Celtic FC Celtic FC's history began in an unusual way for a football club: on 6 November 1887, at a meeting in St Mary's Church Hall in Glasgow's Calton district, Brother Walfrid, an Irish Marist brother born Andrew Kerins, set the club in motion. His goal was not sporting glory but raising funds for so-called "penny dinners" โ meals for the hungry children and unemployed of the city's poor Irish East End community. Celtic played its first match on 28 May 1888, beating Rangers 5โ2.
From the outset the club has worn its distinctive green-and-white hoops, which gave rise to the nickname The Bhoys. Celtic won its first Scottish league title in the 1892โ93 season, and under manager Willie Maley the club entered an era of dominance, including six consecutive titles between 1905 and 1910.
The club's greatest triumph came on 25 May 1967 in Lisbon, when, managed by Jock Stein, Celtic beat Inter Milan 2โ1 in the European Cup final, becoming the first British club ever to win the trophy. The side that went down in legend as the Lisbon Lions was made up entirely of players born within 30 miles of Celtic Park. The 1966โ67 season remains unique in European football: Celtic won all five competitions it entered that year โ the league, the Scottish Cup, the League Cup, the Glasgow Cup and the European Cup.
Since then, Celtic has remained one of the two most decorated clubs in Scottish football; together with its long-standing rival, Rangers FC, it forms the Old Firm, whose meetings rank among the most passionately contested derbies in world football. Through the 2025โ26 season, Celtic had won a record 56 Scottish league titles, including five in a row between 2021 and 2026.
Celtic plays its home matches at Celtic Park in the Parkhead district, known among supporters by the nickname "Paradise" โ a name coined in 1892, when the club moved to its current site from land next to a cemetery. Today the ground holds more than 60,000 spectators, making it the largest football stadium in Scotland.
