| Match Pictures | Matches: 2018 – 2019 | 2018-19 Pictures |
Trivia
- New Season to start, with summer friendlies on the way now
- Lewis Morgan Celtic debut
- Ryan Christie who marked his return to Celtic following a season-long loan at Aberdeen last season.
- Johnny Hayes returned for first match after a long-term injury.
- Celtic sell out season tickets (52,500) very quickly by 12 June 2018. Incredible.
- Sevco have reduced the ticket allocation given to Celtic fans by over 6,000 seats after announcing record season ticket renewals. The Ibrox club will accommodate Celtic fans in the corner between the Broomloan and Sandy Jardine Stands. Celtic issued a swift response indicating that they will follow suit when Rangers visit Parkhead. They have been unhappy with Celtic’s success at Ibrox lately so this is a move to pander to their hordes.
- Celtic’s reply: “An unprecedented double treble and historic season for the club has led to a phenomenal level of demand from supporters to be part of Celtic. We are happy to reciprocate in terms of ticket allocation, something which will give us the opportunity to meet this huge demand to visit Celtic Park.”
- Stuart Armstrong sold for £7m+ to Southampton, all the best.
- Aberdeen legend from ECWC victory in 1983, Neale Cooper, has sadly passed away at 54. RIP
- Ex-Celt John Curran passed away, RIP.
- SPFL has rejected Sevco call for chairman Murdoch MacLennan to be suspended and an independent probe set up into his business links with “leading shareholders” of Celtic. Ibrox chairman Dave King made the call following reports over MacLennan’s recent appointment as non-executive chairman of Irish-based Independent News & Media Group (INM). The irony of it was not lost on anyone. Celtic’s largest shareholder, Dermont Desmond, is listed as a major shareholder in INM along with Denis O’Brien, who has a minor stake in Celtic. SPFL to their credit stated: “To be definitive, a non-executive position on a PLC does not constitute a business relationship between that individual and a minority shareholder in the company and therefore no investigation is warranted.” King had remarked: ““The credibility of Scottish football in the minds of supporters and sponsors is at stake and urgent action is required.”
- Tony Cascarino revealed he will have brain surgery to remove a benign tumour. We wish him the best.
- Real Madrid manger, French football legend Zidane, leaves his role despite winning a 3rd European Cup in a row with them.
- Transfers:
Sviatchenko to Danish side (£1m); Ciftci (freed); Armstrong to Southampton (7m+);
Celtic sign Edouard for record sum after successful season at Celtic on loan. - Rumours: Craig Gordon to Man U as a backup goalkeeper?
- World Cup currently on. Celtic players have impressed there: Boyata, Lustig and Gamboa.
Review
same as last seasons first friendly game
![[Untitled]](https://wikifoundryimages.s3.amazonaws.com/087d269a53da754b4396d1030265d8ad "[Untitled]")
wee james with the goal
good wee dip of the shoulder by jamsie nearly put the full back on his arse and a good low finish across the kpr, nice goal
Interesting to see KT at CB, must be a fall back option if Compper, Ralston or Hendry can't step it up.
Compper looked alright I though, but slow.
Hayes looks like he's itching to get going & Morgan too.
Griffiths & Sinclair need to make much more of an impact, if they want to force their way back into the first eleven.
Some of the young development boys stood out, I liked the CB in the 1st half – dominant in the challenge/air.
Good run out & it'll be interesting to see if the manager starts putting teams together, as we progress towards the competitive games. Really want to see our French trio ASAP, we miss their strength & dynamism.
Teams
CELTIC (4-2-3-1): Bain, Miller, Compper, Simunovic, Welsh; Brown, McInroy, Christie, Morgan, Sinclair; Griffiths
Second half: Bain (Hazard 62); Hendry, Ajer, Tierney, Forrest, Kouassi, McGregor, Hayes, Henderson, Allan, Aitchison
Not Used: Doohan, Hendry
SK VORWARTS STEYR (4-5-1): Grobalber; Stefan, Mario, Yusuf, Josip, Nicolas, Christian, Thomas, Mirsad, Lukas, Michael
Not Used: Bernhard, Tobias, Alem, Simon, Christoph, Patrick, Hajrudin Dino, Nico, Michael, Philip, Sebastian, Rexhe
Website Man of the Match: Lewis Morgan
Referee:
Attendance:
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
- Match Pictures
Forum
Articles
Forrest fires Celts to victory in pre-season opener
By: Tony Connelly on 27 Jun, 2018 19:39
Pre-season Friendly
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Vorwärts Stadium
CELTIC…1
(Forrest 72)
SK VORWARTS STEYR…0
JAMES Forrest kicked-off Celtic’s pre-season with a 1-0 win against SK Vorwarts Steyr in the first of the Scottish champions’ three friendlies in Austria.
