Jump to content

Celtic F.C.: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎Players: cleanup
No edit summary
Line 685: Line 685:
* [http://www.celticpoland.com/ Polish fans' website - the biggest foreign fan portal]
* [http://www.celticpoland.com/ Polish fans' website - the biggest foreign fan portal]
* [http://deadraibead.org/ North American Celtic Fans forum and portal]
* [http://deadraibead.org/ North American Celtic Fans forum and portal]
* [http://celtictalk.org Scottish Celtic fan forum]


{{start box}}
{{start box}}

Revision as of 14:05, 31 January 2009

Celtic
Celtic crest
Full nameThe Celtic Football Club
Nickname(s)The Bhoys (official)
The Celts
The Hoops
Founded1888
GroundCeltic Park, Glasgow, Scotland
Capacity60,832
ChairmanScotland Dr John Reid MP
ManagerScotland Gordon Strachan
LeagueScottish Premier League
2007/08Scottish Premier League, 1st
Current season

The Celtic Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. Celtic are the champions of Scotland, having completed a hat-trick of titles on 22 May 2008, the final day of the 2007/08 season. Since the club's formation in 1888, Celtic have won the Scottish championship on 42 occasions and the Scottish Cup 34 times (a record), and won the European Cup in 1967. Celtic's home stadium is Celtic Park (commonly referred to as Parkhead), the largest 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 ever to win the competition with a team composed entirely of players from the club's home country (along with Steaua Bucharest of Romania in 1986).[1][2]. All of the players, subsequently known as the Lisbon Lions, were born within a 30-mile radius of Celtic Park. Celtic won every competition that they entered that season: the Scottish League Championship, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the European Cup and the Glasgow Cup, to become the first, and so far only, team to win the Quadruple. 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. Approximately 80,000 Celtic supporters travelled to Seville for this game, the largest foreign travelling support in history at the time. Celtic fans also received awards from UEFA and FIFA for their behaviour throughout the tournament.[3][4][5] Celtic have an estimated fan base of nine million, including one million in North America.[6]

Formation and history

Main article: History of Celtic F.C.

Celtic were formally founded at a meeting 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 1887. The purpose stated in the official club records as "being to alleviate poverty in Glasgow's East End parishes".

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' (pronounced Seltik), was intended to reflect the club's Irish and Scottish roots, 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.

Celtic and the 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 [7].

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

See also: Sectarianism in Glasgow

Celtic have a historic association with the people of Ireland and Scots of Irish extraction, who are both predominantly Catholic.Throughout its history Celtic has prided itself as being a club for everyone. Fans of rivals Rangers FC 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, hand gestures, 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]

Recent seasons

2005/06

Main article: Celtic F.C. season 2005-06

Celtic began the 2005/06 season with a new manager: Gordon Strachan, the former Scotland, Aberdeen , Manchester United and Leeds United midfielder took over from Martin O'Neill. Garry Pendrey was appointed as Strachan's assistant manager.

Before his first game, he was already being criticized by the press for signing unknown players such as Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura from relegation battlers Reggina of Serie A and Polish goalkeeper Artur Boruc from Legia Warsaw. In Celtic's first competitive game under Strachan, they lost 5–0 in a UEFA Champions League qualifier to Slovakian minnows Artmedia Bratislava. Strachan was under more pressure after the first SPL game of the season after his side lost a 3–1 lead away to Motherwell and only escaped with a point after grabbing a late equaliser in a 4–4 draw. The shoots of recovery started to grow with a 4–0 win in the home leg of the Champions League tie with Artmedia and although Celtic lost 3–1 to Rangers in the first Glasgow derby of the season, the team went on a 13 game unbeaten run, winning 12 of those games before losing to Dunfermline Athletic.

Celtic showed their Championship credentials on New Year's Day 2006, after staging a late comeback to beat Hearts 3–2 in a top-of-the-table clash at Tynecastle thanks to two late goals from centre-half Stephen McManus.

After signing Roy Keane from Manchester United in January 2006, Celtic lost to Clyde 2–1 in the Scottish Cup Third Round. Their impressive league form continued however and on 19 February 2006 Celtic set a new scoring record for the SPL, an 8–1 victory at East End Park against Dunfermline, where Polish striker Maciej Żurawski scored 4 goals and assisted in 2 others.

On 19 March, Gordon Strachan won his first trophy for Celtic with a 3–0 win over Dunfermline in the final of the Scottish League Cup.

On 5 April, Celtic clinched their 40th league title thanks to a goal from John Hartson in a 1–0 win against Hearts at Celtic Park. The title was Celtic's fourth 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 had won their league 5 years in a row and the Under-19s had won their league 4 years in a row.


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.[11] However Lennon returned to the club later in the season as a coach.

Wikinews has related news:

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.[citation needed] 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 losing 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.

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, because of this the manager was badly criticised and there was speculation that he might be sacked or resign. 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 Tommy Burns, former player and manager, 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 FAI League of Ireland side Derry City on a 3 year contract on 19 June. Greek international striker Georgios Samaras, who had spent the second half of the 2007/08 season on loan from Manchester City signed on a permanent basis on 14 July after agreeing a 3 year contract. 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.

