Belfast Celtic FC (Northern Ireland)

Belfast Celtic FC (Northern Ireland)

A club that has been mentioned to me plenty of times ever since I have started Forgotten Football Clubs. One that is only a one-hour drive from here I am currently living now. I have been to Belfast a few times, mostly when I was younger and on school tours when I was in secondary school. It has been a long time since I visited the great city and capital of Northern Ireland. I have no doubt that this piece may seem divisive to some people, with a lot of emotions involved with this club’s history, but I can’t avoid telling their story any longer.  They are one of the most successful clubs to have played on this island and it would be unjustified if I didn’t write about them for Forgotten Clubs. Their history, their story, their success and their failures are all something that can be interpreted as something different, depending on which ‘side’ you are on in the forever ending battle between Catholics and Protestants on this island. You may not agree with everything that is written in this piece, and that is fine. I am only telling you the facts about a club that once played its football in hostile times, one that many on this island will never forget. My opinion does not even come into it and nor should it even matter. So, if you take offence to this piece, for whatever reason, I do not care. This is solely about football, even though I can’t get away with not including some political and religious aspects of this story. It is impossible. So here it goes, this is the story of Belfast Celtic FC, a club that has not been forgotten.

Belfast Celtic was founded in 1891 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They were originally known as just Celtic, after their Scottish counterparts from Glasgow, but this name was changed as they had to incorporate a limited company name in 1901. With the name ‘The Celtic Football & Athletic Company LTD’ already taken by Glasgow Celtic, they chose the name ‘Belfast Celts’, which in turn saw the club named Belfast Celtic FC. The club would wear the famous green and whites hoops that Glasgow Celtic were famous for wearing, whilst also playing their home games at Celtic Park, in Belfast. Like Glasgow Celtic they also had fierce rivals in Linfield FC, a club with a mostly protestant following fan base with Belfast Celtic having a mostly catholic following as a fan base. (This just feels like a carbon copy of the Old Firm, doesn’t it?). Like the two clubs in Scotland, Belfast Celtic and Linfield dominated Irish football, both on and off the field, having the the most fans and the most silverware between them. The only other clubs that would close to this were Distillery, a club located on the southern outskirts of Belfast, while Glentoran, a club from East Belfast also carried with them a decent following with some relative success on the pitch as well.

It was the 1896-97 season in which Belfast Celtic took part in their first league campaign. In a league that only consisted of six clubs, all of which were located in Belfast. They finished rock bottom, winning only one game all season, drawing one and losing the other seven. Glentoran won the league that year, jut ahead of Linfield and Cliftonville. The only team they beat that season was Distillery, 2-1, while the other solidarity point they picked up was against Linfield in a 3-3 draw. The 1897-98 season saw an improvement, with the club finishing 4^th, but it wouldn’t have been much consolation as they saw bitter rivals Linfield lift the title that year.

The 1898-99 season saw them finish 5^th out of the six, although they were effectively the bottom club as the North Staffordshire Regiment withdrew from the league that season.

It didn’t take long for Belfast Celtic to win their first Irish League though, when in 1900 they beat rivals Lindfield to the title on virtue of goal difference, one goal being the difference. It was a league that only consisted of eight clubs, one of which, Royal Scots ended up leaving the league after seven games when their players were deployed to fight in the Second Boer War.  During that season, Belfast Celtic did the double over Linfield, beating them 2-0 and 4-2 respectively.

It should be noted that the island of Ireland was still under the rule of the British empire and therefore there was no Republic of Ireland no association or league in the South of Ireland at the time. Only two clubs from Dublin, Bohemians FC and Shelbourne FC competed in the Irish League when it was in an All-Ireland format, up until the founding of the FAI in 1922 and the subsequent creation of the League of Ireland, which also took place in 1922. However, Belfast Celtic would have to wait another fifteen years until they were to win their next league title, mainly down to the dominance of their city rivals Lindfield.

