CELTIC have the chance to win their 100th major trophy against Aberdeen in the Betfred League Cup Final at Hampden this afternoon.
The Hoops came to life in 1888 and won the Scottish Cup for the first time four years later by beating Queen’s Park 5-2 in the Final at Ibrox.
They have now racked up 36 successes in the national competition.
They had to wait only a further year before they claimed their first First Division Championship and have since added another 46, including the nine-in-a-row achieved under legendary manager Jock Stein from 1965/66 to 1974/75.
In 1907, Celtic claimed the double of the title and the Scottish Cup, the first time it had been achieved in Scottish football. The team emulated the feat the following season!
The Parkhead side won the League Cup in 1956 for the first time – after a decade of striving – by beating Partick Thistle 3-0 in the replay. They can win it a 16th time tomorrow.
Celtic have also picked up one-off trophies such as the Coronation Cup – beating Hibs 2-0 in the Final in 1953 – and the Empire Exhibition Cup – defeating Everton 1-0 in 1939.
However, these triumphs are NOT included in the 99 silverware successes of the team from the east end of Glasgow.
Here are just five of the memorable victories en route to the possibility of becoming Celtic Centurians at Hampden tomorrow.
1: EUROPEAN CUP (1966/67)
CELTIC 2 INTER MILAN 1
CELTIC’S finest hour-and-a-half as they overwhelmed the Italian favourites on an unforgettable evening of May 25 1967 in Lisbon with Tommy Gemmell and Stevie Chalmers responding to Sandro Mazzola’s seventh-minute penalty-kick for the team who had won the trophy twice in the previous three years.
2: SCOTTISH CUP (1964/65)
CELTIC 3 DUNFERMLINE 2
JOCK STEIN’S men fought back twice to win their first trophy in seven years – a victory which club great Bertie Auld believes was even more important than the Lisbon success. “It showed we could win trophies again,” he insists. Auld netted twice after Harry Melrose and John McLaughlin had scored for the Fifers. Billy McNeill headed the winner nine minutes from time.
3: FIRST DIVISION TITLE (1965/66)
MOTHERWELL 0 CELTIC 1
CELTIC travelled to Fir Park on the last day of the season knowing only a disaster could prevent them from winning the title for the first time since 1953/54. A last-minute goal from Bobby Lennox set the ball rolling on nine successive championship crowns.
4: LEAGUE CUP (1965/66)
CELTIC 2 RANGERS 1
JOCK STEIN hammered it into his players how important it was to follow up the previous season’s Scottish Cup victory with a win over Rangers. Two first-half penalty goals from John Hughes put the Hoops on the way. An Ian Young own goal set up a dramatic finish, but the Parkhead men held on.
5: LEAGUE CUP (1957/58)
CELTIC 7 RANGERS 1
ONE of the most famous triumphs in the club’s history against their oldest enemies. The Ibrox men were favourites, but Celtic ripped up the form book as they ran amok with a hat-trick from Billy McPhail, a double from Neil Mochan and singles from Sammy Wilson and Willie Fernie (penalty). Jimmy Simpson scored his side’s consolation.
