Celtic have been one of the two dominant forces in the Scottish game since their inception and boast a rich history of major honours, including a European Cup title that put them in the history books.

Celtic are a football club from Glasgow, Scotland - the only one in its country's history to win the European Cup.

Celtic are the fierce local rivals of fellow Glasgow club Rangers. The two are by far the most successful teams in the history of Scottish soccer.

Affectionately known as the Hoops or the Bhoys, Celtic play their home matches at Celtic Park, a stadium with a capacity of 60,411 and a ground which has been the club's home for all but five years of the club's history - moving to their current site in 1892.

The beginnings of the Hoops

Celtic FC were founded in 1887 with the intention of combating poverty within the Irish immigrant community - with the club's connection to local charities continuing to this day. Their first match was in 1888, a friendly against Rangers which the newly formed Celtic won 5-2.

The team started by playing in an all-white kit, until moving to green and white vertical stripes in 1889. Their green and white hooped jerseys, which are still associated with the club today, were introduced in 1903.

McGrory later enjoyed a 20-year stint as manager and led Celtic to a league and cup double in 1953/54, but that was Celtic's only league title in the space of 28 barren years after 1937/38. Despite this gap in league titles won, Celtic have never been relegatedout of the top tier in Scotland.

The Jock Stein era

After winning the 1965/66 league title, Stein guided Celtic to a clean sweep of trophies the following season. The speed of the Hoops' progress in such a short space of time was illustrated by them scoring 30 more goals than the previous season.

The Lisbon Lions

In 1967, Celtic became the first British club to win the European Cup. They beat Inter Milan 2-1 at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon, on May 25, 1967. That team became immortalised in history, dubbed the 'Lisbon Lions'.

The 11 players who achieved hero status against Inter were: Ronnie Simpson, Jim Craig, Tommy Gemmell, Bobby Murdoch, Billy McNeill (c), John Clark, Jimmy Johnstone, Willie Wallace, Stevie Chalmers, Bertie Auld and Bobby Lennox.

Sandro Mazzola put Inter in front via the penalty spot in the seventh minute and the Italians promptly retreated into defence to try and preserve their advantage. Celtic peppered their opposition with attacks, though, and the breakthrough was made in the second half when Gemmell equalized 63 minutes into the match.

Continued success before a lean decade

McNeill led Celtic to a landmark double in 1987-88 - their centenary season - clinching the league and Scottish Cup.

The Hoops' return to the top

Nevertheless, Celtic's success continued for the most part domestically over the next two decades under the guidance of key managers Gordon Strachan, Neil Lennon and Brendan Rodgers. With the comparative misfortunes of Rangers, Celtic were free to build a platform to dominate Scottish soccer throughout the 2010s.

Rodgers' departure from Celtic to Leicester City in 2019 was notable. He left a side which was on its way to the league title and building a dynasty in Scotland to rejoin the Premier League with a side outside the traditional superpowers of England. This was indicative of the chasm between English and Scottish soccer in the modern era.

Lennon returned to Celtic for a second stint as manager in February 2019 and guided the club to a third domestic treble, the 'treble treble' as it was dubbed.

They were once again successful in the Covid-19 hit 2019/20 season, picking up their fourth consecutive domestic treble, even though they were awarded the league title when the season was suspended.

In total, Lennon led Celtic to five league titles, four Scottish Cup titles and a Scottish League Cup.

Former Australia manager Angelos Postecoglou took over in June 2021, and guided Celtic to their 52nd league title and won the Scottish League Cup in 2022.

Postecoglou's success attracted admirers south of the border and he decided to join Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur on July 1, 2023.

Return of Rodgers

Celtic and the Old Firm derby

After Rangers endured liquidation, they had to start again in the lower divisions of Scottish soccer, allowing Celtic to claim nine league titles in a row between 2011/12 and 2019/20.

Nevertheless, Rangers are still the team with the most Scottish league titles (55), but Celtic are the only one with a European Cup to date.

Despite having met over 400 times through the course of history, the clubs are barely separable in the all-time head-to-head record.

Celtic and their fanbase

Celtic and finances

Player sales and the return of crowds saw pre-tax profits leap to £27.6million for the six months until December 2021, compared to a £5.9m loss at the same point the year before.