The 2016–17 season was the 123rd season of competitive football by Celtic. They competed in the Scottish Premiership, Champions League, League Cup and Scottish Cup. They won all three domestic tournaments, completing a domestic treble (the 11th in Scottish football), while going undefeated in 47 domestic games.
Season overview
May On 20 May 2016, Brendan Rodgers was appointed as the club's new manager, succeeding Ronny Deila in the role.
June On 23 June 2016, Celtic made £1.1 million from the £11 million sale of Victor Wanyama from Southampton to Tottenham Hotspur as the club had inserted a ten per cent sell on clause in his contract when he was sold to Southampton in July 2013.
September On 10 September 2016, Moussa Dembélé became the first Celtic player to score a hat-trick in an Old Firm match since 1973 (the last was Harry Hood in the Scottish League Cup), in a 5–1 home victory against Rangers. It was also the first hat-trick scored in a league match against Rangers since Stevie Chalmers in 1966.
On 24 September 2016, Scott Sinclair scored in the first six successive opening league matches of the season, breaking Jimmy McGrory's previous club record of five.
November On 27 November 2016, Celtic won the Scottish League Cup, after beating Aberdeen 3–0 in the Final at Hampden Park, with goals from Tom Rogic, James Forrest, and a Moussa Dembélé penalty. It was a milestone for the club: the 100th major trophy in its history (one European Cup, 47 Scottish League championships, 36 Scottish Cups, and 16 League Cups).
December On 13 December 2016, Brendan Rodgers broke the record for the best unbeaten start to a domestic season as a Celtic manager in their first season in his 19th match in charge, with a 1–0 win at home to Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Premiership. The record had been set by Martin O'Neill after his first 18 games in charge (in 2000–01).
On 28 December 2016, Celtic won 2–0 at home to Ross County in the Premiership, a result which meant the club had gone throughout the entire year of 2016 without a single domestic defeat at Celtic Park.
On 31 December 2016, Celtic inflicted a first home defeat on Old Firm rivals Rangers at Ibrox Stadium in all competitions since September 2015, with a 2–1 win in the Premiership.
January On 29 January 2017, Celtic won 4–0 at home to Heart of Midlothian in the Premiership, with the team breaking a 50-years-old club record for the longest unbeaten start to a domestic season (26 matches in-a-row in 1966–67 by the Lisbon Lions), with this victory at Celtic Park being their 27th domestic match unbeaten.
February On 2 February 2017, it was announced that Celtic would be awarded £386,543 (of a £1.75 million shared by Scottish clubs) by UEFA to cover costs for releasing the club's players who were called up by their country for international duty during the UEFA Euro 2016 Finals tournament and the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
March On 12 March 2017, Celtic drew 1–1 at home with Rangers in the Premiership, a result that ended a run of 22 consecutive league victories. It is record only bettered by Martin O'Neill's team who managed 25 consecutive league game wins in the 2003–04 season.
April
On 2 April 2017, Celtic won 5–0 away to Hearts in the Premiership, to win the earliest Scottish league championship in 88 years with eight league matches still remaining (Rangers did so in 1928–29 with the same number of outstanding fixtures).
In the 2016–17 Scottish Cup semi-final, Celtic eliminated Rangers in an Old Firm encounter,Celtic 2-0 Rangers, Tom English, BBC Sport, 23 April 2017 the first time they had beaten their Glasgow rivals at this stage of the competition since 1925, at the seventh attempt.Rangers record against Celtic in Scottish Cup semi-finals is unbelievable but could be about to end, Anthony Haggerty, Daily Record, 21 March 2017
On 29 April 2017, Celtic won 5–1 away to Rangers in the Premiership to record the club's biggest scoreline for a victory at Ibrox since a 4–0 win 1897.
May On 7 May 2017, PFA Scotland named Scott Sinclair as the Player of the Year, Kieran Tierney as the Young Player of the Year, Brendan Rodgers as the Manager of the Year. Moussa Dembélé was also named as the winner of Goal of the Season, as well as Sinclair, Tierney, Dembélé, Mikael Lustig, Stuart Armstrong and Scott Brown were named in the Premiership Team of the Year.
