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Celtic

Formed 1887

Founder member of the Scottish Football League 1890

Celtic Away Kits now Available

Kit History

Background

In the mid-1880s, the success of Hibernians FC had inspired Irish communities throughout Scotland to form their own clubs, usually with "Hibernian" or "Harp" in their name. With a quarter of a million people of Irish descent living in and around Glasgow, it was only a matter of time before a powerful club would emerge. The driving force would be a member of the Marist order originally from County Sligo, Brother Walfrid: on November 6 1887 a meeting was held in St Mary's Church, Calton, with the aim of forming a football club to raise money and alleviate poverty in the East End of the city. Brother Walfrid opposed the idea of calling the club Glasgow Hibernians and came up with the name Celtic FC. (The title was originally pronounced "Kel-tik" but Irish Gaelic speakers used "Sel-tik" and this pronunciation stuck.) One of the club's nicknames, "The Bhoys" dates from this era when they were described as the "bold boys," the additional "h" being added to phonetically represent the Irish pronunciation. In common with all Scottish clubs with Irish roots, Celtic adopted green and white as their colours.

The fledgling club received generous support from the Edinburgh Hibernians, who played several exhibition matches to raise funds and lent Celtic their best players. While Brother Walfrid had only the highest motives his partners took a more hard-nosed attitude. John Glass, a builder from Donegal and Pat Welsh, a tailor who had left Ireland under furtive circumstances 20 years previously observed the coming of professionalism in England in 1885 and correctly assumed that Scotland would follow: furthermore a club that could draw on the loyalty of 250,000 potential supporters could make an awful lot of money. In August 1888, without the knowledge of Brother Walfrid or the club committee, Glass signed eight of Hibs' best players, having offered them (illegal) cash inducements. The consequences for Hibs were catastrophic and within three years the Edinburgh club had collapsed.

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.

The intense rivalry between Celtic and Rangers reflects the sectarian division that has long been a feature of West of Scotland society and which continues to disfigure the game to this day. Nothing polarises loyalties so strongly as an "Old Firm" match, which have commonly featured outbreaks of violence fuelled by alcohol and open bigotry (both clubs are now acting to stamp out the singing of sectarian songs). Although Celtic are closely identified with the Catholic population, mostly of Irish origin, the club employed players and staff from both Catholic and Protestant traditions but refused, however, to allow non-Catholics to sit on the board of directors. Rangers, on the other hand were held to exclude Catholics until Graham Souness publicly repudiated their policy in 1989. In fact twenty Catholic players had played for the 'Gers but none were prepared to acknowledge their faith publicly.

Due to the idiosyncratic views of their chairman, Bob Kelly, Celtic did not wear team numbers until 1960, when they were applied to the front and back of players' shorts. This odd tradition survived until 1995 although numbered shirts were worn in European competition after 1975.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Celtic were overshadowed by Rangers and managed only one title in 1954 plus Scottish Cup wins in 1951 and 1954. In 1957 they won the Scottish League Cup for the first time, hammering Rangers by a record 7-1.

In 1965, Jock Stein, a former player took over as the club's first protestant manager and steered the club to their greatest period of success. They won nine consecutive championships between 1964 and 1974 but this side is best remembered for becoming the first British – indeed, northern European - side to win the European Cup. The "Lisbon Lions," all of whom were born within 30 miles (45km) of Glasgow, conceded an early penalty to Internazionale, the Italian masters of catenaccio defence, to win 2-1 with seven minutes left to play in the final of 1967. Remarkably Celtic won every competition they entered that season. When Stein stepped down in 1978 he was offered the job of managing the Celtic Pools rather than a seat on the board and as a result, he resigned.

Billy McNeil, the captain of the Lisbon Lions, took over as manager and led the side to three title wins (1978, 1981, 1982), the Scottish Cup (1980) and League Cup (1982) before he departed in 1983. He was replaced by another former player, Davie Hay who won the Scottish Cup (1985) and the following season, another league title on a dramatic final day on which Hearts needed to win against Dundee while Celtic needed to beat St Mirren by at least three goals. Hearts lost and Celtic won by 5-0 to clinch the title.

In 1987 McNeill (nicknamed "Caesar") returned as manager, winning the domestic double in the clubs centenary season but the next ten years were a lean period. Rangers, boosted by revenue from their lucrative football pool business had invested heavily in redeveloping their ground and attracting the best English players to the club (English teams were banned from European competition after the Heysel tragedy of 1985). Celtic fell behind, managing to win only the Scottish Cup in 1988 and 1989. McNeill was replaced by Liam Brady in 1991 but he failed to halt the decline.

In 1994 The Bank of Scotland announced that it would call in the receivers when Celtic exceeded their £5m overdraft. With minutes to go, expatriate businessman Fergus McCann wrested control from the families that had run the club since its formation. He initiated a radical programme of modernisation, floating Celtic PLC on the Stock Exchange (raising £14m) and rebuilding the crumbling Parkhead (also known as "Paradise") into a 60,000 all-seated stadium that rivalled the best in Europe. Nevertheless, there was little cash to spare for big transfers (although Swedish international Henrik Larsson was signed for £650,000 and would become a Celtic legend).

In 1998 Celtic won the Premier title and League Cup but this proved a flash in the pan and fans became increasingly disillusioned with the new regime. When Celtic were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Inverness Caledonian Thistle, The Sun coined the memorable headline "Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious." In 1999 former legend Kenny Dalglish returned as manager and while he restored the faith of the fans and won the League Cup, results continued to deteriorate.

The arrival of Martin O'Neill, a former Northern Ireland international, in 2000 marked the turning point. Under his leadership, Celtic reasserted themselves, winning the Premier League title in 2001, 2002, 2004 and the Scottish Cup in 2004 and 2005. Moreover, the club once again became a force to be reckoned with in Europe, reaching the UEFA Cup Final in 2003.

In 2005 the club severed their connection with Umbro, suppliers of their kits since the 1960s and entered into a contract with Nike. Gordon Strachan took over the manager's seat, guiding the club to further Premier League titles in 2006 and 2007.

The dominance of the Old Firm is regarded by many as counter to the wider interests of the game in Scotland. The Premier League members earn the lions' share of TV revenues leaving the rest of the Scottish League to survive on scraps while the Old Firm are now so powerful that it is hard to see how their virtual monopoly can be broken (Hearts, with their wealthy Lithuanian backers will disagree). The lack of competitiveness in the Scottish structure is reflected in the poor record of Celtic and their rivals in European competition since 1967 while the influx of foreign players since the 1980s has stifled local talent. On a positive note, however, both Old Firm clubs have firmly dissasociated themselves from sectarianism and bigotry of any kind.

Celtic's record speaks for itself: champions 42 times, Scottish Cup Winners 33 times, League Cup Winners 13 times, European champions once. (Correct at 2007-08).

Sources

Celtic Away Kits now Available

• a Brian McColl
• b Footystrips
• c London Hearts
• d Colours of Football
• e Red Card Scotland
• f Pop Art UK
• g Pete's Picture Palace
• h Sporting Heroes
• i Scottish League.net
• j Fraser Pettigrew
• k Dundee FC - Images of Sport (Paul Lunney 2001)
• l Alick Milne
• m Stuart Robinson
• n Celtic Official Site
• o Jon Alexander
• p Alexander Perkin
• q Kerrydale Street - an excellent independent Wiki site with a fine collection of team photographs.
• r Christopher Worrall
• s J Houston
• t Barry McKenna

Photograph courtesy of Kerrydale Street