Celtic Football Club - The Best of the Old Firm?

In the Scottish Premier League there is a larger gap between the top sides and the rest than in any other division across Europe. No other league has had the dominance that the Scottish Premier league has had. The two sides in question are Celtic and Rangers. Both teams are based in Glasgow and are collectively known as 'The Old Firm'. Celtic play in green and reside at the Celtic Park stadium which holds around 60,000 supporters. The majority of Rangers fans despise Celtic and this is one of football's greatest rivalries. Managed by Gordon Strachan in recent times Celtic have clearly had the edge over Rangers and enjoyed more of the success.

Celtic was founded in 1987 by Marist Brother Walfrid. The club was given the name Celtic to reflect both it's Irish and Scottish roots. Traditionally the fans of Celtic football club were Catholic people which today is something that is dying out. Celtic played their first official match against Rangers on the 28th May 1988 which they convincingly won by 5-2 and they have had numerous encounters since. A lot of the work done by Walfrid to create Celtic football club was inspired by fellow SPL team Hibernian and on the day of the first official match with Rangers 8 guest Hibernian players played for the Celtic team. Celtic have so far won 42 league titles with numerous other trophies to their name.

Celtic have not been such a force in Europe in recent times. In the 2006/2007 season they finished 2nd in the group stage to Manchester United playing some rather convincing football. In the first knockout stage they face AC Milan. Both the home and the away ties finished 0-0 and it was just a single goal in extra time scored by Kaka that was to seal Celtic's fate. In recent times no other Scottish side has been able to crack the UEFA Champions League. The problem for the club is attracting the bigger stars to Glasgow. The SPL is considered to be one of the smaller leagues in football. Other than the Old Firm teams there are no other sides that offer stadium facilities on that level and average gates of around 15,000 people. The size of the SPL and it's status in the game is on the rise and this could change in the future.

As a super power in the Scottish Premier League will Celtic establish themselves in Europe? Only time will tell.

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