The History Of Glasgow Celtic Football Club

In 1967, Celtic became the first Scottish team, the first British team and the first Northern European team to win the European Cup, which had previously been the preserve of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish clubs. 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; all of the players in the side being Scottish, and all born within a 30-mile radius of Celtic Park in Glasgow.

Celtic Football Club was formally constituted at a meeting in St. Mary's church hall in East Rose Street (now Forbes Street), Calton, Glasgow, by Marist Brother Walfrid on November 6, 1887, with the purpose stated in the official club records as "being to alleviate poverty in Glasgow's East End parishes".

The charity established by Brother Walfrid, who was originally from Ballymote, County Sligo in Ireland, 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. Walfrid's own suggestion of the name 'Celtic' (pronounced Seltik), was intended to reflect the club's Irish and Scottish roots, and was adopted at the same meeting.

The club has the official nickname, "The Bhoys". However, according to the Celtic press office, the newly established club was known to many as "the bold boys". A postcard from the early 20th century that pictured the team, and read "The Bould Bhoys", is the first known example of the unique spelling. The extra 'h' is said to reflect the Irish accent.[3]

On May 28, 1888, Celtic played their first official match against Rangers and won 5-2 in what was described as a "friendly encounter". Neil McCallum scored Celtic's first ever goal. The squad that played that day was largely composed of players borrowed from Hibernian.

Celtic's first kit consisted of a white shirt with a green collar, black shorts, and emerald green socks. The original club crest was a simple green cross on a red oval background.

While Brother Walfrid had only charitable motives for the club, others saw huge financial potential. John Glass, a Scottish builder with Donegal family connections and Pat Welsh, a tailor who had left Ireland 20 years previously, observed the coming of professionalism in England in 1885 and correctly assumed that Scotland would follow.
John Glass, former Celtic president
John Glass, former Celtic president

In August 1888, without the knowledge of Brother Walfrid or the club committee, Glass signed eight of Hibs' best players, having offered them cash inducements. The consequences for Hibernian were almost catastrophic.

It did not take long before Celtic established themselves as one of the strongest sides in Scotland. They won the Scottish Cup in 1892, were Scottish League champions in 1893, 1894, 1896 and 1898 and won the Cup again in 1899 and 1900. In the Edwardian period they adopted their famous green and white hoops, won the championship an astonishing six consecutive times between 1905 and 1910 and the Scottish Cup on four occasions. They went on to win four consecutive titles between 1914 and 1917 but after this it was their arch rivals Rangers who dominated, Celtic managing a mere four titles and six cup wins between 1920 and 1939.

Under their first manager, Willie Maley, the club won 30 major trophies in 43 years. He guided Celtic to six straight league title wins from 1904-1910, a Scottish record that stood for over sixty years, until 1971, when it was equalled (then surpassed) by Jock Stein's Celtic side. In 1939, Celtic also defeated Everton of England 1-0 at Ibrox Park 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.

Maley's tenure was also marked by tragedy, when goalkeeper John Thomson was accidentally killed during an Old Firm encounter in September 1931. Thomson dived in bravely at the feet of Rangers player Sam English, suffering a skull fracture and died in hospital that evening.Under him the first ever indian sub continent player playing in the European club also came here,Mohammed Abdul Salim

Jock Stein succeeded McGrory in 1965. A former player and team captain, Stein gained most of his fame as Celtic's manager, and is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest football managers in the history of the game. He guided Celtic to nine straight Scottish League wins from 1966 to 1974, which established a joint world record and Scottish record, and was not equalled until 1997.

The Bank of Scotland informed Celtic that it was calling in the receivers on Thursday 3 March 1994 as a result of exceeding a £5million overdraft. However, expatriate businessman, Fergus McCann, wrested control of the club, and ousted the family dynasties which had controlled Celtic since its foundation. According to media reports, McCann took over the club as little as eighteen minutes before it was to be declared bankrupt.

In order to alleviate the club's considerable financial debt, McCann reconstituted Celtic as a public limited company - Celtic PLC - resulting in one of the most successful stock market flotations in British financial history. The share issue netted £14million towards the refinancing of the club and saw the redevelopment of Celtic Park into a 60,832 all-seater stadium to rival the best in Europe. During this period, Lou Macari was sacked by McCann and replaced by former Celtic player Tommy Burns, who restored a more attacking style of play.

In the early McCann years the club was under pressure to invest heavily, as Rangers were doing with the signing of Paul Gascoine and Brian Laudrup, in playing talent to thwart their rivals attempts to equal and surpass the 9-in-a-row record Celtic held. Fans at times became frustrated by a perceived frugality from McCann, who refused to cave in to what he saw as excessive demands by foreign, mercurial talents. Under Burns' leadership, the side won the Scottish Cup in 1995, but failed to end Rangers' dominance in the Scottish Premier Division. After the near-miss of 1995-96 when Celtic were defeated only once, and with just three weeks left of the 1996-1997 season, Burns was sacked, along with the club's entire coaching staff.

Also during this period was an incident in which Jim Farry, acting as the Chief Executive of the SFA, deliberately delayed the registration of former Portuguese Internationalist Jorge Cadete, leaving Celtic without the services of this player for a series of vital matches. Fergus McCann complained to the SFA, who subsequently found Jim Farry guilty of gross misconduct in relation to his behaviour in this matter.

In 2003, around 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to watch the club compete in the UEFA Cup final in Seville in southern Spain.[4][5] Celtic lost the match 3-2 to F.C. Porto after extra time, despite two goals from Henrik Larsson during normal play. Celtic's cause was not helped by the booking of Alan Thompson early in the match, and the late sending off of defender Bobo Balde. However, the exemplary conduct of the thousands of travelling Celtic supporters received widespread praise from the people of Seville (not one single supporter was arrested) and the fans were awarded prestigious Fair Play Awards from both FIFA and UEFA "for their extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour". UEFA did, however, also express disappointment at the jeering by the Celtic support during the presentation of the cup to Porto.

Gordon Strachan was announced in June 2005 as Martin O'Neill's replacement, after apparently being recommended by O'Neill himself. Strachan faced a number of challenges, not least in inheriting an aged squad who were highly expensive and one that had still failed to replace the talismanic Henrik Larsson. Despite an unpromising start, Celtic went on to become the fastest team to win the SPL championship ever, along with the Scottish League Cup in season 2005-2006. The title was clinched before the league was split (for the first time ever) with a 1-0 home victory over second-placed Heart of Midlothian.

On 22 May 2008 Celtic won the SPL for the third year in a row with a victory over Dundee United at Tannadice. This ensured Strachan's place in the history books of Celtic, becoming only the third manager to achieve such a feat, behind Maley and Stein.

European Cup: 1

1966-67

Scottish League championships: 42

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, 2007, 2008

Scottish Cup: 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: 13

1957, 1958, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1975, 1983, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006

Willie Maley 1897-1940
Jimmy McStay 1940-1945
Jimmy McGrory 1945-1965
Jock Stein 1965-1978
Billy McNeill 1978-1983 and 1987-1990
David Hay 1983-1987
Liam Brady 1991-1993
Lou Macari 1993-1994
Tommy Burns 1994-1997
Wim Jansen 1997-1998
Jozef Venglo%u0161 1998-1999
John Barnes 1999-2000
Kenny Dalglish 2000
Martin O'Neill 2000-2005
Gordon Strachan 2005-