On 19 May 2017, Scott Brown was named as the Scottish Premiership Player of the Season and Brendan Rodgers was named as the Scottish Premiership Manager of the Season.
On 21 May 2017, Scottish Football Writers' Association named Scott Sinclair as the Footballer of the Year, Kieran Tierney as the Young Player of the Year and Brendan Rodgers as the Manager of the Year.
On 21 May 2017, Celtic won 2–0 at home to Hearts in the league, a result which meant Celtic had completed a full 38 match season without losing, becoming the first team to go an entire Scottish top flight season without a defeat since Rangers in 1898–99 (when only 18 league matches were played). The team also bettered the club's best points total (103) and most wins (33) from 2001–02, fewest defeats (1) from 2001–02 and 2013–14, most goals scored (105) from 2003–04, and title winning points margin (29) from 2013–14 for a SPL / SPFL Premiership season (since 1998–99), finishing the season with 106 points, 34 wins, no defeats, 106 goals scored, and a title winning points margin of 30 points.
On 21 May 2017, Celtic's title winning points margin of 30 points was also the second largest points gap ever between first and second place in top flight leagues across Europe (only bettered by PSG who won Ligue 1 by 31 points in 2015–16). Celtic's total of 106 points accumulated in the league is a European record for top flight league (Barry Town of Wales in 1996–97 reached 105 points).
On 27 May 2017, Celtic won 2–1 against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park, with the Celtic goals coming from Stuart Armstrong and Tom Rogic. The result meant that the team completed the domestic treble for the fourth time in the club's history and finished a 47 match domestic season without losing a match. It was also their second unbeaten league season in their history, after they also completed the 1897–98 Scottish Division One unbeaten.
Results and fixtures
Pre-season and friendlies Celtic preceded the 2016–17 campaign with a pre-season tour of Slovenia, with matches against Celje, Olimpija Ljubljana and Maribor. The Hoops also made a short trip over the Slovenia–Austria border to face Sturm Graz, in preparation for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. Brendan Rodgers' side also faced Wolfsburg, Leicester City, Barcelona and Inter Milan in a busy pre-season schedule. Celtic's first warm-up match ended in a 2–2 draw with Celje; Nadir Çiftçi and Tom Rogic scored as Celtic came from behind to avoid defeat. Rodgers recorded his first victory as manager in a 1–0 win over Strum Graz, with Ryan Christie on the scoresheet. Celtic achieved another positive result only days later, this time against Olimpija Ljubljana, with Leigh Griffiths striking twice. A scoreless draw with Maribor rounded off Celtic's preparations before the competitive action began. Celtic's remaining pre-season matches were interspersed with European football. The Bhoys recorded an impressive 2–1 victory over Bundesliga side Wolfsburg in Brendan Rodgers' first match at Celtic Park. This was followed by a draw with Leicester City in Glasgow, and defeats to Barcelona in Dublin and Inter Milan in Limerick.
International Champions Cup
Scottish Premiership
UEFA Champions League
Second qualifying round Celtic faced Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) in the Second Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League. The first leg saw the part-time underdogs record a shock 1–0 victory, thanks to Lee Casciaro's second half finish. However, Celtic turned the tie around in the second leg, winning 3–0 on the night, with goals from Mikael Lustig, Leigh Griffiths and Patrick Roberts.
Third qualifying round Celtic faced Astana (Kazakhstan) in the Third Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League. The first leg saw a Yuriy Logvinenko header cancelled out by a late goal from Leigh Griffiths, resulting in a 1–1 draw. A week later, the Scottish champions progressed to the Play-Off Round, following a 2–1 win in the second leg. Moussa Dembélé's last-minute penalty secured Celtic's place in Europe until the end of the year.
