| Season Review | Matches: 1970 – 1971 | 1970-1971 Pictures |
Appearances (Goals in brackets)
'+' sign indicates the number of substitute appearances by that player
* – left Celtic during season 1969/70
† – left Celtic at the end of season 1969/70
| League | League Cup | Scottish Cup | EC | Total | |
| Fallon | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Simpson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Williams | 31 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 53 |
| Craig | 22 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 34 |
| Gemmell | 19 (1) | 6 (2) | 6 (1) | 3 | 34 (4) |
| Cattanach | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Murdoch | 21+2 (2) | 8 | 1 | 4 (2) | 34+2 (4) |
| Hay | 27+1 (1) | 11 (1) | 8 | 5 | 51+1 (2) |
| McNeill | 31 (1) | 10 | 8 (1) | 5 (1) | 54 (3) |
| Clark† | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Brogan | 26 | 8 | 7+1 | 4+1 | 45+2 |
| Johnstone | 30 (8) | 9 (5) | 8 (2) | 4 (4) | 51 (19) |
| Chalmers† | 3+1 (2) | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 4+2 (2) |
| Wallace | 25+1 (19) | 3+3 (1) | 7+1 (3) | 5 (5) | 40+5 (28) |
| Connelly | 22+2 (3) | 11 (1) | 4+1 | 5 | 42+3 (4) |
| Macari | 8+3 (5) | 5+3 (5) | 1 (1) | 1 (2) | 15+6 (13) |
| Lennox | 22+2 (10) | 7+1 (6) | 4+2 (4) | 5+1 (1) | 38+6 (21) |
| Hood | 27+3 (22) | 10 (1) | 8 (7) | 3+1 (3) | 48+4 (33) |
| Quinn | 0+2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3+2 |
| Callaghan | 19 (2) | 3 (1) | 8 (2) | 3 (1) | 33 (6) |
| Hughes | 14 (5) | 7 (4) | 1 | 3 (2) | 25 (11) |
| Auld* | 4+1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8+1 |
| Dalglish | 1+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2+2 |
| McGrain | 7 | 4+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 12+2 |
| Davidson | 6+1 (5) | 0 | 2 (1) | 1+3 (2) | 9+4 (8) |
| Wilson | 1 | 1+1 (1) | 0 | 0+1 (2) | 2+2 (3) |
| own goals | (3) |
(Ronnie Simpson was listed and came on with the rest of the Lisbon Lions in the last League game of the season but before the actual kick off he was substituted by Evan Williams)
Most Appearances – Billy McNeill
Top Scorer – Harry Hood (he was Top Scorer in Scotland this season)
New Arrivals, Debuts and Departures.
There were no new arrivals other than youths and provisionals this season.
Of the departures, the main series happened after the Scottish Cup Final. Before this game there were two important departures – John Gorman and Bertie Auld.
John Gorman left for Carlisle Utd for a fee of £10,000 on the 8th September 1970. He only played 1 first team game for the senior squad but he was considered an important player for the Reserves and a future first team regular. Competition for full back starting slots was intense at Celtic Park and Gorman must have felt that his future lay elsewhere. He would go on to have interesting seasons at Carlisle and Tottenham before going into management and training and tieing up with Glenn Hoddle.
Celtic finally called time on the Bold Bertie's career with Celtic before the end of the season. He played his last game with the rest of the Lions on the 1st April 1971 – a full 14 years after making his debut at Celtic Park. There had been a 3 1/2 year spell away at Birmingham City but Bertie was a Lisbon Lion and a Celtic man through and through. His combative spirit and cool 'generalship' on the field was never in doubt but he had become slower and less fit and at 33 Jock Stein saw no further future for him and he was released on a free transfer. Partick Thistle, East Fife and Hibernian vied for his signature and he joined Hibernian on the 6th May 1971 before his former team mates went on to win the Scottish Cup.
By the end of the season two further Lisbon Lions would move on. John Clark and Steve Chalmers were both released and quickly found berths at other clubs. Again it was a process of time and developments of new players which forced the move of these fine players away from Celtic Park.
Steve Chalmers would always be remembered for the winning goal in Lisbon. Stevie had failed to win back his regular starting position after breaking his leg against St Johnstone on the 25th October 1969 but he had recovered and helped to play his part in bringing through players in the Reserves. He left Celtic Park and immediately became player-coach at Morton.
At 30 John Clark had been with Celtic since he was 17 but the last few seasons had seen him suffer injuries which denied him challenging for a return to the first team and as a sweeper there were younger players that could do his job. He still proved how good a player he could be and was faultless in the Return of the Lions in the last league game of the season. He would join Stevie Chalmers at Morton.
A number of other subsidiary youths and reserves were also let go. Tom Livingstone had been a Scotland Junior international and was highly thought of. He had been a provisional signing on Celtic's books and allowed to continue playing for Cumbernauld Utd. By the end of the season he had lost his first team spot there and Celtic dropped their interest despite being short of goalkeepers with John Fallon out for much of the season. Willie McGranaghan, James McSorley and Paul Hendrie had all been provisional signings and allowed to continue playing for their respective clubs (Blantyre Celtic, Shettleston and Kilsyth Rangers) but Celtic dropped their interest in them before the end of the season.
Of the new youths brought in this season a few would make names for themselves later – the most memorable would be Jackie McNamara Senior and a young Tommy Burns.