The 2013–14 season was the 120th season of competitive football by Celtic. Celtic had a new shirt sponsor for the season with Irish Cider brand Magners taking over from Tennent's Lager for the next three years.
Celtic began the season with further Champions League success in their sights. They were faced with the burden of replacing three main pieces of their squad in; Gary Hooper and Kelvin Wilson were sold to Norwich City and Nottingham Forest respectively, whilst the highly rated Victor Wanyama was sold to Southampton for a Scottish record fee of £12.5 million. Neil Lennon rebuilt his squad by signing Virgil van Dijk and Amido Balde in the summer, and Teemu Pukki from Schalke 04 on transfer deadline day. Celtic were drawn with Cliftonville in their first qualifying round and easily disposed of the Northern Irish champions 5–0 on aggregate. They were next drawn with IF Elfsborg and squeezed by with a 1–0 aggregate win, with Kris Commons scoring the only goal in the first leg at Celtic Park. Although favoured to qualify for the group stages with minimal challenge after being drawn with Kazakh champions Shakhter Karagandy, Celtic found themselves losing the first leg in Karagandy 2–0. Celtic returned to Scotland to an electric atmosphere at Celtic Park in the home leg, in proved to be the high point of their 2013-14 Champions League campaign. They overcame the 2–0 deficit to level the aggregate thanks to goals by Kris Commons and Georgios Samaras. James Forrest completed the comeback for Celtic with a 90th-minute strike, sending Celtic Park into a frenzy.
Thereafter, Celtic found themselves drawn with AC Milan, Ajax and Barcelona (again) in the group stages. The campaign was dismal; winning only once with a 2–1 home win over Ajax, and slumping to a 6–1 rout away against Barcelona in the final group match. That game saw Celtic concede the most goals they had ever done in a single European tie, and equalled their previous heaviest defeat in Europe (5–0 against FC Artmedia Bratislava).
Celtic's 2014 domestic campaign was filled with ups and downs. Towards the end of February, Celtic had not lost a single game in the league, and drew just twice against Dundee United and Hibernian. Their league success did not translate to cup competition however; they bowed out of both the Scottish League Cup (0–1 to Morton), and the Scottish Cup(1–2 to Aberdeen), both at Celtic Park. Celtic also struggled to find a suitable strike partner for Anthony Stokes, forcing Kris Commons into a striking role. Neil Lennon signed former Hibs striker Leigh Griffiths on transfer deadline day in January 2014, as well as Stefan Johansen earlier in the month. After being unable to reach an agreement on a new contract, Joe Ledley left Celtic for Crystal Palace.
On 2 February 2014 goalkeeper Fraser Forster set a new a club-record of 11 league clean sheets in a row, surpassing a record of 10 clean sheets set by Charlie Shaw in the 1921–22 season. On 22 February, he broke Bobby Clark's Scottish League record of 1155 minutes without conceding a goal in a league match. Celtic won 2–0 away at Hearts, and Forster racked up his 13th consecutive clean sheet in the league. Forster's clean sheet run finally ended on 1,256 minutes against Aberdeen on 25 February 2014, as Aberdeen defeated Celtic 2–1 to end their unbeaten run in the league.
Celtic finished the season as league champions again, their third consecutive Scottish League title, scoring 102 goals in the process. Celtic clinched the title after a 5–1 away win against Partick Thistle on 26 March 2014. It is the earliest that the title has been won since the 1928–29 season, when Old Firm Rivals Rangers won it on 16 March.
Kris Commons was the top scorer in Scotland, netting 32 goals, and won both the PFA Scotland and Scottish Football Writers' Player of the Year awards.
