Background:
In 1967, Celtic became the first British team, and only Scottish team, to win the European Cup: the players, subsequently known as the Lisbon Lions, were all born within a 30-mile radius of Parkhead. Celtic won every competition they entered that season: the Scottish League Championship, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the European Cup and the Glasgow Cup. Celtic also reached the 1970 European Cup Final, but were beaten by Feyenoord 2–1.
In 2003 Celtic reached the UEFA Cup Final, where they lost 3–2 to FC Porto. An estimated 80,000 Celtic supporters travelled to Seville, despite many lacking match tickets. Celtic fans received awards from UEFA and FIFA for their behaviour at the match. In April 2008 the club was estimated to have a fan base of nine million people, including one million in North America.
History:
Celtic were formally founded 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. Brother 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, with 7 of Celtic's first eleven players signing from Hibs. Walfrid's own suggestion of the name Celtic was intended to reflect the club's Irish and Scottish origins, and was adopted at the same meeting.The club's official nickname is "The Bhoys", which denotes an Irish pronunciation, in reflection of the club's heritage. The club's first tangible bit of evidence for their nickname is a postcard from the earliest years of the 20th century, which refers to the Celtic team of the time as "the bould bhoys" (sic), while the team were already known as the "Bold Boys" soon after the club was founded. The term "Boys" was used for most football teams of Glascow at the time, most probably in reference to the local, sectarian, youth gangs prevalent in Glascow at the time, the (Catholic, Irish) Timalloys and the (Protestant, Loyalist) Billyboys.
On 28 May 1888, Celtic played their first official match against Rangers and won 5–2 in what was described as a "friendly encounter". During their 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 green and white hoops in 1903. 1967 was Celtic's most successful 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. Managed by Jock Stein, and captained by Billy McNeill, the club defeated Inter Milan 2–1 in Lisbon, Portugal on 25 May 1967. Celtic thus became the first British team, and the first from outside Spain, Portugal and Italy to win the competition. They remain the only Scottish team to have reached the final. The winning players subsequently became known as the 'Lisbon Lions'. The East Stand at Celtic Park is dedicated to the Lisbon Lions, and the West Stand to Jock Stein. Celtic reached the European Cup Final again in 1970, but were beaten 2–1 by Feyenoord at the San Siro in Milan.
Stein managed Celtic to nine straight Scottish League wins from 1966 to 1974, establishing a world record which was not equalled until 1997.
In 2003, Celtic reached the final of the UEFA Cup, and around 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to watch the game in Seville in Spain. Celtic lost the match 3–2 to FC Porto after extra time. The Celtic fans were awarded prestigious Fair Play Awards from both FIFA and UEFA "for their extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour".
Records and Honours:
- The Scottish Cup final win against Aberdeen in 1937 was attended by a crowd of 147,365 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, which remains an all-time world record gate for national cup final
- 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
- 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 hold the SPL record for an unbeaten run of home matches (77), from 2001 to 2004
- Record home attendance: 92,000 against Rangers on 1 January 1938. A 3–0 victory for Celtic
- Most capped current player: 50, Cha Du-Ri
- Most capped player (Scotland): 102, Kenny Dalglish
- Record appearances: Billy McNeill, 790 from 1957–1975
- Most goals in a season (all competitions): Jimmy McGrory, 59 (1926/27) (49 League/10 Scottish Cup)
- 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
- Only Scottish, and first British team to win the European Cup
- The highest score in a domestic British cup final: Celtic 7–1 Rangers, Scottish League Cup Final 1957
- Fastest hat-trick in European Club Football – Mark Burchill vs Jeunesse Esch in 2000; 3 minutes (between 12th minute and 15th minute), a record at the time
- Earliest SPL Championship won. Twice won with 6 games remaining, 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 and 7–0 against St Mirren on 28 February 2009
- 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
- Most expensive export from Scottish football, Aiden McGeady to Spartak Moscow, August 2010
- First European club to sign a player from the Indian sub-continent
- 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
- 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
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: 14
1956–57, 1957–58, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1974–75, 1982–83, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2008–09 - European Cup: 1
1967 - Glasgow Cup: 30 (Contested by under 18 youth teams from 2008)
1891, 1892, 1895, 1896, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1939, 1941, 1949, 1956, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1975*, 1982, 2008 - British League Cup: 1
1902 - Ferencvaros Vase: 1
1914 - Navy and Army War Fund Shield: 1
1918 - Empire Exhibition Trophy: 1
1938 - Victory In Europe Cup: 1
1945 - Saint Mungo Cup: 1
1951 - Coronation Cup: 1
1953 - Alfredo di Stefano Trophy: 1
1967 - CNE Cup of Champions: 1
1968 - France Football European Team of the Year: 1
1970 - Drybrough Cup: 1
1974 - Translink Cup: 1
2009 - World of Soccer Cup: 1
1977 - Feyenoord Tournament: 1
1981 - Dubai Gold Cup: 1
1989 - Wembley Cup: 1
2009 - Fenway Football Challenge: 1
2010 - Jock Stein Friendship Cup: 2
2008, 2009 - Scottish Youth Cup: 10
1984, 1987, 1989, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 - Under 18 Scottish Premier League: 2
2000, 2003 - Under 19 Scottish Premier League: 4
2004, 2005, 2006, 2010 - Under 21 Scottish Premier League: 3
2002, 2003, 2004 - Reserve Scottish Premier League: 8
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 - BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award:
1 - France Football European Team of the Year: 1
- Polar Bear Trophy:
1 - Real Madrid Silver Cabin:
1 - FIFA Fair Play Award: 1
2003 (awarded to the fans of Celtic FC) - UEFA Fair Play Award:
1
*1975 trophy shared with Rangers after a 2–2 draw
Last edited by SBSP_FIFA on Wed Sep 15, 2010 10:39 am; edited 12 times in total
