The 2012–13 season was the 119th season of competitive football by Celtic.
Review Celtic went about their 2012–13 league campaign in a steady if not always inspiring manner. Motherwell, Inverness Caley Thistle and briefly Hibernian all either had spells at the top of the table, or thereabouts, but by Christmas Celtic had found a steady run of form to pull themselves comfortably clear of the pack. Celtic eventually clinched their 44th League title on 21 April 2013 with a 4–1 win over Inverness CT at Parkhead. Celtic's run in the League Cup saw them comfortably dispose of Raith Rovers (4–1) and St Johnstone (5–0) in the earlier rounds. St Mirren, however, pulled off an unexpected but deserved 3–2 win over Celtic in the semi-final.
Celtic's 2013 Scottish Cup campaign began inauspiciously with a home 1–1 draw against Second Division side, Arbroath. Celtic won the replay 1–0 with an Adam Matthews goal, but were again unconvincing. Celtic played Raith Rovers at Starks Park in the next round and eventually overcame a defensive performance by Raith to win 3–0, with Kris Commons, Charlie Mulgrew and James Forrest scoring the goals. In the quarter-finals, Celtic were drawn away to St Mirren, who had eliminated Celtic from the 2012–13 Scottish League Cup a month beforehand. Early goals by Joe Ledley and Anthony Stokes, either side of an equaliser by St Mirren, gave Celtic a 2–1 victory at St Mirren Park. In the semi-final at Hampden Park, Celtic won a thrilling match by 4–3 after extra time against Dundee United. A Kris Commons goal gave Celtic an early lead, but United scored twice midway through the first half to lead 2–1. Victor Wanyama scored an equaliser almost immediately and Commons scored another goal after 60 minutes to give Celtic a 3–2 lead. Jon Daly scored his second goal of the game to equalise and force extra time. Soon after Daly had hit the post, Anthony Stokes scored the winning goal.
Celtic met Hibernian in the Scottish Cup Final on 26 May 2013. For the first time in its history, the Cup Final was played on a Sunday. This was done to comply with UEFA regulations which prohibit televised matches being played on the same day as the UEFA Champions League Final. Celtic won the cup and clinched a League and Cup double with a 3–0 win; two first-half goals from Gary Hooper putting Celtic into a comfortable position before Joe Ledley added a third late on in the second half to put the matter beyond doubt.
As Scottish Champions from the previous season, Celtic had the opportunity to take part in the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League. However, two qualifying rounds had first to be negotiated, which Celtic managed to do with 4–1 and 4–0 aggregate wins over HJK Helsinki and Helsingborgs IF. Celtic, as fourth-ranked seeds, found themselves drawn in Group G with Barcelona, Benfica and Spartak Moscow.
On 2 October 2012, Celtic achieved their first ever away win in the group stages of the Champions League with a 3–2 win in Russia over Spartak Moscow, Georgios Samaras scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute. Celtic's home match with Barcelona in November 2012 coincided with the week of Celtic's 125th Anniversary. As such, an 'Ultras' styled section of the Celtic support called the Green Brigade organised a full stadium pre-match card display (a 'tifo') to celebrate the club's 125th anniversary. The display featured a Celtic cross, green and white hoops and 125 Celtic in written form, with supporters earning the praise of club chairman Peter Lawwell. A memorable night was completed when goals from Victor Wanyama and 18-year-old striker Tony Watt gave Celtic a shock 2–1 win over Barcelona. Goalkeeper Fraser Forster produced an outstanding performance in the game, winning the praise of the Spanish media who nicknamed him "La Gran Muralla" ("The Great Wall").
Celtic secured their progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League on 5 December 2012 with a 2–1 home win over Spartak Moscow, Kris Commons scoring the winning goal in 82 minutes with a penalty. Celtic were drawn against Juventus, where they succumbed to a 5–0 aggregate defeat in the spring 2013 to go out of the tournament. Despite the result against Juventus, Celtic and Neil Lennon won praise for their Champions League campaign.
