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Tags: Ancelotti, England, Given, Henderson, OddsPreviewcom, Rooney

Stuart Pearce’s England Under 21 side triumphed over Romania in front of a record-breaking crowd at Carrow Road in the Uefa European U-21 Championship play-off first leg.

Pearce’s side kicked off on the front foot in the first half with a good effort on goal by Jordan Henderson, which was saved by Romanian goalkeeper Silviu Lung.

Ryan Bertrand also tried to put his stamp on the game with a number of perfect crosses from the left side of the field, however, the forward players failed to make an impact.

Despite England’s positive start there was constant danger of Romania breaking through from a few well crafted set-plays.

However, Frankie Fielding only made his first save 26 minutes into the first half, to prevent Eric Bicfalvi’s left-footed shot from inside the area after a powerful run through midfield.

Towards the end of the opening half, England created a few chances including a ǹ-yard shot from Henderson and a positive break from Welbeck unfortunately came to nothing.

Stuart Pearce’s men also had a penalty claim dismissed in the 36th minute after a challenge by Cornel Rapa forced Danny Rose to tumble in the box.

The Three Lions were close to conceding right on the stroke of half-time but Gabriel Torje’s shot clipped the post and went behind for a goal kick.

Into the second half, England continued to dominate possession and pile on the pressure which inevitably resulted in a crucial breakthrough for the young Lions.

Henderson gave England the lead in the 63rd minute after Tom Cleverley’s corner was only half cleared by the Romanians, and Henderson was able to latch onto the ball and produce a thumping volley, which flew past Lung and into the back of the net.

However, six minutes later Romania were gifted an equaliser after Paul Papp’s shot deflected off Bertrand and into the bottom left corner of the net.

Despite the setback, England took the lead again in the 83rd minute after Marc Alrighton’s swinging cross found Danny Sturridge who was able to head back across goal and find Manchester United defender Chris Smalling who tapped it into the goal, making it 2-1.

Stuart Pearce’s side could have made it 3-1 but Sturridge sent a clear header wide. Still, they will take their slender advantage into the return leg in Botosani on Tuesday.

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Tags: Celtic, FriendliesChris, Goalcom, international, Manchester, SmallingGetty, United

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by Geraldine Lagard. Published Mon 18 Oct 2010 12:03 Manchester City keeper Shay Given set for Celtic FC move

Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given is reportedly ready to join Celtic FC on loan.

The People claim the Irish shot-stopper has now been told he can leave City when in the summer the club blocked any such move.

The Republic of Ireland No.1 is firmly established as No.2 to Joe Hart and wants regular football.

Celtic desperately need a new goalkeeper in January, with Newcastle loanee Fraser Forster due back on Tyneside in the New Year after Steve Harper picked up a serious injury.

It is understood the deal rests on the Hoops being open to paying a proportion of his £90,000-a-week wages.

Hoops boss Neil Lennon wanted to take the 34-year-old at the start of the season, but Roberto Mancini blocked the move because City could not find a suitable replacement.

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Tags: Celtic, Click, Given, keeper, Manchester

A CARFIN woman whose ill health left her too scared to leave home has made her way back into the world of work thanks to North Lanarkshire Working’s ACCESS service and Celtic Football Club.Cheryl Cowie had been out of work for 13 years because she suffers from epilepsy, which over time seriously damaged her confidence.

The 33-year-old was confined to her home 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because she was too scared to be out alone.

But that changed thanks to the ACCESS service which helps those taking part to break down barriers which prevent them from finding work.

The organisation worked alongside Celtic FC to develop a 10-week programme which allowed participants to meet stewards and ticketing staff, read players’ food diaries and get a tour of the stadium.

Cheryl said: “The programme was a once in a lifetime opportunity so at the beginning I just had to make sure I got there every Tuesday morning.

“Pretty quickly, I looked forward to the following week because it helped me get out of the house and I’d made lots of new friends.”

Cheryl is now taking part in another training course called Reeltime Music.

Full story in October 21 edition of Motherwell Times

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Tags: again, Celtic, Cheryl, experience, helps, Motherwell, Today

Things didn’t look to change that much as the 1966-67 competition got under way. The press in England as ever was bemoaning the fact that an English team was yet to win the competition, and that maybe this would be the season that soccer justice would be seen to be done.

Meanwhile Glasgow Celtic, playing in their familiar green and white soccer uniforms and fielding a team made up entirely of players from the West of Scotland were working there way through the tournament.. Backed by their hugely partisan crown in their huge and archaic home stadium of Parkhead in the East End of Glasgow, the “Bhoys” were playing some really remarkable attacking football. Coached by their enigmatic manager, the late Jock Stein, they were slowly raising the eyebrows of soccer fans throughout Europe as they defied the odds and beating some of the strongest teams in Europe of that time.

