50 Fun Facts About Celtic FC

Who formally constituted Celtic at a meeting in St. Mary's church hall in 1887?

The Irish Marist Brother wanted to raise money for his Poor Children's Dinner Table charity.

What was the charitable purpose behind Celtic's founding?

Walfrid was inspired by Hibernian, formed by Edinburgh's Irish immigrant community a few years earlier.

Which Edinburgh club's example inspired the founding of Celtic?

Hibs had been formed out of the immigrant Irish population a few years earlier.

What was the result of the club's first official match, against its future Old Firm rivals in 1888?

Neil McCallum scored the club's first goal.

Why is the club nickname spelled 'The Bhoys' with an h?

An early-20th-century postcard reading 'The Bould Bhoys' is the first known example.

Who beat Celtic 2–1 in the 1889 Scottish Cup final, the club's first season in the competition?

Celtic won the trophy three years later, beating Queen's Park 5–1 for their first major honour.

Celtic's record league home win, 11–0 in 1895, came against which club?

It remains the Scottish League record for the highest home score.

Who was appointed Celtic's first 'secretary-manager' in 1897?

He served the club for nearly 52 years, retiring in 1940 at the age of 71.

How many league titles in a row did Celtic win between 1905 and 1910?

The 1907 and 1908 Scottish Cups gave Celtic the first doubles by any Scottish club.

How many goals did Jimmy McGrory score in his career, a British record?

In 547 games, including 16 on loan at Clydebank; he once scored eight in a single league match.

In what year did Celtic adopt the green and white hoops?

They were first worn on 15 August 1903 against Partick Thistle, replacing vertical stripes.

Celtic's original 1888 strip featured what on the shirt?

It was a green Celtic cross inside a red circle; the crest on the shirt did not return until 1977.

Until 1994, where did Celtic unusually wear their player numbers?

Chairman Robert Kelly refused to disfigure the hoops; numbers moved to the shirts only when the league insisted.

Which double-glazing firm became Celtic's first shirt sponsor in 1984?

Car dealer Peoples took over in 1991–92, and the 1992–93 shirt carried no sponsor at all.

Which kit supplier did Celtic leave in 2005 after a relationship dating to the 1930s?

Nike followed, then New Balance in 2015 and Adidas from 2020.

What was the score of the 1957 League Cup final, the highest-scoring British domestic cup final?

Manager Jimmy McGrory won no more trophies after it.

Which one-off 1953 tournament did Celtic win, beating Arsenal and Manchester United on the way?

It marked the coronation of Elizabeth II; Celtic had won the Empire Exhibition Trophy in 1938.

Who succeeded Jimmy McGrory as manager in 1965?

He won the Scottish Cup within months and the European Cup two years later.

Which club did Celtic beat 2–1 to win the 1967 European Cup?

Celtic became the first British club, and the first from outside Spain, Portugal and Italy, to win it.

The 1967 European Cup winners were all born within how many miles of Glasgow?

Hence the nickname the Lisbon Lions.

Which unique feat did Celtic achieve in 1967 that no other club has matched?

League, Scottish Cup, League Cup and European Cup, plus the Glasgow Cup for good measure.

Which Argentine side beat Celtic in the 1967 Intercontinental Cup?

Celtic were back in a European Cup final three years later, losing 2–1 to Feyenoord.

Where was the 1970 European Cup final, which Celtic lost to Feyenoord, played?

Celtic had beaten Leeds United in front of 136,505 at Hampden in the semi-final.

Celtic's 1974 title was a ninth in a row, equalling a record held by CSKA Sofia and which club?

Rangers later matched it, and Celtic's 1998 title stopped them going one better.

Which businessman bought Celtic in March 1994, reportedly minutes before bankruptcy?

He turned the club into a plc, rebuilt Celtic Park and left after five years with a £31 million profit.

How much did the 1994 takeover of Celtic cost its new owner?

The club was within 24 hours of receivership over a £5 million overdraft; his share issue later raised over £14 million.

Where did Celtic play home games in 1994–95 while their own ground was rebuilt?

It cost £500,000 in rent; the £40 million rebuild was finished in 1998.

Which Dutch manager led Celtic to the 1998 title that stopped their rivals' ten-in-a-row?

It was the club's first title since the centenary double of 1987–88.

Martin O'Neill's first Old Firm game as Celtic boss, in August 2000, ended how?

It was Celtic's biggest win over Rangers since the 1957 League Cup final.

Who beat Celtic 3–2 after extra time in the 2003 UEFA Cup final in Seville?

José Mourinho's side won; around 80,000 Celtic fans travelled and won FIFA and UEFA Fair Play awards.

Roughly how many Celtic fans travelled to Seville for the 2003 UEFA Cup final?

Many went without tickets; their behaviour earned Fair Play awards from FIFA and UEFA.

Which manager's 75.5% win rate is the highest in Celtic's history?

He won 213 of 282 games and seven Old Firm derbies in a row before leaving in 2005 to care for his wife.

Which manager first took Celtic into the Champions League knockout stage, in 2006–07?

He won three straight titles and repeated the knockout run in 2007–08.

Which goalkeeper set a record of 1,256 league minutes without conceding in 2013–14?

Celtic clinched a third straight title that March and Neil Lennon then left.

Celtic won their 100th major trophy in November 2016 by beating whom in the League Cup final?

Brendan Rodgers's first season ended with a treble and a 106-point unbeaten league campaign.

How many points did Celtic's unbeaten 2016–17 league campaign yield, a record?

They clinched the title with a record eight games to spare, the first unbeaten top-flight season since Rangers in 1899.

How long did Celtic's record domestic unbeaten run, ended by Hearts in 2017, last?

It beat the club's own 100-year-old British record of 62 matches.

Which club did Brendan Rodgers leave Celtic for midway through 2018–19?

Neil Lennon returned and completed the 'treble treble' and then a fourth in a row.

How was the delayed 2019–20 Scottish Cup final against Hearts decided?

It sealed a fourth successive treble, the 'quadruple treble'.

What is the capacity of Celtic Park, the largest football stadium in Scotland?

It is commonly known as Parkhead or Paradise, and became the first British ground with rail seating in 2016.

Celtic Park's record attendance of 83,500 was set in 1938 against whom?

The Old Firm derby on New Year's Day ended in a 3–0 Celtic win.

The 1937 Scottish Cup final, a world record gate for a national cup final, drew how many?

Celtic beat Aberdeen at Hampden; 136,505 watched the 1970 European Cup semi against Leeds.

Which global event's opening ceremony was held at Celtic Park in 2014?

The ground has also hosted The Who and U2 and the 1897 Track Cycling World Championships.

What is The Celtic View, launched in 1965?

It was the brainchild of future chairman Jack McGinn.

Which Northern Irish club, formed in 1891, took the same name and also played at a 'Paradise'?

It was one of Ireland's most successful clubs until it withdrew from the Irish League in 1949.

Who signed for Celtic in 1951 as the first black professional footballer in Scotland?

His son Gil Scott-Heron became a hugely influential jazz and soul musician.

Who holds Celtic's all-competitions appearance record with 822 games?

He captained the Lisbon Lions and was voted the club's greatest ever captain.

Who was voted Celtic's greatest ever player by supporters in 2002?

Larsson was voted the greatest foreign player and McNeill the greatest captain.

Whose sale to Arsenal in 2019 is the most expensive export from Scottish football?

Scott Brown's 2007 move from Hibernian remains the record fee between two Scottish clubs.

How many Scottish league titles had Celtic won as of 2025–26, a record?

Their 122 major honours are the most of any European club.