Competitions
Pre-season and friendlies
Scottish Premier League
Scottish League Cup
Scottish Cup
UEFA Champions League
Player statistics
Squad Last updated 26 May 2013
Key: = Appearances, = Goals, = Yellow card, = Red card NumberNationPositionNameTotal LeagueChampions LeagueLeague CupScottish Cup1GKFraser Forster51050 34040 12010 1000 40002DFAdam Matthews38320 22210 10010 3000 41003DFEmilio Izaguirre50040 33020 10020 2000 50004DFEfe Ambrose41340 27330 7000 2010 50005DFRami Gershon3100 3100 0000 0000 00006DFKelvin Wilson50050 32040 10010 3000 50007FWMiku14230 11220 2010 0000 10008MFScott Brown (C)32380 17340 10030 2000 30109FWGeorgios Samaras401470 25940 10520 1000 401010FWAnthony Stokes23700 17500 1000 1000 420011FWLassad19300 14300 2000 1000 200014FWMohamed Bangura1000 1000 0000 0000 000015MFKris Commons461920 271110 12210 3300 430016MFJoe Ledley411020 25700 9110 3010 420018MFTom Rogic8000 8000 0000 0000 000020MFPaddy McCourt20000 15000 2000 2000 100021DFCharlie Mulgrew49990 30540 12130 3210 411023DFMikael Lustig38330 23310 9010 2010 400024GKŁukasz Załuska8000 4000 0000 2000 200025DFThomas Rogne19020 13010 3010 1000 200026GKViktor Noring0000 0000 0000 0000 000027FWDaryl Murphy2000 1000 1000 0000 000028FWJames Keatings0000 0000 0000 0000 000031MFJohn Herron1000 1000 0000 0000 000032FWTony Watt29620 20510 5100 2010 200033MFBeram Kayal40080 26040 8020 1000 502035GKRobbie Thomson0000 0000 0000 0000 000036DFJackson Irvine1000 1000 0000 0000 000037FWBahrudin Atajić1000 1000 0000 0000 000042MFCallum McGregor0000 0000 0000 0000 000043DFJoe Chalmers3000 2000 0000 0000 100044DFMarcus Fraser1000 1000 0000 0000 000045DFLewis Toshney0000 0000 0000 0000 000046MFDylan McGeouch15100 12100 0000 1000 200049MFJames Forrest29430 15310 9010 1000 410050MFPaul George0000 0000 0000 0000 000056MFFilip Twardzik2000 2000 0000 0000 000058FWPatrik Twardzik0000 0000 0000 0000 000067MFVictor Wanyama499152 32691 10241 2000 512088FWGary Hooper513120 311910 11410 3600 5200Players who no longer play for Celtic30MFPaul Slane1000 1000 0000 0000 000039DFAndre Blackman0000 0000 0000 0000 000040MFRabiu Ibrahim1000 0000 0000 0000 1000
Goalscorers Last updated 28 April 2013 PlayerScottishPremierLeagueScottishCupScottishLeagueCupUEFAChampionsLeagueTotal1 Gary Hooper19264312 Kris Commons11332193 Georgios Samaras9005144 Joe Ledley7201105 Victor Wanyama61029 Charlie Mulgrew512197 Anthony Stokes520078 Tony Watt500169 James Forrest3100410 Lassad30003 Efe Ambrose30003 Scott Brown30003 Adam Matthews21003 Mikael Lustig3000315 Miku2000216 Rami Gershon10001 Dylan McGeouch10001Total88131116128
Celtic personnel awards Last updated 22 September 2012 PlayerAwardMonth Tony WattSPL Young Player of the MonthAugust Neil LennonSPL Manager of the MonthDecember Adam MatthewsSPL Young Player of the MonthJanuary Gary HooperSPL Player of the MonthJanuary
Team statistics
League table
Results by round
Champions League table
Transfers
Players in DatesPlayerFromFee5 July 2012 Fraser Forster Newcastle United£2,000,00031 August 2012 Efe Ambrose Ashdod£1,500,00031 August 2012 Miku GetafeLoan31 August 2012 Ľuboš Kamenár NantesLoan2 September 2012 Lassad Nouioui Deportivo La CoruñaFree9 January 2013 Rami Gershon Standard LiègeLoan17 January 2013 Tom Rogic Central Coast Mariners£400,00031 January 2013 Viktor Noring Trelleborgs FFLoan31 January 2013 Danny Hattie Cavan ShamrocksFree
Total spend: £3.9 million
Players out DatesPlayerToFee5 June 2012 Efraín Juárez América£1,900,0008 June 2012 Cha Du-Ri Fortuna DüsseldorfFree8 June 2012 Richie Towell DundalkFree8 June 2012 Dominic CerviOut of ContractReleased4 July 2012 Niall McGinn AberdeenFree5 July 2012 Mo Yaqub St MirrenFree18 July 2012 Greig Spence Raith RoversFree19 July 2012 Glenn Loovens Real ZaragozaFree31 July 2012 Morten Rasmussen FC Midtjylland£250,0001 August 2012 Daniel Majstorović AIKFree3 August 2012 Darren O'Dea Toronto FCFree17 August 2012 Mark Wilson Bristol CityFree20 August 2012 Josh Thompson PortsmouthLoan24 August 2012 Ki Sung-Yueng Swansea City£6,000,00024 August 2012 Lewis Toshney DundeeLoan24 August 2012 James Keatings Hamilton AcademicalLoan28 August 2012 Mohamed Bangura AIKLoan31 August 2012 Josh Thompson PortsmouthFree31 August 2012 Andre Blackman Inverness CTLoan31 August 2012 Daryl Murphy Ipswich TownLoan25 September 2012 Robbie Thomson StenhousemuirLoan2 October 2012 Paul Slane Partick ThistleLoan14 November 2012 Andre BlackmanOut of ContractReleased2 January 2013 Rabiu Ibrahim KilmarnockFree11 January 2013 Glenn Daniels Partick ThistleLoan22 January 2013 Paul SlaneOut of ContractReleased24 January 2013 Mohamed Bangura ElfsborgLoan Total sales: £8.5 million
See also Nine in a row List of Celtic F.C. seasons
References
External links