A piece of individual brilliance from Forrest in the second half was enough to secure a win for the dominant Hoops in Steyr.
Brendan Rodgers handed Lewis Morgan his Celtic debut with a place in the starting XI and the new Bhoy impressed with some promising attacking play.
He started alongside Ryan Christie who marked his return to Celtic following a season-long loan at Aberdeen last season.
The pair were joined in the team by fellow Hoops debutants Stephen Welsh and Kerr McInroy.
The teenagers, 18 and 17-years-old respectively, are a product of the Celtic Youth Academy and their impressive performances in the Development squad last season had earned them their elevation.
Celtic wasted no time in pilling the pressure on the home side with Morgan at the helm of the attack. Early on he burst down the wing and cut a pass back for Sinclair inside the box but the Steyr defence intercepted it and denied the Englishman a clear goalscoring opportunity.
It took Celtic around 10 minutes to find their rhythm after which point they began crafting some opportunities in front of goal.
With Scott Brown in the starting XI, Celtic controlled the midfield and McInroy looked comfortable in the centre of midfield alongside the Hoops captain.
As well as breaking up the play, the 17-year-old illustrated his range of passing early on with a great diagonal ball over the top of the opposition defence for Griffiths. The keeper was quick off his line though and managed to latch on to the ball which Griffiths had initially controlled with his chest.
Both Morgan and Christie looked lively in attack as they tried to impress the manager. Christie caused problems for the home side with his willingness to run at the defence. He also found space out on the left and used it to good effect when he drilled a great pass across the face of goal for Griffiths but the defence was alert to the danger.
Morgan grew in confidence as the half progressed and the home defence were unable to prevent him getting past them and swinging numerous crosses into the box. The 21-year-old showed excellent footwork and change of pace out on the right and a good final ball into the box too.
Brendan Rodgers made wholesale changes for the second half with only Scott Bain reprising his place in the side that started the match.
Celtic’s dominance on the game was unaffected by the changes and they soon began exposing holes in the Steyr backline.
James Forrest came closest to opening the scoring early on after Callum McGregor picked him out at the back post with a low drilled ball. He was unable to get a clear shot at goal, though, and saw his shot from six-yards blocked.
Celtic were denied what looked like a clear goal moments later when Scott Allan’s side-footed effort from the edge of the six-yard box was saved by Michael Halbartschlager, although it looked to be over the line and the dengered also appeared to have stopped it using his hands.
The Hoops eventually got the goal they thoroughly deserved midway through the half thanks to Forrest.
The 26-year-old looked sharp from the start of the second half as he troubled the opposition defence with his pace and willingness to take them on.
He did just that when he went on a mazy run which saw him skip past three opposition defenders before firing a low right-footed shot across goal and into the bottom corner.
From there, Celtic maintained their grasp on the game and continued to flood the Steyr goalmouth with wave after wave of attack.
The home side sat deep and left little space for Celtic to exploit but they still managed to create goal scoring opportunities.
Callum McGregor was unlucky not to have added his name to the scoresheet with a low curling effort from the edge of the box which was heading for the bottom corner but the keeper pushed the shot round the post.
Ewan Henderson impressed in midfield too. The 18-year-old was composed and picked out his team-mates with some intelligent passing. He linked up well with Forrest late on after collecting a return pass. His shot was blocked though and Celtic had to settle for just the one-goal victory in their first pre-season outing.
Celtic will now turn their attention to their next opponents, Bohemians Prague, who they will face on Saturday (June 30). That match will also be shown live on Celtic TV to all subscribers, including UK & Ireland.
CELTIC (4-2-3-1): Bain, Miller, Compper, Simunovic, Welsh; Brown, McInroy, Christie, Morgan, Sinclair; Griffiths
Second half: Bain (Hazard 62); Hendry, Ajer, Tierney, Forrest, Kouassi, McGregor, Hayes, Henderson, Allan, Aitchison
Not Used: Doohan, Hendry
SK VORWARTS STEYR (4-5-1): Grobalber; Stefan, Mario, Yusuf, Josip, Nicolas, Christian, Thomas, Mirsad, Lukas, Michael
Not Used: Bernhard, Tobias, Alem, Simon, Christoph, Patrick, Hajrudin Dino, Nico, Michael, Philip, Sebastian, Rexhe
Website Man of the Match: Lewis Morgan
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Vorwärts Stadium
CELTIC…1
(Forrest 72)
SK VORWARTS STEYR…0
JAMES Forrest kicked-off Celtic’s pre-season with a 1-0 win against SK Vorwarts Steyr in the first of the Scottish champions’ three friendlies in Austria.
