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The Founding of Celtic Football Club 1888


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Neil McCallum scored the club's first ever goal in that victory over the Ibrox club, in a game that was watched by a crowd estimated at around 5,000, comparatively small when one considers the 100,000 plus crowds that would watch future clashes between these clubs. Then again, of course, none of that crowd could possibly have been aware that they were watching the start of what would in the future develop into one of the world's great footballing rivalries.

Success wasn't long in coming for Celtic. In their first full season of competition they reached the final of the Scottish Cup, only to lose 2-1 to Third Lanark. However they did lift some silverware in this initial season, winning the North-Eastern Cup, which despite its grand name was merely a local competition, with a convincing 6-1 win over Cowlairs.

National success soon followed. Celtic won the Scottish Cup in 1892, with a 5-2 win over Queens Park at Ibrox. The following year came Celtic's first Scottish League championship success.

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.

The driving force behind Celtic in those early years was Willie Maley, a former player who became the club's first secretary and manager. 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.

Written by: Paul MacDonald

Page: 12

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