English hopes were dashed as the season’s contenders, Liverpool, were dumped from the competition by the highly underrated Ajax of Amsterdam. However Celtic just kept on winning till they made it to the Final, held in Lisbon in late May񎦯. Their opponents were to Internazionale of Milan, who was widely expected to finally show these Scottish upstarts who the masters of soccer were and send them back to Glasgow with their tails between their legs.

The late Jimmy Johnston, among the best Scottish footballers of all time, recalled the few moments waiting in the tunnel before the game kicked of “We were waiting, and all of a sudden the Internazionale players began to appear. I looked up and they all seemed so well groomed and tall. The aroma of hair oil and after shave in the tunnel was overwhelming.”

“Spontaneously all the Celtic players began to sing some of our Glaswegian street songs, and the Italians looked at us as if we had just fallen out of a tree. But there was a fear in their eyes.” he summed up.

Things looked bad for Celtic after they fell behind to a soft penalty just a few minutes after the game kicked off. Instead of trying to press their advantage, the Italians began to withdraw into their traditional defensive posture. Celtic and Jock Stein refused to be overawed and responded by mounting wave after wave of attacking football, combining the individual skills of Johnston and exceptional teamwork of his teammates.

It seemed that the Italian defense would stand firm, until late in the game Celtic drew level with a cannonball shot from outside the area from full back Tommy Gemmell. It looked like extra time as Inter packed their penalty box and Celtic pressed on relentlessly looking for a chink in the Inter defensive shield. And it came with a minute to go from a simple tap in from Willie Wallace.

A minute later the final whistle blew. The impossible had happened. Glasgow Celtic had become the first British team to win the European cup. This was indeed, a remarkable achievement; one that can never be taken away from them. Celtic’s victory proved two major points. First, that Italian football’s invincibility was exaggerated, and that one of the top English clubs would be the first UK team to win the trophy.

Street parties went on both in Lisbon and in the east end of Glasgow on a night that will never be forgotten. The night the legend of the Lisbon Lions was born.

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Tags: Celtic, European, Glasgow, Lions, Lisbon

Periodically, talk and occasionally concrete proposals, surface about bringing the Old Firm from Scotland (Glasgow Rangers and Celtic Rangers) south in to the English Premier League. Usually, the topic is raised by the Scottish clubs when seeking a slice of the lucrative Premiership pie.

There is no doubt both Celtic and Glasgow are wealthy, powerful clubs, but their potential to expand further north of the border is very limited. Contrariwise, the popularity of the English Premiership has increased globally at a prodigious rate, and money has flowed in to the league at a staggering rate. It is only natural for the Scottish clubs to want a slice of the pie.

Last week, Phil Gartside, Chairman of Bolton Wanderers put before the Premier League the latest of these proposals. He suggested a two-tier Premiership comprising 18 teams in each tier, filling the newly created places in the lower tier with teams from the present English Championship in addition to Glasgow and Celtic.

Although previous proposals have been swept away from the table, sometimes contemptuously, Gartside’s latest proposal did get the backing of six Premiership clubs, and several Premier League managers expressed interest in the plan. However, it needed fourteen votes to pass in to the next phase of consideration.

Skeptics of the idea suggested it might simply be a ploy by Gartside to soften the fall from the Premiership for teams which struggle at the bottom of the league, like Bolton. Falling from the first Premiership tier to the second would be a lot easier on the wallet than the current drop from Premiership to Championship.

Critics were also quick to point out that the Scottish teams should also earn the right to their Premiership place by fighting their way up through the lower leagues as does every other team.

Bernard Bresslaw reports on the English Premier League and is an active member of Football Talk 365 Football Forum.

Tags: Celtic, English, League, Premier, Rangers

The January transfer window never fails to throw up a surprise or two, and this year was no different following ex-Liverpool and Tottenham captain Robbie Keane’s move up north to Glasgow Celtic. While the transfer window was one of the quietest in recent years, Keane’s move was certainly the highlight. The big question that most people are asking now is ‘Will Robbie Keane be a success at Celtic?’

In my opinion, he most certainly can. While Keane is in the twilight of his career and has been very much on the sidelines of the Tottenham team for the last year, he still has enough quality to make an impact on a league that favours attacking football, and in a team that loves to play fluid, attacking football (this is mainly down to Celtic manager Tony Mowbray’s tactical approach to the game and his footballing philosophies).

Another reason why I feel Keane will be a huge success at Celtic is because the Scottish Premier League is nowhere near the standard of the English Premier League, so the teams that he’ll be up against won’t have players of anywhere near the same quality that he is used to. Couple this with the fact that Keane is a self-confessed boyhood Celtic fan, and he’ll have all the passion and desire to want to achieve great things. The move is totally understandable from Keane’s point of view, since no player likes sitting on the bench when they could be playing first team football every week for another team.

David has been writing articles for nearly 4 years. Come visit his latest websites about the Original Slinky and his other website about Personalized Snow Globes. 

Tags: Celtic, Keane, Robbie

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 5DŽ 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 2006/20ǧ 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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Tags: Celtic, football