10 August 1977 - Dalglish Makes A Deal

On 10 August 1977, Scottish striker Kenny Dalglish moved from Celtic to Liverpool and went on to become one of the club's greatest players.

He was already an established star, having won four league titles and four Scottish Cups with Celtic, before setting his mind on a move to England. Liverpool had been interested in him for a while, but the move acquired an urgency (and funding) when they sold their star forward Kevin Keegan to Hamburg for a British-record £500,000 earlier that summer, and they spent £440,00 of that fee to bring Dalgish to Anfield.

His first season there was a tremendous success; he scored 31 goals in 61 appearances across all competitions while winning the Charity Shield, the European Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup (the latter over Keegan and Hamburg). He spent another twelve seasons there before his retirement in 1990—the last five as player-manager—and won another two European Cups, six league titles and two FA Cups.

25 May 1967 - The Lisbon Lions Roar

On 25 May 1967, Celtic became the first British club to win the European Cup, beating Inter 2-1 in Lisbon. Notably, fourteen of Celtic's fifteen players and coaches were born within 10 miles of Celtic Park.

Inter won back-to-back European Cups in 1964 and 1965, then defeated defending champions Real Madrid in the 1967 semifinals to reach their third final in four years. Celtic, meanwhile, were in the tournament for the first time.

In just the seventh minute, the referee awarded Inter a penalty when Celtic right back Jim Craig fouled forward Renato Cappellini in the box. Sandro Mazzola converted the ensuing kick to put the Italians up 1-0, allowing them to pull back into their defensive catenaccio formation favored by manager Helenio Herrera.

And it worked, for a while. But in the 63rd minute, Craig sent the ball in for Tommy Gemmell, who beat the Inter keeper Giuliano Sarti to draw Celtic level. Then, in the 84th minute, they took the lead when Stevie Chalmers scored the winner. Afterward, manager Jock Stein delivered a not-so-veiled criticism of Inter's defensive style, saying "We did it by playing football; pure, beautiful, inventive football. There was not a negative thought in our heads."

Celtic returned to the final in 1970, but lost to Feyenoord. Inter made it there twice more, losing to Ajaz in 1972, but beating Bayern Munich in 2010.

11 May 2011 - As If The Title Challenge Wasn't Exciting Enough

On 11 May 2011, with Celtic leading Hearts 0-2 at Tynecastle, manager Neil Lennon was attacked by a home supporter.

Since taking charge of Celtic in 2010, Lennon had attracted more than his fair share of unwanted attention, receiving bullets in the mail in January 2011, followed by an attempted letter bombing in March. While religious sectarianism seemed an obvious motive given its history in Scottish football, authorities believed the incidents were more likely fueled by sports rivalries.

When Celtic visited Tynecastle to play Hearts for their penultimate game of the season, they were trailing Rangers by four points, but had a game in hand. Hearts, meanwhile, were in a distant third, having already lost twice to Celtic, 3-0 and 4-0.

The third match in the series followed the pattern of the first two, with Celtic going up 0-2 in the 49th minute thanks to Gary Hooper's second goal of the day. It was at that point that Hearts supporter John Wilson jumped the barrier and tried to attack Lennon, but was quickly wrestled to the ground by a combination of police and stewards, then apprehended.

Celtic went on to win the match 0-3, but ended up finishing in second by a single point. Wilson was later convicted of breaching the peace and received an eight-month jail sentence.

25 April 1868 - Celtic's Other Greatest Manager

On 25 April 1868, Willie Maley was born in Ireland. He went on to become Celtic's most successful manager.

He played for Celtic as a half back from 1888 to 1897, helping the club win their first three league titles. Then, in 1897, he became Celtic's first manager at the age of 29. He continued his winning ways, claiming another league title in that first season, followed by the Scottish Cup in 1899.

