Inside Left

Celtic have been much in the news of late. If they’re not winning three-in-a-row, they’re going around steeling defenders from under the noses of their greatest rivals.

On the day that Celtic continue their defence of their title at Dundee United’s Tannadice Stadium, we ask new Inside Left contributor and Celtic fan Garry Swan: so, Celtic, who are ya?

Who Are Ya?

Celtic FC are a club based in the East End of Glasgow, Scotland and was formed in 1888 by an Irish priest named Brother Walfrid in an attempt to raise funds for the church and to help alleviate the poverty situation in the Glasgow’s East end parishes. Known as The Bhoys, The Celts or The Hoops, they play in green and white hoops on the jerseys, white shorts and white socks. Home is Celtic Park, known to the Celtic faithful as Paradise.

Past Glories

Where do we begin with this one? There are a multitude, dating as far back as the very first game. A game organised against Rangers, on the 28th May 1888 ended 5-2 in favour of The Bhoys, who had 8 players from another side with strong Irish roots, known as Hibernian FC.

We could mention the 25th May 1967, when Celtic beat the mighty Internazionale in Lisbon 2-1 to lift the European Cup. They where the first team in Britain to win a European trophy,  a year before Manchester United, something their fans are often loathe to point out. This was achieved by a squad dubbed “The Lisbon Lions”, who were all born within a 30 mile radius of Paradise. The talent pool was immense, and never again to be repeated. Possibly.

The European Cup success came in the midst of a period of almost total dominance of the domestic game for Celtic. League titles, Scottish Cups, League Cups, you name it, Celtic won it at some point during that spell between 1965/66 and 1974/75 (albeit sharing the honours with Rangers in that final season after a 2-2 draw). Or there was the 1997/98 season when, under the management of Dutch coach Wim Jansen, we stopped Rangers getting ten-in-a-row, that would have beaten our record of the Golden Era under legendary manager Jock Stein.

More recently, Celtic have gained qualification to European competitions through league titles and runner-up spots. During the 2002/03 season, Celtic reached the final of the UEFA losing 3-2 to a Porto side managed by Jose Mourinho, and who went onto lift the Champions League the following year. I don’t think there is a great deal of shame in that, personally. Last year was a particularly fine year in my view. Celtic had a few hiccups over the season which culminated in Rangers being only a few points from winning the league. Had it not been for a serious dose of fixture congestion thanks to the SFA, and their over-achievement in a number of cup competitions (both domestic and European), I’m not certain Celtic would have won.

Low Point

Personally, as a relatively young man, I can only relate to the disappointments of the Seville Final in 02/03 and seeing Celtic getting their 9th title on the spin. Or losing the title on goal difference a few years back was particularly sore. For older fans, I can only imagine the anguish of the 1970 European Cup Final, losing to Feyenoord after extra time. Extra time is a necessary evil in the game, and the source of so much heart break.

Have You Heard Of…

A young Swedish starlet known as Henrik Larsson? After playing a couple of lesser clubs in his native land, he eventually signed for Feyenoord in Holland. It was here that his talents were spotted by then-manager Wim Jansen(a former Feyenoord player who had previously played against Celtic on one occasion) for the princely (and ultimately, bargain) sum of £650,000. It was at Celtic that he made his name. During his 7 year service to the club (between 1997-2004), he won 4 titles, was runner up in the other 3, collected a smattering of cup medals, and suffered a horrific leg break against Lyon. He recovered from this injury and was playing again the same season. From Celtic, he signed for Barcelona in Spain. In his two seasons he won La Liga twice as well as the Champions League. From there he returned to Helsingborg IF (his second club) where he continues to ply his trade to this day. In the Swedish leagues close-season, he had a loan for Manchester United under Alex Ferguson and gained special dispensation and a winners medal after United went on to win the English Premiership that year.

Henrik was the winner of the European Golden Boot after scoring 53 goals in the 2000/01 season.  After the Champions League Final between Arsenal and Barcelona, Larsson came on as a sub, and completely changed the game in favour of Barcelona. Barcelona went on to win 2-1, and after the game, Arsenal’s Thierry Henry was full of praise for Henrik:

People always talk about Ronaldinho, Eto’o, Giuly and everything, but I didn’t see them today: I saw Henrik Larsson. He came on and he changed the game, that is what killed the game. Sometimes you talk about Ronaldinho and Eto’o and people like that; you need to talk about the proper footballer who made the difference, and that was Henrik Larsson tonight.

Stand Up If You Hate…

Fairly obvious this one, but for newcomers to Planet Earth, it’d be our neighbours to the West, Rangers FC. Vast quantities of history behind this. Religion still plays a part for the uneducated few, but its often the source of great banter these days.

This Season

After selling Micheal McGovern (goalkeeper) to Dundee United, and Diarmuid O’Carroll (forward) to Morecambe, and putting 3 players on loan (John Kennedy to Norwich, Rocco Quinn to Livingston and Scott Cuthbert to St. Mirren) we still have a wealth of talent at our disposal. Gordon Strachan has been a shrewd player in this years Silly Season bringing in 3 very promising players who should perform very well in the set-up that we have. I think Strachan’s main priority was the capture of Georgios Samaras from Manchester City on a permanent after a successful loan spell (16 games, 5 goals) at the end of last year. Pat McCourt has been drafted in from Derry City as cover in midfield, as has Marc Crosas (£415,000 from Barcelona) which should provide us with a depth of squad which I fear we have been lacking in seasons past. Finally, the arrival of Glen Loovens should also provide more experience and depth in our defence.

Extra Time

A few little bonus facts, for all you pub quiz fans out there: Mark Burchill scored the fastest hat-trick in European football against. Luxembourg side Jeunesse Esch in the 2000/01 season. And the Scottish Cup final win against Aberdeen in 1937 was attended by a crowd of 146,433 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, which remains a record for a club match in European football.

Club Information

The Celtic Football Club
Celtic Park
Glasgow
G40 3RE
Scotland
Tel:0871 266 1888

Official Web Site
Fan Sites: Lisbon67 | Not the View | Keep the Faith

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 17th, 2008 at 7:01 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.