Celtic Football Club was constituted in 1888 with the purpose of creating a club for Irish Immigrants. Celtic play home games at Celtic Park, having moved there from their original ground in 1892. From 1887-1994, Celtic quickly established itself as a dominant force in Scottish football, winning six successive league titles during the first decade of the 20th century. A fierce rivalry developed with Rangers, and the two clubs became known as the Old Firm.
Under manager Jock Stein, in 1967 Celtic became the first British team to win the European Cup, which had previously been the preserve of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish clubs. Celtic is one of only two clubs to have won the trophy with a team composed entirely of players from the club's home country; all of the players in the side were born within 30 miles of Celtic Park in Glasgow.
Celtic won nine successive league titles from 1966–1974. The club continued to enjoy domestic success throughout the 70s and 80s, despite the rise of the so-called New Firm of Aberdeen and Dundee United. Celtic won the league and cup double in 1988, their Centenary Year.
The team's fortunes went into decline in the early 1990s, with the family dynasties that had run Celtic since its formation struggling to cope with the increasing commercialisation of football. However Celtic have remained the same club since 1888 until 1994. In 1994 the company became a public limited company.
Early years (1887–1897)
Celtic Football Club was formally constituted at a meeting in St. Mary's church hall in East Rose Street (now Forbes Street), Calton, Glasgow, by Irish Marist Brother Walfrid on 6 November 1887, with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the East End of Glasgow by raising money for the charity Walfrid had instituted, the Poor Children's Dinner Table. Walfrid's move to establish the club as a means of fund-raising was largely inspired by the example of Hibernian who were formed out of the immigrant Irish population a few years earlier in Edinburgh. Walfrid's own suggestion of the name 'Celtic' (still pronounced Seltik, the standard pronunciation in the 19th century), was intended to reflect the club's Irish and Scottish roots, and was adopted at the same meeting. The club has the official nickname, "The Bhoys". However, according to the Celtic press office, the newly established club was known to many as "the bold boys". A postcard from the early 20th century that pictured the team, and read "The Bould Bhoys", is the first known example of the unique spelling. The extra 'h' imitates the spelling system of Gaelic, where the letter B is often accompanied by the letter H.
On 28 May 1888, Celtic played their first official match against Rangers and won 5–2 in what was described as a "friendly encounter". Neil McCallum scored Celtic's first ever goal. The derby between the two rivals became inescapably linked with the slogan: the Old Firm. The actual origins of the term are unclear; some believe it relates to a newspaper comment made that the players in their first meeting got on so well that they appeared to be "old firm friends", whilst others believe it to be a cynical observation of the commercial benefits that the two clubs enjoyed as their rivalry grew.
Celtic's first kit consisted of a white shirt with a green collar, black shorts, and emerald green socks. The original club crest was a simple green cross on a red oval background. In 1889, the club adopted a strip of white and green vertical stripes before finally taking up the now famous green and white hoops in 1903.
While Brother Walfrid had only charitable motives for the club, others saw huge financial potential. John Glass, a Scottish builder with Donegal family connections and Pat Welsh, a tailor who had left Ireland 20 years previously, observed the coming of professionalism in England in 1885 and correctly assumed that Scotland would follow. In August 1888, without the knowledge of Brother Walfrid or the club committee, Glass signed eight of Hibs’ best players, having offered them cash inducements. The consequences for Hibernian were catastrophic due to the loss of so many players. They went into immediate decline and went out business by the end of the season, although quickly reformed and managed to re-establish themselves in Scottish football.
In 1889, Celtic reached the final of the Scottish Cup, this was their first season in the competition, but lost 2–1 to Third Lanark in the final. They also reached the final of the local Glasgow North Eastern Cup and beat Cowlairs 6–1 in the final.Glasgow North-eastern Football Association Final Cup Tie, The Scotsman, 13 May 1889 (via The Celtic Wiki) Celtic again reached the final of the Scottish Cup in 1892, but this time were victorious after defeating Queen's Park 5–1 in the final which was held at Rangers' stadium, Ibrox Park. Sandy McMahon and John Campbell both scored twice in the game, helping Celtic win their first major honour. Several months later the club moved to its new ground, Celtic Park, and in the following season won the Scottish Football League for the first ever time. On 26 October 1895, Celtic set the League record for the highest home score when they beat Dundee 11–0.
Willie Maley years (1897–1940)
In 1897, the club became a Private limited company and Willie Maley was appointed as the first 'secretary-manager'. Having been a club that initially relied on buying in experienced players, Maley instead concentrated on developing young talent mainly from the Junior ranks. This proved a success as Celtic went on to dominate Scottish football in the first decade of the 20th century, winning the Scottish League Championship six times in a row between 1905 and 1910. In both 1907 and 1908 Celtic also won the Scottish Cup, this was the first time a Scottish club had ever won the Double. During this time, players such as Alec McNair, Jimmy Quinn, 'Sunny' Jim Young, Peter Somers, Alec Bennett, Davie Hamilton, Jimmy McMenemy and goalkeeper Davey Adams provided the backbone of Celtic's team.
