Celtic, the iconic club – “Playing football. Pure, beautiful, inventive football” | OneFootball

Celtic is one of most famous clubs in world football with our iconic green and white hoops and a reputation for “Playing football. Pure, beautiful, inventive football”, what the Celtic supporters call ‘The Glasgow Celtic Way’…

Partick Thistle v Celtic, Firhill May 2017 as the Celtic support pays tribute to the Lisbon Lions. Photographs by Vagelis Georgariou

The history of Celtic is one of the oldest and most popular clubs in world football. It all started on 6 November, 1887, at St. Mary’s Church in the Calton district in Glasgow’s East End, on East Rose Street, now known as Forbes Street.

Irish priest Brother Walfrid gathered his fellow believers there and suggested that they organise a football club in order to put food on the tables of hungry children, mostly of Irish descent, who had arrived in Scotland after the Great Hunger in Ireland. It took him six months to put together a place to play, a team and play his first match.

Celtic’s opponent was another Glasgow club, Rangers, with whom Celtic would go on to play hundreds of matches. That game ended in a 5-2 victory for the Celts. In 1892, Celtic won their first trophy, the Scottish Cup. In this decisive match, the green and whites proved stronger than the then establishment club, Queens Park.

1887: The Celtic FC team line-up for the 1887-88 season (back row left to right, players only) Willie Groves, Tom Maley, Paddy Gallagher, Willie Dunning, Willie Maley, Mick Dunbar, (front row left to right) Johnny Coleman, James McLaren, James Kelly, Neil McCallum, Mick McKeown. The players are wearing the club’s first strip; white shirt with green collar, black shorts, and emerald green socks. The club crest is a green cross on a red background, reflecting the involvement of Brother Walfrid, of the Marist Brothers Catholic organisation, in the founding of the club.(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Interestingly, the result of the first match (1-0 in favour of Celtic) was mysteriously annulled, and it was decided to play a rematch.  And here’s a whole story about gambling – play casino at Betwhale.

The angry “Celts” left no stone unturned against the formidable Queens Park, winning 5:1! Contrary to the claims of critics, Celtic won the championship title the following year, in 1893. And they confirmed it the following season.

The club developed incredibly rapidly, and in 1897, Willie Maley was appointed head coach of the team, a position he would hold until 1940!

From 1905 to 1910, Celtic won the championship six times in a row, and in 1907, for the first time in the history of Scottish football, they won the double, repeating this achievement the following season. After World War I, most of Ireland left the United Kingdom, but the Irish in the six counties from 32 that remained began to be persecuted.

The club also lacked money. As a result, it won only four championship titles between 1921 and 1938. In 1940, after a conflict with the management, Willie Maley. During the war, Celtic was coached by Jimmy McStay, but he did not achieve much, and in 1945, the legendary Celtic forward Jimmy McGrory took over the team. As a player, he was incredible but as a manager he was probably not up to the job.

A general view of a statue of John “Jock” Stein CBE, former Scottish football player and manager, seen outside the stadium as fans arrive prior to the Scottish Cup Quarter Final match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on March 10, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Sometimes the team only saw him on match days, and training consisted of running laps around the stadium. It got to the point where, on the eve of important matches, team leader and future assistant to Jock Stein, Sean Fallon, would unceremoniously kick Jimmy out of the dressing room so that he wouldn’t interfere with the players’ tactics for the game!

Nevertheless, McGrory remained at the helm of the team for twenty years. He managed to hold on to this position solely thanks to his unique flair for spotting talented players. The only championship title during those years was won in 1954, while the rest of the time Celtic was overshadowed by its main rival, Rangers.

Hampden in the Sun – Celtic 7 Rangers 1

However on 19 October 1957 Jimmy McGrory’s Celtic side faced Rangers in the League Cup Final and the match ended with a world record score for a cup final – Celtic 7 Rangers 1.