He managed Celtic until January 1940, making him the club's longest-tenured boss. During that span, they won a total of thirty trophies, including sixteen league titles and fourteen Scottish Cups. The total of 30 major trophies is also a club record, five more than his nearest challenger, Jock Stein.

Maley's final major honor was the 1938 league title, followed by a second-place finish in 1939. With the league officially suspended the following season for World War II, he retired three months short of his 71st birthday. He remained in Glasgow and died there in 1958 at the age of 89.

9 April 1922 - The Launch Of The Black Arrow

On 9 April 1922, forward Gil Heron, the first black footballer to play for Celtic, was born in Kingston, Jamaica.

Although he was born in Jamaica, he moved to Canada as a child and later enlisted in the Canadian Air Force and played football for their team. When his military service ended, he turned professional, starring for the Detroit Corinthians and the Detroit Wolverines. There, he caught the attention of a Celtic scout who invited him to Glasgow for a trial in 1951 then signed him to a contract later that year.

He made his debut in a Scottish League Cup match against Morton on 18 August, scoring a goal in the 2-0 win. But although gifted with pace that prompted supporters to nickname him "the Black Arrow," he struggled to handle the physical side of the Scottish game and stayed with Celtic for only one season, making a total of five appearances and scoring only one other goal.

Upon leaving Celtic in 1952, he spent a season with Third Lanark and one with Kidderminster Harriers before returning to Detroit. He continued to follow Celtic with interest until his death at the age of 86.

In addition to his milestone achievement with Celtic, Heron is also known as the father of celebrated musician and poet Gil Scott-Heron.

7 November 1984 - Rapid Slows Down Celtic's Travel Plans

On 7 November 1984, Celtic beat Rapid Wien 3-0 to advance in the European Cup Winners' Cup, but it didn't count.

The teams met in the tournament's second round, with Rapid winning the first leg in Vienna on 24 October, 3-1. Thirteen days later, Celtic hosted the second leg in Glasgow, where they drew level on aggregate with first-half goals from Brian McClair (32') and Murdo MacLeod (45'). Tommy Burns then added another goal in the 68th minute.

Four minutes later, Burns was involved in a incident that saw the referee eject Rapid's Reinhard Kienast. As the Austrian were protesting the decision, midfielder Rudi Weinhofer went down clutching his face, apparently hit by an object thrown from the stands. He had to leave the game, which left Rapid down to 10 men as they had already used all of their substitutes. Captain Hans Krankl threatened to lead his team off the pitch in protest, but the match eventually resumed after a 15-minute delay. It ended 3-0 to Celtic, which put them through 4-3 on aggregate.

Rapid protested the result, however, and a UEFA appeals panel determined that the injury to Weinhofer justified a replay which they ordered to be played at least 100 miles away from Glasgow. So the teams met at Old Trafford in Manchester on 12 December.

Rapid won that match 1-0 to advance 4-1 on aggregate and ended up going all the way to the final in Rotterdam, where they lost to Everton, 3-1.

5 September 1931 - The Death Of John Thomson

On 5 September 1931, Celtic goalkeeper John Thomson died after colliding with a player during an Old Firm match. He was 22.

Thomson signed with Celtic in 1926 at the age of 17 and, by February 1927, he had become the team's first-choice keeper, helping them win that year's Scottish Cup. Only 5 feet 9 inches tall, he was small for the position, but made up for it with an impressive leaping ability and a willingness to challenge for any ball.  His assertive style of play led to severe injury in 1930, as a diving save left him with a broken jaw, several cracked ribs, and two lost teeth. In that same year, he received his first call-up to the Scottish national team.

Then, in September 1931, an undefeated Celtic visited Ibrox to play Rangers in the first Old Firm derby of the season. Early in the second half, with the match scoreless, Thomson went for a loose ball and collided with Rangers striker Sam English, whose knee struck the keeper in the head. The incident left Thomson with a fractured skull and a ruptured artery. He was rushed to the hospital where he underwent an operation to reduce swelling in his brain, but it was unsuccessful and he died later that night.

