 Scotland MF Rocco Quinn (Reserve)
41 Scotland DF John Kennedy
42 Scotland FW Michael McGlinchey (Reserve)
43 Republic of Ireland FW Diarmuid O'Carroll (Reserve)
44 Scotland DF Stephen McManus (vice-captain)
45 Scotland MF James O'Brien (Reserve)
46 Republic of Ireland MF Aiden McGeady
48 Republic of Ireland DF Darren O'Dea (Reserve)
49 Scotland DF Scott Cuthbert (Reserve)
51 Scotland FW Nicky Riley (Reserve)
53 Scotland MF Simon Ferry (Reserve)
54 Scotland MF Ryan Conroy (Reserve)

[edit] Players out on loan

35 Scotland MF Paul Lawson (on loan to St Johnstone)
40 Scotland MF Michael Gardyne (on loan to Ross County)
47 Northern Ireland GK Michael McGovern (on loan to St. Johnstone)
50 Scotland DF Gary Irvine (on loan to Ross County)
55 Scotland FW Paul McGowan (on loan to Morton)

[edit] Transfers

In: Season 2006/07

Out: Season 2006/07

[edit] Reserve & Youth squad

No. Position Player
Scotland GK Scott Fox (Reserve)
Scotland DF Ryan McCafferty (Reserve)
Scotland DF Craig Reid (Reserve)
Scotland DF Dean Richardson (Reserve)
England DF Paul Hutchinson (Reserve)
Scotland MF Charles Grant (Reserve)
Republic of Ireland MF Gary Walsh (Reserve)
Iceland MF Teddy Bjarnason (Reserve)
Iceland FW Kjartan Finnbogason (Reserve)
Wales GK Owen Jones (Youth)
Republic of Ireland GK Paul Skinner (Youth)
England GK James Gilpin (Youth)
Scotland GK Chris Nicholson (Youth)
Scotland DF Paul Caddis (Youth)
Republic of Ireland DF Gareth Christie (Youth)
Scotland DF Jason Marr (Youth)
Scotland DF Kevin Ross (Youth)
Scotland DF Andrew Traub (Youth)
Republic of Ireland DF Daniel Lafferty (Youth)
Republic of Ireland DF Simon Dunne (Youth)
No. Position Player
Republic of Ireland DF Mark Nolan (Youth)
Republic of Ireland DF Daragh Satelle (Youth)
Scotland DF Gary Livingstone (Youth)
Scotland DF Brian McEwan (Youth)
Scotland DF Carlo Monti (Youth)
Scotland MF Ross Hepburn (Youth)
Scotland MF Sean Anderson (Youth)
Scotland MF Mark Millar (Youth)
Republic of Ireland MF Paul Cahillane (Youth)
Republic of Ireland MF Graham Carey (Youth)
Republic of Ireland MF Eric Foley (Youth)
Scotland MF Craig Connell (Youth)
Scotland MF David Wotherspoon (Youth)
Scotland MF Michael Tidser (Youth)
Republic of Ireland FW Tim Kiely (Youth)
Scotland FW Kieran McCormick (Youth)
Scotland FW John McGeogh (Youth)
Scotland FW Michael Graham (Youth)
Republic of Ireland FW Cillian Sheridan (Youth)
Scotland FW Kevin Cawley (Youth)

[edit] Non-playing staff

  • Manager: Gordon Strachan
  • Assistant Manager: Garry Pendrey
  • First Team Coach & Head of Youth: Tommy Burns
  • Reserve Team Coach: Kenny McDowall
  • Youth Team Coach: Willie McStay
  • Goalkeeping Coach: Jim Blyth
  • Coach: Danny McGrain
  • Club Doctor: Derek McCormack
  • Physiotherapists: Tim Williamson & Gavin McCarthy
  • Kit Controller: John Clark
  • Chief Scout: Ray Clarke
  • Scout: Tom O'Neil
  • Scout: Darren Fisher
  • Scout: Ross Leightley

[edit] Notable players

     

[edit] Greatest ever team

Greatest ever Celtic team

The following team was voted the greatest ever Celtic team by supporters in 2002. [11]


[edit] UEFA ranking

Current club ranking

Current National League ranking

[edit] See also

[edit] References


    [edit] External links

    Football in Scotland
    v  d  e
    National association National team List of venues List of clubs
    League system Seasons Champions History
    Competitions in Scottish football
    Premier League First Division Second Division Third Division
    Scottish Cup League Cup Challenge Cup Junior Cup

    Aberdeen | Celtic | Dundee United | Dunfermline | Falkirk | Hearts | Hibernian |
    Inverness Caledonian Thistle | Kilmarnock | Motherwell | Rangers | St. Mirren

    Scottish Premier League seasons

    2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07

    Competing: Arsenal | Barcelona | Bayern Munich | Celtic | Chelsea | Internazionale | Lille | Liverpool | Lyon | Manchester United | Milan | Porto | PSV | Real Madrid | Roma | Valencia

    Eliminated: AEK | Anderlecht | Benfica | Bordeaux | Copenhagen | CSKA Moscow | Dynamo Kyiv |
    Galatasaray | Hamburg | Levski Sofia | Olympiakos | Shakhtar | Spartak Moscow | Sporting | Steaua | Werder Bremen

    Preceded by:
    Real Madrid
    European Cup Winner
    1967
    Succeeded by:
    Manchester United