Celtic Football Club has always competed in the highest level of football in Scotland, currently the Scottish Premiership. The club was constituted in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic play their home games at Celtic Park having moved there in 1892 from their original ground nearby.
By 1994, Celtic had endured several years of decline and were encountering difficulties on and off the park. Expatriate businessman Fergus McCann wrestled control of the club from the families that had run Celtic since its founding. The club was reconstituted as a PLC and floated on the stock market, raising £14 million. The finance provided funding for the rebuilding of Celtic Park into a 60,000 all-seated stadium, the largest football stadium in Scotland.
The team improved over the years that followed and in 1998 won the league title, their first championship success in ten years. The arrival of Martin O'Neill as manager in 2000 saw the club become the dominant force in Scotland, winning three league titles in five years and reaching the UEFA Cup Final in 2003. In 2005–06, Celtic's home games attracted an average attendance of 58,149, placing Celtic at the time behind only Manchester United F.C. in terms of highest average attendance for any football club in the United Kingdom. Celtic enjoyed a period of notable dominance in the 2010s: They won nine consecutive league titles again, went undefeated in domestic competitions in season 2016–17, and won four consecutive domestic trebles.
Celtic are currently managed by Martin O’Neill on an interim basis, following the departure of Wilfried Nancy in January 2026.
The Fergus McCann era (1994–1999) The Bank of Scotland informed Celtic on 3 March 1994 that it was calling in receivers as a result of the club exceeding a £5 million overdraft. Expatriate businessman Fergus McCann, however, wrested control of the club from the family dynasties which had controlled Celtic since its founding, purchasing the club for a reported £9 million. According to media reports, McCann took over the club minutes before it was to be declared bankrupt.
At this time, the club was an estimated £7 million in debt, and attendances at Parkhead frequently dipped below 20,000. The old board had insisted on a limit of only 7,000 season tickets, on the basis that "season tickets are more trouble than they're worth". Shortly prior to the takeover, the club was only valued at around £20,000 due to the ordinary shares being artificially valued at £1 each and the regulations of the private limited company which decreed that shares could only be traded with the permission of the directors, who had first refusal on any that became available. Most significantly, the shares were not allowed to "float" to their true value, as a result of which directors were able to purchase them for around £3 each. Bulk holders such as Michael Kelly, Chris White and David Smith insisted on being paid around £300 per share, leaving McCann resentful over the disappearance of funds that could have been used in the resuscitation of the business.
In order to alleviate the club's debt, McCann reconstituted the then privately owned Celtic Football & Athletic Company Limited into a public limited company – Celtic PLC. To finance this restructuring, McCann set up a share issue which generated £14 million, one of the most successful stock market flotations in British financial history.
Tommy Burns spell
On the playing side, manager Lou Macari was sacked by McCann and replaced in the summer of 1994 by former Celtic player Tommy Burns, with Billy Stark as his assistant. Former player and manager Davie Hay also returned to the club, as chief scout. Celtic played their home games at Hampden Park in the first season under the new regime due to the redevelopment of Celtic Park. Celtic were poor in the league that season, but managed to win their first trophy in six years when they defeated Airdrie 1–0 in the Scottish Cup Final on 27 May 1995. The winning goal was scored by Dutch striker Pierre van Hooijdonk, who had been signed several months earlier from NAC Breda for £1.2 million.
The following season saw Celtic return to their home ground at Celtic Park. Former East German international striker Andreas Thom was signed over the summer for a then club record fee of £2.2 million. During the pre-season, defender Tony Mowbray persuaded his teammates to engage in a pre-match huddle prior to a friendly against German side Kickers Emden in an effort to boost the players' camaraderie and togetherness. Although Mowbray would leave the club several weeks later, the pre-match huddle remains a constant ritual that is performed by Celtic players to this day prior to every game. Tommy Burns' second season saw him successfully restore a more attacking style of play to the side. The new strike pairing of Van Hooijdonk and Thom forged an accomplished partnership up front. The midfield duo of Paul McStay and John Collins were integral to Celtic's attractive football and Jackie McNamara and Simon Donnelly won praise for their link-up play on the right. Celtic only lost one league match during the 1995–96 season, but for all the plaudits they received, they remained unable to prevent Rangers from winning an eighth-straight league title.
During this time, the club was under pressure to invest heavily in playing talent – particularly from the fans – to thwart Rangers' attempts to equal and surpass the nine-in-a-row record Celtic held. McCann was often criticised by the fans and media for his perceived frugality, but further signings were made in 1996, with Portuguese striker Jorge Cadete and Italian winger Paolo Di Canio arriving at Celtic Park.
The 1996–97 season saw Tommy Burns under intense media scrutiny and pressure from the supporters as Rangers closed in on their ninth successive league title. Despite Van Hooijdonk, Cadete and Di Canio having outstanding seasons as individual players, Celtic struggled to match the form of the previous season. John Collins had left for Monaco in the summer and Paul McStay was toiling with injury. As a result, individual performances were unable to make up for the lack of overall team coherence and Celtic finished the season trophy-less, with Rangers winning their ninth successive league title and equalling Celtic's record set under Jock Stein.
