Celtic Football Club: History

Celtic were founded in 1888 by Brother Walfrid, an Irish Monk who came to Scotland to give the Irish men in Scotland something they could be a part of and be proud of it. Brother Walfrid was inspired by Edinburgh Hibernian and decided to create his own football team. Celtic were going to be called Glasgow Hibernian but it was soon settled that it would become Glasgow Celtic Football Club.

It was Walfrid's own suggestion of the name Celtic, a reflection of both its Irish and Scottish roots, that was adopted at a meeting to form the club in November 1887.

A patch of land was rented, close to the club's current ground at a cost of £50 a year and the local community worked for free to transform it into a football pitch.

Six months later Celtic played their first fixture, beating Rangers in a friendly 5 -2, the first of many notable clashes between the two Glasgow teams.

Milestones in the history of Celtic Football Club

November 6, 1887
Celtic Football Club is formally constituted in St Mary's Church Hall in East Rose Street (now Forbes Street), Calton. The purpose is stated as being to alleviate poverty in Glasgow's East End parishes.

May 28, 1888
Celtic beat Rangers 5-2 in a "friendly". It is the new club's first match and is played on the first Celtic Park.

1889
Celtic reach the final of the Scottish Cup in their first full season of competition, but they lose 2-1 to the well-established Third Lanark. However, the club wins its first trophy, the North-Eastern Cup (a local competition), beating Cowlairs 6-1 in the final.

1892
Celtic win the Scottish Cup for the first time in their history by defeating Queen's Park 5-2 in the final at Ibrox Park. A few months later, the club moves to its present ground.

1893
Celtic win their first Scottish League Championship.

1897
The club becomes a private limited liability company, and Willie Maley is appointed secretary-manager.

1905-1910
Celtic win the League Championship for six successive seasons.

1907
Celtic achieve the "double" by winning the Scottish Cup and the League Championship in the same season, the first time the feat has been achieved in the history of the national sport. The team repeats the achievement the following season.

1914-1917
Celtic win the championship four times in a row.

1937
Celtic beat Aberdeen in a Scottish Cup final, watched by a record crowd of 146,433 at Hampden Park. The attendance (sometimes reported as 147,365) remains a record for a club match in Europe.

1939
Celtic win the Empire Exhibition Trophy by defeating Everton 1-0 at Ibrox after extra time in the final.

1940
Former player and ex-captain Jimmy McGrory replaces Jimmy McStay as manager.

1953
Celtic defeat Hibernian 2-0 in the final of the Coronation Cup, held to celebrate the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II. The invited teams included the best in Scotland and England, and the final attracted a crowd of 117,000 at Hampden Park.

1956
Celtic win the League Cup for the first time - after a decade of striving - by beating Partick Thistle 3-0 in a replay.

1957
Celtic retain the League Cup in memorable style by thrashing Rangers 7-1 in the final.

1964
Celtic reach the semi-final of the European Cup-Winners' Cup in only their second campaign in European competition, but lose 4-3 on aggregate to MTK Budapest.

1965
Jock Stein succeeds Jimmy McGrory as manager in March 1965, and guides the team to the first victory in a Scottish Cup final in 11 years. Billy McNeill's dramatic header seals a 3-2 win over Dunfermline Athletic.

1966
Celtic win the championship for the first time in 12 seasons, and reach the semi-final of the Cup-Winners' Cup again before losing 2-1 on aggregate to Liverpool.

1967
Celtic complete their most glorious season by winning every competition entered: Scottish League, Scottish Cup, League Cup, Glasgow Cup and the European Cup. The climax of the season is the 2-1 victory over Inter Milan in the European Cup final played at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon on May 25, 1967. Celtic thus become the first British (and non-Latin) club to win Europe's most coveted trophy.

1970
Celtic reach the final of the European Cup again, but lose 2-1 to Feyenoord after extra time in Milan. In the semi-final Celtic defeated Leeds United in both legs. The second leg at Hampden Park was watched by 133,961, the largest crowd ever to watch a match in European club competition.