It was not until 1965 that Celtic regained its position as the leader of Scottish football, after Jock Stein took over as manager. A month after his appointment, the Celts won their first trophy in eight years. In the Scottish Cup final, Celtic faced their manager’s former team, Dunfermline, and won 3-2. Steele managed to instil a truly lethal attacking style of football in Celtic that no one could cope with.

Celtic, Scottish Cup winners 1965. Photo The Celtic Wiki

His team was regarded as the best ever in Celtic’s history and that remains the case to the present day, and for good reason – the Celts became Scottish champions nine times in a row! Stein’s Celtic’s side also excelled in European competitions. In 1967, Celtic became the first British club and, to date, the only Scottish team to win the European Cup, defeating Inter Milan 2-1 in the final.

Jock Stein stands as Celtic Football Club’s greatest manager, a towering figure in the club’s history who led them to their greatest triumph and won it “by playing football. Pure, beautiful, inventive football.”

Billy McNeill holding the European Cup that Celtic won in 1967 football Lisbon Lions. Photo SMN

That season, the Celts won every competition they entered: the Scottish Championship, the Scottish Cup, the League Cup, the European Cup, and the Glasgow Cup.

Three years later, the green and whites reached the European Cup final again, but lost to Dutch side Feyenoord in extra time.

In the 1970s, Celtic’s results began to deteriorate, and Jock Stein left the club in 1978. Legendary Celtic captain Billy McNeill, the man who lifted the European Cup in Lisbon, replaced Jock Stein and led Celtic to the championship in his first season, with a remarkable fightback in the campaign to win the title in Celtic’s final game against Rangers, despite being reduced to 10 men. This was the 4-2 game, perhaps the greatest title decider in Celtic’s history when ten men won the league!

Celtic manager Billy McNeill leads the charge at the final whistle in the 4-2 game in May 1979 as Ten Men Won the League. Photo The Celtic Wiki

After that, the “Celts” faced the challenge from the ‘New Firm’ of Aberdeen managed by Alex Ferguson and Jim McLean at Dundee United and in the first half of the 1980s they won four titles between them with Celtic winning four overall in that decade. And in 1988, the year of the club’s centenary, the Bhoys managed to win the double coming back from a goal down in the final against Dundee United to score two late goals. Frank McAvennie was the Celtic hero that unforgettable afternoon at Hampden.

1988: Frank McAvennie of Celtic celebrates after the Scottish Cup Final match against Dundee United at Hampden . Celtic won the match 2-1. Photo: Allsport

In Celtic’s recent history, the club’s successes are associated with the names of coaches Gordon Strachan and Martin O’Neill.

The latter managed to win all national cups with the Glasgow team, adding a place in the UEFA Cup final, where they lost to José Mourinho’s Porto. With Strachan, Celtic won the Scottish championship three times. Since 2010, the head coach of Celtic has been former team player Neil Lennon who had two spells at the club and contributed to Celtic’s second Nine in a Row.

Invincible by Matt Corr tells the story of Brendan Rodgers’ first season as Celtic manager in 2016/17. Click on image to order a signed copy.

Neil Lennon would pick up from where Brendan Rodgers left off (seven from seven domestic trophies won), by winning the next five to give Celtic 12 from 12 and a world record Quadruple Treble, something that probably will never occur again on world football.

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic, greets Jurgen Saumel, Head Coach of Sturm Graz prior to the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD3 match between Celtic FC and SK Sturm Graz at Celtic Park on October 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Brendan Rodgers has had two spells in charge, starting in 2016 and his arrival delivered two back-to-back trebles and another league cup before he left for Leicester after failing to be backed by the Celtic Board in the transfer market.

Ange Postecoglou lifts the Scottish Cup trophy after the team’s victory during the Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Hampden Park on June 03, 2023. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Ange Postecolgou had two years in charge at Celtic and won five trophies. The Australian is fondly remembered in Glasgow for his team rebuild and the exciting football that they played.  Hid departure for Tottenham in June 2023 opened the door for Brendan Rodgers to return and he has delivered back-to-back titles, a Scottish Cup and a League Cup in his second spell as Celtic manager with hopefully more to follow this season.

Keep the Faith!