Celtic F.C was formed in 1888 by a marist priest by the name of brother Walfrid. The club was formed to serve the poor and needy Irish/catholic immigrants in the east end of Glasgow, Brother Walfrid gained inspiration for this from the success it was having in Edinburgh,where Hibernian Football club was formed to serve the same charitable causes a a few years earlier.
The club grew from strength to strength and was soon one of the top clubs in the country and the main focal point for the ever increasing Irish community in Scotland,especially in the west. The club was a welcome relief for the poor and discriminated Irish in Scotland and it was once written "it gave them the will to live the other 6 days of the week".
Celtic Park or Parkhead was originally situated where the present cemetry now stands until it was rebuilt on a piece of land adjacent to the cemetry"it was like leaving the graveyard for Paradise".
Celtic Football clubs finest hour,or 90 minutes came in 1967,when under the management of the late Jock Stein,became the first British club to win the european cup defeating the mighty Italians Inter Milan 2-1 in the May of 1967 in Lisbon with a team of home bread players who became the legend the Lisbon lions, captained by the future manager Billy McNeil. Under Jock Steins reign the club also reached a then record breaking 9 league titles in a row.
Scottish domination continued but despite some valiant displays European glory has not beckoned since. Our main and probably only rivals are based across the city,Glasgow Rangers who when seeing the sucess Celtic were having in attracting the Irish/catholic support deliberately adopted the ploy of taking the Scottish protestant stance to attract support as at the time the Irish community were not welcomed into the Scottish society,and only until recently Rangers would only sign non-catholic players,thus the great sectarian divide which still fiercely exists was born.
Although Celtic's support was predominately Irish/catholic and still is albeit now 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants, the club at no time adopted a sectarian policy creed,colour or race was not an issue in regard to playing or management staff.
In the present years the club is coming through probably it's worst period in it's history,where the sucess of our rivals coupled with the shortcomings of the previous board ,the two go hand in hand have taken it's toll. The club was run by a family dynasty of Kelly's and Whites since it's inseption,when in 1994 the club was only hours away from bankruptcy,with an antiquated stadium,poor team and dwindling support.
Enter one Fergus McCann who bought control of the club from the dynasty. Originally from croy on the outskirts of Glasgow he had made his fortune in Canada selling golfing holidays to the wealthy,a five year business plan was put into action. For the first time in it's history Celtic was made a PLC with it the most successful share issue of any football club,the support had at long last owned a piece of their heritage.
To date Celtic football club have a 60,000 all seater stadia one of the finest in the world,50,000 season ticket holders,a present Britsh highest are the present Scottish champions 1997-1998 and Scottish cup holders, boasting 13 present internationalists. In Fergus McCann's 5 year plan he intimated he would leave after the 5 years in doing so selling his shares to the support so that Celtic would never again be solely owned. He is due to leave this year 1998. As once quoted by one of our greatest servants Billy McNeill "Theres a fairytale about this club and it's all come true". THE LEGEND THAT IS CELTIC CONTINUES.
European cup:1967
League champions(36 times)
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.
Scottish cup winners(30 times)
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.
League cup winners(10 times)
1957,1958,1966,1967,1968, 1969,1970,1975,1982,1997.
Coronation cup:1953
Empire exhibition cup:1938
St Mungo cup:1951
CELTIC plc DIRECTORS
Brian Quinn
Sir Patrick Sheehy
Frank O'Callaghan
Allan McDonald
Eric Riley
Dermot Desmond
Kevin Sweeney
CELTIC FC DIRECTORS
Allan McDonald
Eric Riley
John Keane
Michael McDonald
David Kells
Kenny Dalglish
Kevin Sweeney
Jim Hone
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Allan McDonald
DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS
Kenny Dalglish
HEAD COACH
Kenny Dalglish (temporary mibees aye mibees naw)
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH
Tommy Burns
HEAD YOUTH COACH
Willie McStay
PHYSIOTHERAPIST
Brian Scott
MEDICAL ADVISOR
Jack Mulhearn
CLUB DOCTOR
Roddy McDonald
KIT CONTROLLER
John Clark
TELEPHONE DIRECTORY
MAIN SWITCHBOARD:0141-556-2611
GENERAL TICKET OFFICE:0141-551-8653 ....E-mail [email protected]
Please note tickets cannot be booked through the e-mail facility,enquiries only.
CREDIT CARD HOTLINE:0141-551-8653/8654
PR DEPARTMENT:0141-551-4276
WALFRID RESTAURANTS:0141-551-9955
CELTIC SUPERSTORE:0141-554-4231
DUNDAS STREET STORE:0141-332--2727
HIGH STREET STORE:0141-552--7630
MAIL ORDER HOTLINE:0141-550-1888