Approximately 30,000 people attended his funeral in Cardenden, with many of them reportedly walking there from Glasgow, 55 miles away.

27 July 2005 - Celtic's Early European Vacation

On 27 July 2005, new Celtic manager Gordon Strachan's tenure started on a low note with a record loss to Artmedia Bratislava in Champions League qualification.

Strachan arrived from Southampton earlier that month, replacing Martin O'Neill. Celtic had finished as runners-up in the league in O'Neill's final season, which put them in Champions League's second qualifying round for 2005-06. There, they met Slovakian league winners Artmedia for what was the first competitive match of Strachan's time at Parkhead.

Playing at the Tehelné Pole Stadium in Bratislava, the former European Cup champions suffered an early setback when they lost striker Chris Sutton to injury. But his absence provided no excuse for the Celtic defense, who surrendered an easy tap-in goal to Juraj Halenár in the 43rd minute, giving Artmedia a 1-0 lead at the break.

Midfielder Blažej Vaščák doubled the hosts' lead in the 57th minute with a nearly identical goal, then Halenár struck again in the 76th minute with a blast from almost 25 yards out. Two minutes later, Martin Mikulič extended the lead to 4-0 by beating Celtic keeper Artur Boruc with a low ball at the near post. Halenár then did the same in the 89th minute to seal the 5-0 victory--Celtic's worst loss in European competition.

The Glasgow side won the second leg 4-0, but lost 5-4 on aggregate to exit the competition. Artmedia, led by manager Vladimir Weiss, eventually reached the group stage where they finished third behind Inter and Rangers.

Strachan remained with Celtic for four seasons, winning three league titles, one Scottish Cup, and two Scottish League Cups.

12 May 1990 - One Touch Was All It Took

On 12 May 1990, Aberdeen outlasted Celtic in a dramatic penalty shootout to claim their fifth Scottish Cup in nine years.

After winning their first two Scottish Cups in 1947 and 1970, Aberdeen dominated the tournament in the 1980s under manager Alex Ferguson, winning it in 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1986 (along with three league titles under Ferguson in 1980, 1984, and 1985). For the 1990 Final, however, the Dons were led by Alex Smith, appointed in 1988.

They faced a familiar opponent, having played Celtic five times already that season. They met four times in the league, resulting in one win each and two draws, and also played against each other in the Scottish League Cup semifinal (which Aberdeen won to reach the final against Rangers, which they also won).

In the Scottish Cup Final, played before a crowd of 60,493 at Hampden Park, the two teams finished extra time in a scoreless draw to force the match into penalties. In the shootout, they couldn't stop scoring, so the tally rose to 8-8 before Aberdeen keeper Theo Snelders dove to his left to block the attempt from Celtic defender Anton Rogan. Defender Brian Irvine then stepped up and drove the decisive shot home to give the cup to Aberdeen, 0-0 (9-8).

27 April 2003 - A Beach Ball Sunday In Glasgow

On 27 April 2003, visiting Celtic fans created a surreal scene at Ibrox by dumping hundreds of beach balls onto the pitch.

At the time, Celtic were second in the league, eight points behind Rangers, who had already won the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup (the latter over Celtic in the final). But Celtic were doing better in Europe. While Rangers had crashed out of European competition back in September, Celtic had three days earlier beaten Boavista 2-1 on aggregate to advance to the UEFA Cup final in Seville the next month.

The Celtic supporters took the opportunity to taunt their Old Firm rivals by sneaking hundreds of beach balls into the stadium, then throwing them onto the pitch while singing "while you're watching the Bill, we'll be in Seville." Rangers captain Barry Ferguson appreciated the humor in the act and even claimed to have spotted his own father-in-law among those with a beach ball.

Celtic proceeded to win the match 1-2, but Rangers got the last laugh. They won the league title to claim a treble on the season, while Celtic went on to lose to Porto 3-2 in the UEFA Cup final.