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List of Celtic F.C. players

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of Celtic F.C. players
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Celtic Football Club (/ˈsɛltɪk/) is a Scottish professional football club based in Parkhead, Glasgow. The club was founded in 1887 and played their first match in May 1888, a friendly match against Rangers.[1] The club played their first competitive match in September 1888, when they entered the first round of the 1888–89 Scottish Cup.[2] Since playing their first competitive match, more than 200 players have made at least 100 appearances (including substitute appearances); those players are listed here. Other players who have made fewer appearances are also included where they are regarded as having played a significant role for the club, with the reason for their inclusion indicated in the Notes column.

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Billy McNeill has made the most appearances for Celtic in major competitions, and also captained the side from 1963 up to his retirement from playing in 1975. McNeill went on to manage Celtic in two spells during the 1980s.

Celtic's record appearance-maker is Billy McNeill, who made a total of 790 appearances in major competitions over an 18-year playing career. Alec McNair holds the record at Celtic for most league appearances, and is also the oldest player to have competed for the club. Jimmy McGrory is the club's top goalscorer with 472 goals in major competitions. He is also the record goalscorer in British football, with a total of 550 goals in competitive first class matches. Henrik Larsson has more appearances for Celtic than any other player from outwith the British Isles. He is also the club's third highest goalscorer of all time, behind McGrory and Bobby Lennox, with 242 goals in all competitions. Jimmy Johnstone, part of Celtic's European Cup winning Lisbon Lions team alongside McNeill and Lennox, was voted by Celtic supporters in 2002 as the club's greatest ever player.

James Kelly was the club's first ever captain, playing in the club's inaugural game against Rangers in 1888. He later served as a director and then as chairman. He effectively founded the Kelly dynasty of directors at Celtic, who by and large controlled the club until 1994.[3][4][5] Other club captains also went on to important roles at Celtic after the end of their playing careers, with Jimmy McStay, Jimmy McGrory, Jock Stein, Billy McNeill, Davie Hay and Neil Lennon all going on to manage the side.[6][7][8] Scott Brown, who played 620 games for the club and was captain throughout the 2010s,[9][10] is also the Celtic player to have captained the Scotland international team the most times.[11] Paul McStay, who captained Celtic during the 1990s, has won the most caps for Scotland whilst at Celtic with 76 appearances,[12] whilst Pat Bonner of the Republic of Ireland has made the most appearances for his country whilst a Celtic player (80 caps).[12]

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Notable players

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Players are listed according to the date they first signed with the club. Appearances and goals are for competitive first-team matches in Scottish League,[note 1][13] Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and European Competition only; minor competitions (i.e. the Glasgow Cup) and wartime matches are excluded. Substitute appearances are included.

For a full list of all Celtic players with Wikipedia articles see Category:Celtic F.C. players. For player appearance records see Celtic F.C. records.

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Appearances correct as of match played 27 May 2024

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Club captains

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Notes

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Citations/ sources for each note are included in the "Notable players" section above:

  1. FitbaStats lists the 1905 league play-off outwith League statistics. This match has been added to the appearance and goal statistics in this list for the players who took part.
  2. Neil McCallum scored Celtic's first ever goal, opening the scoring in their 5–2 friendly win over Rangers in May 1888.
  3. Alec McNair made the most appearances for Celtic in the league, playing in 583 games. He is also the oldest player to have ever played for the club, playing against Queens Park in 1925 at the age of 41.
  4. Jimmy McGrory is the club's top goalscorer with 472 goals in major competitions. He is also the record goalscorer in British football, with a total of 550 goals in competitive first class matches.
  5. Bobby Hogg is noted for making a total of 575 appearances for Celtic, but a large number of these games were unofficial league and cup fixtures during World War II.
  6. Billy McPhail scored a hat-trick in Celtic's 7–1 win over Rangers in the 1957 Scottish League Cup Final.
  7. Sammy Wilson scored the opening goal in Celtic's 7–1 Scottish League Cup Final win over Rangers in 1957.
  8. Bobby Carroll is Celtic's first ever goal-scorer in official European competition, scoring twice in a 4–2 defeat away against Valencia in 1962.
  9. In 1967 Charlie Gallagher became the first Scottish-born footballer to be capped by the Republic of Ireland.
  10. In 2002, Jimmy Johnstone was one of 11 players voted by Celtic supporters as being the "greatest" Celtic team. Johnstone was also voted Celtic's greatest-ever player.
  11. During season 1966–67, Joe McBride scored 36 goals before Christmas. He was then injured in a game against Aberdeen and did not play again that season. Despite this, he still finished as the top goalscorer in Scotland that season in all competitions (Stevie Chalmers eventually finished the season with more league goals). McBride also has the third best goalscoring average for a player at the club with more than 10 appearances (0.92 goals per game; 89 goals in 97 games, including minor competitions).
  12. Roy Aitken made 672 appearances for Celtic in major competitions during his 14 years at Celtic Park. He also captained the club to a league and cup double in their centenary year of 1988.
  13. Alfie Conn became the first post-war footballer to play for both Rangers and Celtic. He was also the first player to ever win Scottish Cup medals with both Old Firm clubs.
  14. Pat Bonner has made the most appearances of any goalkeeper for Celtic. He is also the player to have won the most caps playing for his country (80, Republic of Ireland) whilst at Celtic.
  15. Dariusz Dziekanowski is Celtic's record goalscorer in a single European match, scoring four goals in a 5–4 win over Partizan Belgrade in 1989.
  16. Pierre van Hooijdonk scored Celtic's goal in their 1–0 1995 Scottish Cup Final win over Airdrie, the club's first trophy in six years. He was also the top goalscorer in Scotland the following season, 1995–96.
  17. Andreas Thom's £2.2 million transfer fee in July 1995 made him Celtic's record signing at the time.
  18. Jorge Cadete was the top goal-scorer in Scotland for season 1996–97.
  19. Mark Burchill scored the fastest ever hat-trick in European competition on 24 August 2000 in a 7–0 win over Jeunesse d'Esch in a UEFA Cup qualifying round tie.
  20. Mark Viduka was voted PFA Scotland Player of the Year in 2000.
  21. In 2001, Stiliyan Petrov became the first foreign winner of the SPFA Young Player of the Year award.
  22. In the summer of 2000 Chris Sutton became Celtic's record signing, with a transfer fee of £6 million paid to Chelsea.
  23. In 2004 Alan Thompson became the first footballer to be capped by England whilst contracted at Celtic.
  24. Victor Wanyama was voted the SPL Young Player of the Year in season 2012–13. He was then sold to Southampton in July 2013 for £12.5 million, at the time a record transfer fee received by a Scottish Club.
  25. Tom Rogic scored the winning goal in Celtic's 21 win over Aberdeen in the 2017 Scottish Cup Final, securing the club's fourth domestic treble.
  26. Stefan Johansen was voted PFA Scotland Player of the Year in 2015.
  27. Moussa Dembélé was a Scottish record transfer sale at the time, having been sold to Lyon in August 2018 for €22 million (about £19.7 million).
  28. Scott Sinclair was voted PFA Scotland Player of the Year in 2017.
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References

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