As of 29th January, Celtic are top of the Scottish Premier League 2008-09. They have qualified for the final of the League Cup, where they will play Rangers at Hampden Park on Sunday 15 March 2009.

In the January transfer window, Celtic signed winger Niall McGinn from Derry City and left back Milan Misun from FK Příbram, while also agreeing a deal to sign Dundee United goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska on 1 June 2009.

Records

  • The Scottish Cup final win against Aberdeen in 1937 was attended by a crowd of 146,433 (sometimes listed as 147,365) 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 also 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 player: 82, Shunsuke Nakamura: Japan
  • Most capped player (Scotland): 76, Paul McStay
  • 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
  • First Scottish, British and Northern Europe 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 30 mile radius of Celtic Park)
  • Hold the record for the highest score in a domestic cup final: Celtic 7–1 Rangers, Scottish League Cup Final 1957[12]
  • Hold the record for 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, Luxembourg in 2000, a record at the time.[13]
  • 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, The Celtic View
  • Biggest margin of victory in the SPL. 8–1 against Dunfermline Athletic, February 2006
  • First stadium in the UK to stage motorcycle speedway racing on 28 April 1928
  • 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[14][15]
  • First club in the world to win their domestic league in their centenary season (1987/88)
  • 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
  • Won the League Cup a record 5 times in succession, from season 1965/66 to 1969/70 inclusive

National honours

Trophy case at Celtic Park

International club honours

Minor honours

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

Special honours

Individual

All players are from Scotland unless otherwise stated.
Top Goalscorers
# Name Career Goals
1 James McGrory 1922–1937 522
2 Bobby Lennox 1961–1978
1979-1980 		273
3 Henrik Larsson 1997–2004 242
4 Stevie Chalmers 1958–1971 231
5 Jimmy Quinn 1900–1917 217
6 Patsy Gallacher 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
# Name Career Goals
1 James McGrory 1922–1937 397
2 Jimmy Quinn 1900–1917 187
3 Patsy Gallacher 1911–1926 186
4 Henrik Larsson 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
# 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 Republic of Ireland 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–present Scotland 3 1 1 0 5

Players

As of 31 January 2009.[16]

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. 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
11 MF Scotland SCO Paul Hartley
12 DF Scotland SCO Mark Wilson
13 MF Scotland SCO Shaun Maloney
15 DF Czech Republic CZE Milan Mišůn
17 MF Spain ESP Marc Crosas
18 MF Italy ITA Massimo Donati
19 MF Scotland SCO Barry Robson
20 MF Northern Ireland NIR Pat McCourt
21 GK Scotland SCO Mark Brown
No. Pos. Nation Player
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
38 FW Scotland SCO Rocco Quinn
41 DF Scotland SCO John Kennedy
42 FW Scotland SCO Michael McGlinchey
46 MF Ireland EIR Aiden McGeady
48 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Darren O'Dea
51 FW Scotland SCO Nicky Riley
52 DF Scotland SCO Paul Caddis
53 MF Scotland SCO Simon Ferry
54 MF Scotland SCO Ryan Conroy
56 MF Scotland SCO Mark Millar
62 GK Scotland SCO Scott Fox
–– MF Republic of Ireland IRL Willo Flood
–– MF Northern Ireland NIR Niall McGinn

Players out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
33 FW New Zealand NZL Chris Killen (at Norwich City until May 2009)
49 DF Scotland SCO Scott Cuthbert (at St. Mirren until May 2009)
55 FW Scotland SCO Paul McGowan (at Hamilton Academical until May 2009)

Reserve and youth squads

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 Dr 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[17]
Non-Executive Director Brian Wilson
Commercial Director Adrian Filby
Director of International Developments Jason Hughes

Management

Position Name
Manager Gordon Strachan OBE
Assistant Manager Garry Pendrey
First Team Coach Neil Lennon
Reserve Team Coach Willie McStay
Reserve Assistant Team Coach Danny McGrain
Head of Youth Development Chris McCart
Youth Team Coach John McLaughlan
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:[18]

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.[19]

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. ^ Celtic View
  8. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Celtic | Quinn warns on offensive chants
  9. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Rangers | Murray sends sectarianism warning
  10. ^ BBC News | SCOTLAND | Bigotry puzzle for Old Firm
  11. ^ Forest win race to capture Lennon, BBC Sport, 12 June 2007
  12. ^ 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)
  13. ^ O'Neill tells hat-trick hero Burch: You're not moving
  14. ^ Scott Brown signs for Celtic
  15. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Celtic | Brown completes switch to Celtic
  16. ^ "First Team". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
  17. ^ Profile of McBride
  18. ^ http://www.scottishfootballmuseum.org.uk/scottish_football.cfm?curpageid=688
  19. ^ BBC SPORT | Football | Teams | Celtic | Jinky best-ever Celtic player

External links

Preceded by European Cup Winner
1967 		Succeeded by

Template:Fb start

Template:Champions League 2008-09

Template:Fb end

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Celtic_F.C.&oldid=267620681"