• Celtic - The Early Years
• Celtic between the wars
• Becalmed before the storm
• The Glory Years
• The end of the Stein era
• A last flourish
• A club divided
• Return to glory
• Moving Forward to the next level

CELTIC - THE EARLY YEARS

The seeds of the grand history of Celtic football club were planted with the noblest of motives. Established in 1888, the club was the idea of Brother Walfrid, leader of a teaching institute, the Marist Order, in Glasgow.

Inspired by the example of Edinburgh Hibernian football club, Brother Walfrid saw the establishment of a football club in Glasgow's East End as an opportunity to raise money for a charity he had established, The Poor Children's Dinner Table, and an opportunity to give the Irish population something which they could feel proud to be a part of.

It was Walfrid's own suggestion of the name Celtic, a reflection of both its Irish and Scottish roots, that was adopted at a meeting to form the club in November 1887.

A patch of land was rented, close to the club's current ground at a cost of £50 a year and the local community worked for free to transform it into a football pitch.

Six months later Celtic played their first fixture, beating Rangers in a friendly 5 -2, the first of many notable clashes between the two Glasgow teams.

Within four years the club had taken the Scottish Cup at only their fourth attempt and, a year later, Celtic recorded their first victory in the Scottish League. These early triumphs proved a benchmark as the club quickly established itself as Scotland's most successful side. Between 1892 and the outbreak of World War One, Celtic claimed eleven league titles, including six titles in a row between 1905 and 1910, and nine victories in the Scottish Cup.

Celtic's success could be attributed to to the club's first secretary and manager Willy Maley. A former player, Maley was appointed in 1897, just after the club had become a limited company.

Maley adopted a successful youth policy, signing great players like Jimmy Quinn and Patsy Gallacher from the ranks of Junior football, culminating in another four successive League Championships during the war years.