CELTIC GLASGOW SOCCER REPLICAS |
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CELTIC GLASGOW HOME JERSEY |
CELTIC GLASGOW AWAY JERSEY |
| Celtic F.C. (pronounced
'seltic', not 'keltic') is a Scottish football club based in
the city of Glasgow, nicknamed the Bhoys. Together with
their arch-rivals Rangers they dominate Scottish football as
the Old Firm. Their kit is green and white hooped jerseys,
white shorts and white socks. They play at the 60,830 seater
stadium Celtic Park, known as 'Paradise' by Celtic
supporters. Celtic was founded in 1888 by the Marist Brother Walfrid as a way to raise funds to help impoverished members of Glasgow's Irish community, winning their first league title in 1893. Under their first manager, Willie Maley, the Bhoys won 30 major trophies in 43 years. Celtic played Aberdeen in the 1937 Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park, Glasgow in front of a crowd of 146,433 (sometimes counted as 147,365), a record for the largest attendance for a European club match. Two years later, Celtic defeated Everton 1–0 at Ibrox for the Empire Exhibition Trophy. Former player Jimmy McStay was manager of the club during the war years of 1940-1945. There was no official competitve league football during these years and McStay was seen as something of an interim manger during these troubled times. Ex-player and captain Jimmy McGrory became Celtic's manager in 1945. Under McGrory, Celtic defeated Arsenal, Manchester United and Hibernian to win the Coronation Cup, a tournament held in May 1953 to commemorate the coronation of Elizabeth II. On October 10, 1957, Celtic succesfully won the Scottish League Cup, retaining the trophy they won for the first time the previous year. Jock Stein succeeded McGrory in 1965. A former player and team captain, Stein gained most of his fame as Celtic's manager, and is acknowledged as one of the greatest football managers of all time. He managed Celtic to its nine straight Scottish League wins from 1966 to 1974—a Scottish record, which has, to this date, never been beaten (although it was equalled by the Rangers team of the 1996–97 season). 1967 was to be Celtic's best ever year. Celtic won every competition it entered: the Scottish League, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the Glasgow Cup, and the Bhoys became the first non-Latin side to win the European Cup. The "Lisbon Lions", managed by Jock Stein and captained by Billy McNeill, defeated Inter Milan 2–1 in Lisbon, Portugal. Celtic reached the European Cup Final again in 1970 but were beaten 2–1 by Feyenoord in the San Siro Stadium, Milan. In 1994, expatriate businessman and Fergus McCann took control of the club, ousting the family dynasties which controlled the club since its foundation. To alleviate the club's financial strain, Celtic was reconstituted as a public limited company, resulting in one of the most successful share flotations in British history. The club netted £14 million towards the refinancing of the club. Although the fans of Celtic have a reputation for sectarianism, Celtic early in its history decided to sign Protestant players, and has frequently had a substantial number of Protestants on its roster. Indeed, the dictum in the West of Scotland (frequently attributed to Jock Stein) was that, given the choice between a Catholic and a Protestant player of equal skill, Celtic would sign the Protestant as they knew that many Catholics would refuse to sign for Rangers. Former Celtic player Mo Johnston broke this tradition and signed for Rangers in 1989. Today, the playing rosters of both Old Firm sides are multinational, multiracial, and represent both sides of the sectarian divide. |
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