History of Celtic F.C.

Celtic Football Club has always competed in the highest level of football in Scotland, currently the Scottish Premiership. The club was constituted in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic play home games at Celtic Park, having moved there from their original ground in 1892. The club 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, Celtic in 1967 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, a then joint world record. 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. In March 1994, with the club facing bankruptcy, Canadian based businessman Fergus McCann finally wrested control of the club.

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.

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