Play-Off Round
Group stage
Scottish League Cup
Scottish Cup
Player statistics
Squad, appearances and goals
Positions Total League Europe League Cup Scottish Cup Goalkeepers1GKCraig Gordon5504905 350110405024GKDorus de Vries50405 4010000026GKLogan Bailly000 00000000 Defenders2DFKolo Touré1701072 906010103DFEmilio Izaguirre1801391 1204020004DFEfe Ambrose20180 002000005DFJozo Šimunović3312800 25120303012DFCristian Gamboa2101367 17020101020DFDedryck Boyata2251949 17500005023DFMikael Lustig4944132 291111405228DFErik Sviatchenko4313198 28190303034DFEoghan O'Connell70545 2040100035DFKristoffer Ajer1030 0010000050DFJamie McCart1021 0000100056DFAnthony Ralston2098 1000100059DFCalvin Miller1063 1000000063DFKieran Tierney4023479 241902051 Midfielders6MFNir Bitton3912336 2618020308MFScott Brown5434787 331121405111MFScott Sinclair50254055 352170315314MFStuart Armstrong47173415 311590304215MFKris Commons000 0000000016MFGary Mackay-Steven110559 9010001017MFRyan Christie71338 5110100018MFTom Rogic37122208 22791432127MFPatrick Roberts47112686 32992204042MFCallum McGregor4672769 31690204149MFJames Forrest4682918 286110423053MFLiam Henderson131551 10110101073MFMikey Johnston1057 1000000088MFEboue Kouassi50103 40000010 Forwards7FWNadir Çiftçi4043 102000109FWLeigh Griffiths38182066 241295203110FWMoussa Dembélé49323374 2917125454576FWJack Aitchison2021 20000000Appearances = Total appearancesLast updated: 27 May 2017
Goalscorers No.Pos.NationNameScottish PremiershipScottish CupScottish League CupEuropeTotal110FWMoussa Dembélé17 5 5 5 32 211MFScott Sinclair21 3 1 0 25 39FWLeigh Griffiths12 1 0 5 18 414MFStuart Armstrong15 2 0 0 17 518MFTom Rogic7 1 3 1 12 627MFPatrick Roberts9 0 0 2 11 749MFJames Forrest6 0 2 0 8 842MFCallum McGregor6 1 0 0 7 920DFDedryck Boyata5 0 0 0 5 1023DFMikael Lustig1 2 0 1 4 118MFScott Brown1 1 0 1 3 1263DFKieran Tierney1 1 0 0 2 1317MFRyan Christie1 0 0 0 1 6MFNir Bitton1 0 0 0 1 28DFErik Sviatchenko1 0 0 0 1 53MFLiam Henderson1 0 0 0 1 5DFJozo Šimunović1 0 0 0 1 Own goals0 0 0 1 1 Total106171116150 Last updated: 27 May 2017
Disciplinary record Includes all competitive matches. Players listed below made at least one appearance for Celtic first squad during the season.
Scott Brown's red card against Ross County on 16 April 2017 was subsequently downgraded to a yellow card.
Hat-tricks
Player Against Result Date Competition Moussa Dembélé Rangers5–1 (H)10 September 2016Scottish Premiership Moussa Dembélé St Johnstone2–5 (A)5 February 2017Scottish Premiership Moussa Dembélé Inverness CT6–0 (H)11 February 2017Scottish Cup Scott Sinclair Hearts0–5 (A)2 April 2017Scottish Premiership (H) – Home; (A) – Away; (N) – Neutral
Clean sheets As of 27 May 2017.
RankNameLeagueScottish CupLeague CupEuropeTotalPlayed Games1 Craig Gordon2034128552 Dorus de Vries0000053 Logan Bailly000000Total203412860
Team statistics
League table
Competition overview
League results summary
Source:
Results by round
Technical staff
Transfers
In
Out
Total income: £3 million
Total expenditure: £7.6 million
Total profit/loss: £4.6 million
See also List of Celtic F.C. seasons List of unbeaten football club seasons Nine in a row
References