Celtic FC Identity

The Bhoys – founded to alleviate poverty, champions of Europe.

The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic, is a professional football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the Irish–Scots population in the city's East End area. They played their first match in May 1888, a friendly match against Rangers which Celtic won 5–2. Celtic have played in green and white throughout their history, adopting in 1903 the hoops that have been used ever since.

Lore & Background

Celtic are one of only seven clubs in the world to have won over 100 trophies, with 122 major honours as of May 2026, the most of any European club and the second-most in the world. The club has won the Scottish league championship a record 56 times, most recently in 2025–26, the Scottish Cup a record 43 times and the Scottish League Cup 22 times. The club's greatest season was 1966–67, when Celtic became the first British team to win the European Cup, also winning the Scottish league championship, the Scottish Cup, the League Cup and the Glasgow Cup. Celtic also reached the 1970 European Cup final and the 2003 UEFA Cup final, losing in both.

Reader's Guide

Celtic have a fierce long-standing rivalry with Rangers, and together the clubs are known as 'The Old Firm'. Their matches against each other are regarded as among the world's biggest football derbies. The club's fanbase was estimated in 2003 as being around 9 million worldwide and there are more than 160 Celtic supporters clubs in over 20 countries. An estimated 80,000 fans travelled to Seville for the 2003 UEFA Cup final, and their 'extraordinarily loyal and sporting behaviour' in spite of defeat earned the fans Fair Play awards from both FIFA and UEFA.

Did You Know?

Celtic were founded by Irish Marist Brother Walfrid on 6 November 1887.
Celtic's first kit consisted of a white shirt with a green collar, black shorts, and emerald green socks.
The club's original crest was a simple green cross on a red oval background.
Jimmy McGrory scored 550 goals in 547 games over a sixteen-year playing career, a British goal-scoring record to this day.