1972
Celtic reach the European Cup semi-final for the third time, but lose in heart-breaking fashion at Parkhead to Inter Milan when Dixie Deans misses the first spot kick during the penalty shoot-out.

1974
Celtic win the league championship for the ninth season in a row - at the time, a joint world record for success in domestic titles. The team reaches the semi-final of the European Cup for the fourth time, but loses 2-0 on aggregate to Atletico Madrid.

1978
Billy McNeill, captain of the 1967 team, succeeds Jock Stein as manager. During Stein's 12-year tenure (excluding 1975/76, when he was recuperating from injuries received in a car accident), the club enjoyed 25 successes in major competitions: the European Cup, 10 Championships, 8 Scottish Cups and 6 League Cups.

1979
Billy McNeill guides Celtic to the championship in his first season as manager. The title is gained in truly dramatic fashion at Celtic Park with a 4-2 win over Rangers in the club's final match.

1983
Another ex-player, David Hay, replaces Billy McNeill as manager.

1985
Celtic win the Scottish Cup by beating Dundee United 2-1 at Hampden Park in the 100th cup final.

1986
Celtic snatch the championship by pipping Heart of Midlothian on the last day of the campaign. The margin was on goal difference, as Celtic beat St Mirren 5-0 at Love Street and Hearts fall to two late goals from Dundee at Dens Park.

1987
Billy McNeill returns to Celtic Park as manager, replacing David Hay.

1988
Celtic celebrate the centenary season (1987/88) by winning the first "double" in 11 years. The accomplishment marks the 35th league title, and the 28th Scottish Cup.

1989
Celtic win the Scottish Cup for the 29th time as Joe Miller's goal sinks Rangers by 1-0.

1991
Liam Brady becomes Celtic's manager when he takes over from Billy McNeill. His appointment marks a break from tradition, as he is the first Celtic manager never to have played for the club.

1993
Liam Brady is replaced as manager by former-Celt Lou Macari.

1994
In March, expatriate businessman and Celtic supporter Fergus McCann takes control of a financially-strained club, in the process ousting a board of directors which included members with long family connections with Celtic. Shortly afterwards, Lou Macari is replaced as team manager by another ex-Celt Tommy Burns. Later that same year, in accordance with Fergus McCann's Five-Year Plan, the club is reconstituted as a plc, a development quickly followed by the most successful share-issue in the history of British football with 10,000 taking up the offer of investing a minimum of £620, thus contributing £14 million towards the re-financing of the club.

1995
Celtic play home fixtures at Hampden Park during season 1994/95, while Celtic Park is undergoing the first phase of a reconstruction, leading to the development of a stadium for the new Millennium, capable of holding 60,500 spectators in all-seated comfort.
The 'exile' ends with a 1-0 victory over Airdrieonians in the Scottish Cup final, marking the club's 30th triumph in the competition and also the first major trophy since 1989.

1997
Tommy Burns is replaced by the Dutch coach Wim Jansen, ironically a member of the Feyenoord side which defeated Celtic in the European Cup final in Milan in 1970. In 1997 he guides Celtic to the first League Cup final victory in 15 years in a 3-0 defeat of Dundee United at Ibrox Park, a competition sponsored by Coca-Cola.

1998
Jansen continues the good work by steering Celtic to the first Scottish League championship since 1988, and preventing Rangers from surpassing Celtic's cherished Nine-in-a Row record. However, he departs almost immediately and is replaced for the start of the new campaign by Dr Jozef Venglos, a coach of vast international experience, most notably as manager of Czechoslovakia.

1999
In April, Fergus McCann departs at the completion of his five-year stint. Allan MacDonald, a former British Aerospace managing director, succeeds him as chief executive. A few months later Dr Venglos retires and is replaced by John Barnes, the former England internationalist who was undertaking his first appointment as a head coach, although under the supervision of famous ex-Celt Kenny Dalglish, recently installed as director of football operations.

