Glasgow Celtic football club was originally formed in November 1887 in a church hall in East Rose Street, with the main purpose being to help the poor in Glasgow's East End. The organiser, Brother Walfrid, leader of teaching institute, the Marist Order, saw the football club as a way to make money for a local charity - The Poor Children's Dinner Table, which he had established. Walfrid named the club Celtic as a reflection of his Irish and Scottish roots.

The very first Old Firm derby, and Celtic's first ever match, was played six months later at the original Celtic Park. Within five years, Celtic had triumphed in the Scottish Cup and won the League. The Club became a public limited company in 1897 and quickly became known as Scotland's most successful side. They went on to win six successive titles between 1905 and 1910. 1907 saw the Hoops achieve the first ever Double - winning the Scottish Cup and the League Championship in the same season.

Their success tailed off following World War I, and during the Twenties Celtic simply did not dominate as much as they had been before the war, making way for Glasgow rivals Rangers. The rise of sectarianism in the Scottish game also caused many problems off the field, from then, right up until the present day. Willie Maley was in charge as Celtic continued to win trophies here and there throughout the 20s and 30s. In September 1931, goalkeeper John Thomson died during an Old Firm game in September 1931. A brave, committed player Thomson dived at the feet of Rangers' Sam English, sustaining a skull fracture. He died in hospital later that night. He was buried in his home village of Cardenden in Fife the following Monday and 30,000 mourners lined the funeral route.

In 1953 Celtic defeated Hibernian 2-0 in the final of the Coronation Cup, held to celebrate the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II. The invited teams included the best in Scotland and England, and the final attracted a crowd of 117,000 at Hampden Park

Having previously been in charge of the reserve teams, the legendary Jock Stein took charge of the club in 1965 and went on to win the European Cup, 10 Championships, 8 Scottish Cups and 6 League Cups, during a 12 season period. Celtic dominated Scottish football once again, perhaps more so than the pre-war side.

The next few years were blighted with financial problems and unrest among the players - jealous of their English counterparts' wages and many left Scotland bound for English clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool. Stein stepped down and various ex-players assumed the managerial hotseat, although none were able to replicate Stein's success to the same degree. The New Firm of Aberdeen and Dundee United also provided some stiff competition for silverware.

The club's centenary year saw them clinch the Double and go 31 games unbeaten, just after Billy McNeill returned to the managerial hotseat. Still there was a general feeling of anti-climax and winning ways really seemed to elude the Celts during the late 80s/early 90s.

In March 1994, expatriate businessman and Celtic supporter Fergus McCann took control of a financially-strained club shortly before it was declared bankrupt. In the process he ousted a by now disjointed board of directors which included members with long family connections with Celtic. Shortly after that, former player Lou Macari was replaced as team manager by another ex-Celt Tommy Burns. Burns and the rest of the board set out to build a new Celtic - and a new Parkhead. The ground was rebuilt in 1995, and, in accordance with Fergus McCann's Five-Year Plan, the club is reconstituted as a plc, a development quickly followed by the most successful share-issue in the history of British football with 10,000 taking up the offer of investing a minimum of 620, thus contributing 14million towards the re-financing of the club.

The last few years have seen many changes in management and structure at the club - the appointments of Wim Jansen, Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes, Jock Brown, not forgetting the departure of Fergus McCann in 1999. Celtic have continued to be one of the main forces in Scottish football, pushing consistently for titles and trophies and will no doubt continue to do so well throughout the next century.