Celtic F.C.

This article is about the Scottish football club. For other football clubs named Celtic, see Celtic (disambiguation) § Sports.

Celtic
Full nameThe Celtic Football Club[1][2]
Nickname(s)The Bhoys
The Celts
The Hoops
Founded6 November 1887; 137 years ago (1887-11-06)
GroundCeltic Park
Capacity60,411
OwnerCeltic PLC (LSE: CCP)
ChairmanPeter Lawwell
ManagerBrendan Rodgers
LeagueScottish Premiership
2023–24Scottish Premiership, 1st of 12 (champions)
Websitecelticfc.com
Current season
Celtic have been in the Scottish top division since the inaugural Scottish Football League season in 1890.[3]

The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (/ˈsɛltɪk/), is a professional football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football. The club was founded in 1887[nb 1] with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the Irish–Scots population in the city's East End area. They played their first match in May 1888, a friendly match against Rangers which Celtic won 5–2. Celtic established themselves within Scottish football, winning six successive league titles during the first decade of the 20th century. The club enjoyed their greatest successes during the 1960s and 70s under Jock Stein, when they won nine consecutive league titles and the 1967 European Cup. Celtic have played in green and white throughout their history, adopting in 1903 the hoops that have been used ever since.

Celtic are one of only six clubs in the world to have won over 100 trophies.[4] The club has won the Scottish league championship 54 times, most recently in 2023–24, the Scottish Cup a record 42 times and the Scottish League Cup 21 times. The club's greatest season was 1966–67, when Celtic became the first British team to win the European Cup, also winning the Scottish league championship, the Scottish Cup, the League Cup and the Glasgow Cup. Celtic also reached the 1970 European Cup Final and the 2003 UEFA Cup Final, losing in both.

Celtic have a long-standing fierce rivalry with Rangers and, together, the clubs are known as the Old Firm. Their matches against each other are regarded as among the world's biggest football derbies. The club's fanbase was estimated in 2003 as being around 9 million worldwide and there are more than 160 Celtic supporters clubs in over 20 countries. An estimated 80,000 fans travelled to Seville for the 2003 UEFA Cup Final, and their "extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour" in spite of defeat earned the fans Fair Play awards from both FIFA[5] and UEFA.[6]

  1. ^ Grove, Daryl (22 December 2014). "10 Soccer Things You Might Be Saying Incorrectly". PasteSoccer. Paste. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  2. ^ From Sporting Lisbon to Athletic Bilbao — why do we get foreign clubs' names wrong? Archived 7 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Michael Cox, The Athletic, 16 March 2023
  3. ^ Nardelli, Alberto (2 June 2015). "Which European football clubs have never been relegated?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024. Only two clubs have always played in Scotland's top division: Celtic (since 1890) and Aberdeen (since 1905).
  4. ^ Tudor, Stephen (6 October 2024). "Who Are The Most Successful Clubs In World Football?". 888sport. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  5. ^ Association, Press (15 December 2003). "Celtic fans win Fifa award". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  6. ^ "UEFA honour Celtic supporters with special Fair Play award". The Herald. 29 August 2003. Retrieved 15 November 2024.


Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).