2000
A shock 3-1 defeat at Celtic Park in the Scottish Cup by rank outsiders Inverness Caledonian Thistle in February leads to the departure of John Barnes, with Kenny Dalglish taking control of team matters until the end of the season. Celtic end up the 1999/2000 season as runners-up to Rangers in the championship, but a massive 21 points behind. The gloom is lifted slightly by a 2-0 victory over Aberdeen in the League Cup final, a competition now sponsored by the Co-operative Insurance Society.
During the summer Martin O'Neill takes over as Celtic's manager - and will soon be in full control of the football operations following the departure of Kenny Dalglish. O'Neill, an Irishman, has established an excellent reputation as a manager with a chain of clubs in England, notably Leicester City. He endears himself to the Celtic support by masterminding an astonishing 6-2 league victory over Rangers at Celtic Park on August 27, a promising omen for his and Celtic's future.

2001
Celtic record a back to back series of victories over Rangers in February (semi final of the League Cup at Hampden and a league encounter at Celtic Park). In March, Celtic lift the first silverware of the season, retaining the League Cup after a 3-0 victory over Kilmarnock which included a Henrik Larsson hat-trick.

By the end of April, Celtic have regained the League Championship with five games to go and beat Rangers away from home in the league for the first time in six years; whilst top scorer Henrik Larsson has recorded his 50th strike of the season. By the end of the season, Larsson goes on to record 53 strikes on the way to a domestic treble of League Championship, Scottish Cup (a 3-0 win against Hibernian in the final) and CIS Cup (a 3-0 win against Kilmarnock in the final.

2003
After a season filled with excitement unparalled since the heady days of the 60's and 70's, Celtic finish the season without a trophy, having lost to Inverness Caley Thistle in the Scottish Cup, and to Rangers in the CIS Cup. Celtic finish second (by one goal) to Rangers in the league after contesting the most exciting end of season league card for decades. Celtic beat Kilmarnock 4-0 away, but Rangers beat Dunfermline 6-1 at home to win through. Days earlier in Seville a brave Celtic side were beaten 3-2 in extra time by Porto in the final of the UEFA Cup - Celtic's first such final for 33 years.

2004
The bitter-sweet ending to the previous year acts as an incentive for Celtic's players as they seek to re-fill the trophy-room. A record-breaking run of consecutive victories in the league helps to clinch the title once again –even before the league split has been effected - and more importantly sees Celtic qualify for the Champions' League without recourse to preliminary ties.
Disappointment in the League Cup is cast aside as the Scottish Cup is added to the season's booty. The final against Dunfermline rekindles old memories of 1965, and sees the valedictory performance of Henrik Larsson, who leaves Celtic for Barcelona - but not before effectively turning the final around with two supreme Larssonesque strikes. Henrik's departure, though inevitable, is a wrench for the Celtic support. By way of compensation, the Brazilian genius Juninho is added to the squad, and Celtic is now comfortably the dominant force in Scotland; ready for the imminent challenges from abroad.

2005
Progression from the first group stage of the Champions League continues to elude Celtic after a poor result in Donetsk, and an unlucky loss in Milan. Henrik Larsson comes back to haunt Celtic with a goal in Barcelona's 3-1 win in that competition at Celtic Park. League and cup success looks a safer bet, and with only a win required in the last match of the season at Motherwell, and leading by a single goal with 3 minutes left, everything seems set for a celebration. Two goals in that period by the home side are enough to shatter Celtic's dreams as closest challengers Rangers beat Hibs at Easter road to clinch a last minute title win.

The Scottish Cup once again provides succor to the ravaged Celtic family when Celtic win the old trophy for the 33rd time, beating Dundee United in the final.

Perhaps the biggest blow of all in a traumatic season comes when Martin O'Neill; a man who has singlehandedly transformed Celtic from the depths of oblivion into a European force to be reckoned with; reluctantly decides to resign as manger for family reasons. He is replaced by former Aberdeen and Manchester United player Gordon Strachan. Strachan had managed Coventry City and Southampton before. The challenge of his lifetime now awaits him.

Source: Celtic FC.net

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