McCann found himself embroiled in contractual disputes with the trio of Van Hooijdonk, Cadete and Di Canio, labelling them the "Three Amigos". McCann refused to cave in to what he considered the excessive demands of these foreign mercurial talents and, to the frustration of fans, the three each left the club under a cloud, albeit for large transfer fees.
With just three weeks left of the 1996–97 season, Burns was sacked, with the club's remaining coaching staff also leaving at the end of the season. Various names were touted in the media as being likely to take over, however McCann made a surprising choice in Dutch coach Wim Jansen. Furthermore, it was announced that the traditional manager's position at Celtic had been abolished, with the responsibilities to be split between the new roles of a head coach (Jansen) who would deal with coaching, tactics and team selection, and a general manager to deal with contracts and general administration duties. The office of the general manager was somewhat controversially taken up by solicitor and former TV football commentator Jock Brown. Davie Hay was promoted from his scouting role to Assistant General Manager, whilst former Celtic player Murdo MacLeod was appointed as assistant coach to Jansen.
League title under Jansen The summer of 1997 saw substantial changes to Celtic's playing personnel. Scottish internationalists Darren Jackson and Craig Burley were Jansen's first signings, closely followed by Dutch winger Regi Blinker, Danish centre-half Marc Rieper and, more significantly, Swedish attacker Henrik Larsson from Feyenoord in a £650,000 deal. Bradford City reserve goalkeeper Jonathan Gould also arrived at Celtic Park in a low-key transfer deal. Club captain Paul McStay, however, retired from playing that summer due to injury, after a playing career of 15 years and 678 appearances for the club.
Rangers started the 1997–98 season as strong favourites for the league title and had themselves invested heavily over the summer in new players. Celtic made a poor start to the season, losing their first two league matches, but soon began to find their feet. Marc Rieper and Alan Stubbs quickly formed an impressive understanding in central defence, while Craig Burley proved to be a revelation in midfield with his energetic play and important goals. Jonathan Gould became the team's first choice goalkeeper and had an excellent season. Henrik Larsson had made an uninspiring start at Celtic, gifting Hibernian's Chic Charnley the winning goal through a careless pass on his debut and then scoring an own-goal in a UEFA Cup tie (Celtic still triumphed 6–3 on the night and won on aggregate). The Swede, however, soon established himself as a pivotal player in the side, at this time playing just off the main strikers.
An injury time equaliser from Alan Stubbs in November 1997 against Rangers saw Celtic remain behind the Ibrox club in the league, but stay within reaching distance. The next Old Firm encounter at New Year saw Celtic win 2–0 with goals from Craig Burley and recent signing from Borussia Dortmund, Paul Lambert. Over the following months, Celtic and Rangers each had spells at the top of the table, and as the season reached its climax, both sides dropped unexpected points as nerves took hold. Celtic eventually clinched the league title win a 2–0 win over St Johnstone on the last day of the season, their first championship title in ten years.
Despite the triumph, the title-winning celebrations soon soured when Wim Jansen made good his long held threat to resign, after difficulties working with Jock Brown and Fergus McCann. Jansen resigned just two days after the club sealed the title, with Brown widely portrayed as the villain of the piece. Davie Hay had been controversially sacked by Brown earlier in the season and Jansen's assistant, Murdo MacLeod, was sacked a week after Jansen's resignation.
Vengloš spell A number of high-profile names were proffered as the replacement for Jansen, but the man eventually appointed by Celtic was Slovak Jozef Vengloš. Many fans, swayed doubtless by the local media, were disappointed and angry at the decision, citing Vengloš' poor record whilst in charge of English club Aston Villa some years before. Following early exits in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and League Cup, and a poor start to their league campaign, Celtic and Vengloš were subject to intense media scrutiny. The lack of players signed during the close season was one area in which the club were strongly criticised for. Amidst the almost constant negative publicity surrounding the club, Jock Brown resigned in November 1998.
Players did, however, begin to arrive in the late autumn: Norwegian defender Vidar Riseth, Swedish defensive midfielder Johan Mjällby, Slovak play-maker Ľubomír Moravčík and Australian striker Mark Viduka all joined. Following this, Celtic's fortunes began to turn when they won 5–1 against Rangers, Larsson and Moravčík both scoring twice.
Vengloš now had Celtic playing good football and his deployment of Larsson as an out-and-out striker was proving to be a huge success, with the Swede eventually going on to score 38 goals that season. The signing of Ľubomír Moravčík had initially been ridiculed by the Scottish media, but the Slovak's skills soon won the doubters over. Celtic rallied in the league but were still unable to prevent Rangers from winning the championship. Defeat in the Scottish Cup final, also against Rangers, only confirmed the club's lack of progress on the field.