The turn of the decade saw several key players either retire or leave Celtic for other clubs. This coincided with a slight decline in the club's fortunes as Rangers racked up three consecutive league titles between 1911 and 1913. Celtic however continued to enjoy success in the Scottish Cup, with Cup Final wins over Hamilton in 1911, Clyde in 1912 and Hibernian in 1914. 'Sunny' Jim Young was at the peak of his powers and captain of the side, whilst the slightly built Patsy Gallacher belied his frail appearance with exhilarating skill on the wing. With the emergence of Gallacher along with others such as Peter Johnstone and Andy McAtee complementing long-time stalwarts such as Young, McNair and McMenemy, Celtic regained the League Championship at the end of April 1914 to complete their third League and Cup Double.
The Ferencváros Vase (also known as The Budapest Cup) was won by Celtic on a European tour in 1914. Celtic played Burnley in Budapest as Ferencváros had agreed to award a trophy to the winner. However, the match was a bad tempered affair and ended in a draw, with both teams refusing to play extra time. A replay couldn't be organised in Budapest as Celtic were travelling back to Glasgow. After winning the coin toss to play the game at home, Burnley played host to Celtic. The visitors won 2–0 and part of the gate money was sent to the Hungarian Charity Fund, however Celtic were not presented with the trophy, which had been sold to raise funds for the war effort. Seventy four years later, in 1988, Celtic were celebrating their centenary and Ferencváros remembered they 'owed' the club a trophy. In the absence of the original trophy they brought a decorative white porcelain vase, fashioned in the traditional shape of a football cup, to Glasgow. It was presented at Celtic's centenary championship winning match against Dundee in April 1988.
During World War I, Celtic won the league four times in a row. During this run of league championships, Celtic went 62 matches unbeaten from 20 November 1915 until 14 April 1917, a record in British football that stood for 100 years, until broken by Celtic themselves in November 2017. However, Celtic's time during World War I was mixed, although they enjoyed great success on the pitch. Football was not as important; attendances fell, player's salaries were reduced and there was increased pressure to complete the fixture list. On one occasion in 1916, during their 62 match unbeaten run, Celtic had to play two matches on the same day against Raith Rovers and Motherwell, and won both 6–0 and 3–1 respectively. Recruitment drives were also held at football matches and on one occasion an exhibition of trench warfare was held at Celtic Park. Several Celtic players also fought during the war; reserve player William Angus won the Victoria Cross for his bravery in the field and fan-favourite Peter Johnstone, who had made over 200 appearances for Celtic, died at the Battle of Arras in 1917.
The period during the war saw the death of Brother Walfrid, who died on 17 April 1915 at 74 years of age. He was buried in a Marist graveyard in Dumfries. Maley referred to Brother Walfrid's death in his annual report to shareholders, stating he had been "... the last of the leading founders of the Celtic club.." and that his work for Celtic had been "a labour of love".
After the Great War, and into the 1920s, Rangers took over from Celtic as the dominant force in Scottish football. Rangers won 8 league titles to Celtic's 2 during the 1920s. Celtic, however, continued to find success in the Scottish Cup, winning it three times in the 20s. Celtic's Scottish Cup win in 1925 proved to be particularly memorable. The semi-final in front of a crowd of over 100,000 at Hampden saw Celtic beat Rangers 5–0. Celtic met Dundee in the final on 11 April 1925. With the match nearing full-time and Dundee leading 1–0, Patsy Gallacher dribbled forward towards the Dundee goal. A Dundee defender tackled Gallacher as he neared the goalmouth, Gallacher stumbled but managed to somersault with the ball gripped between his feet, over the goal-line and into the back of the net. Willie Maley commented afterwards that Gallacher's goal was "one of these incidents that had to be seen to be appreciated." Celtic went on to score another goal and won 2–1.
The mid-1920s saw the emergence of Jimmy McGrory as one of the most prolific goalscorers in Scottish football history. Over a sixteen-year playing career, he scored 550 goals (including 16 goals for Clydebank during a season on loan in 1923–24), a British goal-scoring record to this day. His 57 League and Cup goals in season 1926–27 remains a record at Celtic. In January 1928, McGrory set the League record for most league goals in a match, when he scored eight of Celtic's goals in a 9–0 win over Dunfermline. In 1928 Arsenal made strenuous attempts to sign McGrory, offering both player and club huge (for the time) amounts of money. Celtic were more than willing to sell, but McGrory did not want to leave Celtic and thus remained. Later McGrory quipped, "McGrory of Arsenal just never sounded as good as McGrory of Celtic".