A piece of individual brilliance from Forrest in the second half was enough to secure a win for the dominant Hoops in Steyr.
Brendan Rodgers handed Lewis Morgan his Celtic debut with a place in the starting XI and the new Bhoy impressed with some promising attacking play.
He started alongside Ryan Christie who marked his return to Celtic following a season-long loan at Aberdeen last season.
The pair were joined in the team by fellow Hoops debutants Stephen Welsh and Kerr McInroy.
The teenagers, 18 and 17-years-old respectively, are a product of the Celtic Youth Academy and their impressive performances in the Development squad last season had earned them their elevation.
Celtic wasted no time in pilling the pressure on the home side with Morgan at the helm of the attack. Early on he burst down the wing and cut a pass back for Sinclair inside the box but the Steyr defence intercepted it and denied the Englishman a clear goalscoring opportunity.
It took Celtic around 10 minutes to find their rhythm after which point they began crafting some opportunities in front of goal.
With Scott Brown in the starting XI, Celtic controlled the midfield and McInroy looked comfortable in the centre of midfield alongside the Hoops captain.
As well as breaking up the play, the 17-year-old illustrated his range of passing early on with a great diagonal ball over the top of the opposition defence for Griffiths. The keeper was quick off his line though and managed to latch on to the ball which Griffiths had initially controlled with his chest.
Both Morgan and Christie looked lively in attack as they tried to impress the manager. Christie caused problems for the home side with his willingness to run at the defence. He also found space out on the left and used it to good effect when he drilled a great pass across the face of goal for Griffiths but the defence was alert to the danger.
Morgan grew in confidence as the half progressed and the home defence were unable to prevent him getting past them and swinging numerous crosses into the box. The 21-year-old showed excellent footwork and change of pace out on the right and a good final ball into the box too.
Brendan Rodgers made wholesale changes for the second half with only Scott Bain reprising his place in the side that started the match.
Celtic’s dominance on the game was unaffected by the changes and they soon began exposing holes in the Steyr backline.
James Forrest came closest to opening the scoring early on after Callum McGregor picked him out at the back post with a low drilled ball. He was unable to get a clear shot at goal, though, and saw his shot from six-yards blocked.
Celtic were denied what looked like a clear goal moments later when Scott Allan’s side-footed effort from the edge of the six-yard box was saved by Michael Halbartschlager, although it looked to be over the line and the dengered also appeared to have stopped it using his hands.
The Hoops eventually got the goal they thoroughly deserved midway through the half thanks to Forrest.
The 26-year-old looked sharp from the start of the second half as he troubled the opposition defence with his pace and willingness to take them on.
He did just that when he went on a mazy run which saw him skip past three opposition defenders before firing a low right-footed shot across goal and into the bottom corner.
From there, Celtic maintained their grasp on the game and continued to flood the Steyr goalmouth with wave after wave of attack.
The home side sat deep and left little space for Celtic to exploit but they still managed to create goal scoring opportunities.
Callum McGregor was unlucky not to have added his name to the scoresheet with a low curling effort from the edge of the box which was heading for the bottom corner but the keeper pushed the shot round the post.
Ewan Henderson impressed in midfield too. The 18-year-old was composed and picked out his team-mates with some intelligent passing. He linked up well with Forrest late on after collecting a return pass. His shot was blocked though and Celtic had to settle for just the one-goal victory in their first pre-season outing.
Celtic will now turn their attention to their next opponents, Bohemians Prague, who they will face on Saturday (June 30). That match will also be shown live on Celtic TV to all subscribers, including UK & Ireland.
CELTIC (4-2-3-1): Bain, Miller, Compper, Simunovic, Welsh; Brown, McInroy, Christie, Morgan, Sinclair; Griffiths
Second half: Bain (Hazard 62); Hendry, Ajer, Tierney, Forrest, Kouassi, McGregor, Hayes, Henderson, Allan, Aitchison
Not Used: Doohan, Hendry
SK VORWARTS STEYR (4-5-1): Grobalber; Stefan, Mario, Yusuf, Josip, Nicolas, Christian, Thomas, Mirsad, Lukas, Michael
Not Used: Bernhard, Tobias, Alem, Simon, Christoph, Patrick, Hajrudin Dino, Nico, Michael, Philip, Sebastian, Rexhe
Website Man of the Match: Lewis Morgan