Competitions
Pre-season and friendlies
Scottish Premiership
Scottish League Cup
Scottish Cup
UEFA Champions League
Player statistics
Squad Last updated 11 May 2014
Key: = Appearances, = Goals, = Yellow card, = Red card NumberNationPositionNameTotal LeagueChampions LeagueLeague CupScottish Cup1GKFraser Forster51010 37010 12000 0000 20002DFAdam Matthews31130 23110 6010 1000 10103DFEmilio Izaguirre46080 34040 10040 0000 20004DFEfe Ambrose51350 38240 11110 1000 20005DFVirgil van Dijk46541 36521 8020 1000 20006MFNir Biton20001 15000 3001 1000 10008MFScott Brown50481 38230 9041 1000 22109FWGeorgios Samaras331150 20730 12420 0000 100010FWAnthony Stokes462131 322021 11010 1000 210011MFDerk Boerrigter23100 15100 5000 1000 200015MFKris Commons483240 342710 11220 1000 231017FWAmido Baldé24330 20330 3000 0000 100018MFTom Rogić7000 3000 3000 1000 000019FWHólmbert Friðjónsson0000 0000 0000 0000 000020FWTeemu Pukki32720 25720 5000 1000 100021DFCharlie Mulgrew40680 28650 10010 1010 101022DFSteven Mouyokolo3010 2000 1010 0000 000023DFMikael Lustig28220 15010 11110 1000 110024GKŁukasz Załuska2000 1000 0000 1000 000025MFStefan Johansen17240 16230 0000 0000 101028FWLeigh Griffiths14730 13730 0000 0000 100031MFJohn Herron1000 1000 0000 0000 000032FWTony Watt3000 2000 1000 0000 000033MFBeram Kayal20130 13020 7110 0000 000034DFEoghan O'Connell1000 1000 0000 0000 000036DFJackson Irvine0000 0000 0000 0000 000037FWBahrudin Atajić3100 3100 0000 0000 000038GKLeo Fasan0000 0000 0000 0000 000039FWDenny Johnstone0000 0000 0000 0000 000041DFDarnell Fisher13020 12020 0000 0000 100042MFCallum McGregor0000 0000 0000 0000 000043DFJoe Chalmers0000 0000 0000 0000 000044DFMarcus Fraser0000 0000 0000 0000 000045DFLewis Toshney0000 0000 0000 0000 000046MFDylan McGeouch3000 1000 1000 1000 000049MFJames Forrest27710 16410 10300 0000 100050MFPaul George0000 0000 0000 0000 000053MFLiam Henderson8110 8110 0000 0000 000056MFFilip Twardzik1000 1000 0000 0000 0000 Players who no longer play for Celtic6DFKelvin Wilson4000 0000 4000 0000 000016MFJoe Ledley28510 20400 7010 0000 110088FWGary Hooper1000 0000 1000 0000 0000
Goalscorers Last updated 11 May 2014 PlayerScottishPremiershipScottishCupScottishLeagueCupUEFAChampionsLeagueTotal1 Kris Commons27302322 Anthony Stokes20100213 Georgios Samaras7004114 James Forrest40037 Leigh Griffiths70007 Teemu Pukki700075 Charlie Mulgrew600066 Joe Ledley41005 Virgil van Dijk500057 Scott Brown220048 Amido Baldé30003 Efe Ambrose200139 Mikael Lustig01012 Stefan Johansen2000210 Adam Matthews10001 Beram Kayal00011 Derk Boerrigter10001 Bahrudin Atajić10001 Liam Henderson10001
Team statistics Competition overview Competition First match Last match Final position Record Premiership 3 August 2013 11 May 2014 Winner Scottish Cup 1 December 2013 8 February 2014 Round of 16 League Cup 24 September 2013 24 September 2013 Round of 16 Champions League 17 July 2013 11 December 2013 Group Stage Total—
League table
Champions League table
Transfers
Players in DatesPlayerFromFee13 June 2013 Amido Baldé Vitória Guimarães£1,800,00021 June 2013 Virgil van Dijk FC Groningen£2,600,00016 July 2013 Steven MouyokoloUnattachedFree30 July 2013 Derk Boerrigter Ajax£3,000,00030 August 2013 Nir Bitton F.C. Ashdod£700,00031 August 2013 Teemu Pukki FC Schalke 04£3,000,0001 September 2013 Max Oberschmidt FulhamLoan1 January 2014 Hólmbert Friðjónsson Fram Reykjavík£100,00015 January 2014 Stefan Johansen Strømsgodset£2,000,00031 January 2014 Leigh Griffiths Wolverhampton Wanderers£1,000,000 Total spend: £13.6 million
Players out DatesPlayerToFee1 July 2013 Daryl Murphy Ipswich TownFree1 July 2013 Thomas Rogne Wigan AthleticFree11 July 2013 Victor Wanyama Southampton£12,500,00018 July 2013 James Keatings Hamilton AcademicalFree26 July 2013 Robbie Thomson RochdaleFree26 July 2013 Gary Hooper Norwich City£5,500,0007 August 2013 Callum McGregor Notts CountyLoan9 August 2013 Kelvin Wilson Nottingham Forest£2,500,00015 August 2013 Jackson Irvine KilmarnockLoan22 August 2013 Paddy McCourt BarnsleyFree1 September 2013 Tony Watt LierseLoan4 December 2013 Lassad Nouioui AroucaFree14 January 2014 Paul George Hamilton AcademicalLoan21 January 2014 Tom Rogić Melbourne VictoryLoan24 January 2014 Bahrudin Atajić Shrewsbury TownLoan24 January 2014 Stuart Findlay Greenock MortonLoan30 January 2014 Dylan McGeouch Coventry CityLoan31 January 2014 Mohamed Bangura BaşakşehirFree31 January 2014 Michael Miller DumbartonLoan31 January 2014 Joe Chalmers FalkirkLoan31 January 2014 Joe Ledley Crystal Palace£700,000 Total received: £21 million
See also List of Celtic F.C. seasons Nine in a row
References