The 1900-01 saw the club finish in third while the 1901-02 season saw Belfast Celtic finish joint 5^th, alongside Derry Celtic. They continued to finish in mid table positions in the next few seasons, 4^th, (1902-03), 4^th, (1903-04), until the 1904-05 season when they only lost out on the title to Glentoran after the two played a Championship play-off match, which Glentoran won 3-1 to lift their third title. The 1905-06 season resulted in another 4^th place finish, with the next season, the 1906-07 campaign, seeing a small drop in form, with the club finishing 6^th. The next two seasons were rather uneventful and saw no change in finishing position, with the club finishing 6^th in both campaigns.

The 1909-10 season saw a big improvement, however, with the club finishing second and narrowly missing on out on their second title, as Cliftonville, clinched it by just two points that year. A 3^rd place finish followed the season after, finishing 7 points behind eventual champions Linfield, and then 3^rd again. The 1912-13 saw the league expand to 10 clubs, with the inclusion of County Armagh club, Glenavon and interestingly the third Dublin club to join the Irish football league, a club named Tritonville. Unfortunately, Tritonville only lasted the one season, finishing last, and consequently being relegated to the delight of the IFA, who weren’t impressed by the fact that the club played on GAA grounds for their home matches. A forgotten club indeed, as not much is known about this former Dublin based club that came from Sandymount. The also featured in the Irish Cup but were knocked out in the early stages. Belfast Celtic finished 6^th that season, and with both Tritonville and Derry Celtic being relegated, the league structure reverted to only 8 clubs competing in it for the 1913-14 season, which saw Belfast Celtic finish 3^rd.

It was the 1914-15 season when the dominance of Belfast Celtic really begun and finally, after a long wait from their last triumph in the league, they were crowned champions, beating Glentoran to the title by two points. Technically, the club won back-to-back league titles, even though it wouldn’t be until the 1919-20 campaign that they would win their third title in their history. This was due to the suspension of the league because of World War I. However, there was a Belfast & District League set-up, Belfast Celtic didn’t compete in it until the 1918-19 league campaign and won it. They did pick up their first Irish Cup in this time, in the year 1917-18, as the cup competition never stopped being played during these turbulent times.

 A Belfast United side did compete in these leagues, but in my research, I found that there was no connection between the two clubs, with both sides being represented in the 1918-19 league campaign. Belfast United never competed in the Irish League.

That wasn’t the end of the hiatus for Belfast Celtic, and just as the league had got back running, and just as they had been declared champions, the withdrew from the league at the end of the season, due to the political upheaval on the island, with the Irish War of Independence going on. They weren’t the only club to withdraw, as Bohemians and Shelbourne did so too, but they went and joined the newly formed League of Ireland, which was run by the also newly formed FAI. Belfast Celtic would not return to the Irish league until the 1924-25 season, a season which saw the league expand to 12 clubs, spread far and wide in Northern Ireland. The club finished 3^rd that campaign, but it wouldn’t take long before they were to return to the top and be crowned champions once again.

The 1925-26 season saw the club lift their fourth title, while their fifth came the season after. The club won a third consecutive title win, and Belfast Celtic were now establishing that they were the dominant side in Irish football. That was cemented when they won their fourth consecutive title in the 1928-29 season, while they also won an Irish Cup in the 1925-26 season to add to their trophy cabinet that was fast becoming full. But it wouldn’t be until the 1932 season that they would win their next title. With the cub finishing 4^th, 3^rd and 3^rd in the seasons beforehand.

By now the league consisted of 14 clubs, with Derry City having been included in previous years. The feat of winning the league became much harder but was seen a an even bigger triumph when it was done. The 1932-33 season saw the club win their 8^th Irish League title. The season after, Linfield won it, with Belfast Celtic finishing second, a good 9 points behind their rivals. It was now Linfield’s turn to dominate the league, and they won it again in 1934-35, as Belfast Celtic could only watch on, finishing in 3^rd place. However, the 1935-36 season saw a flip reverse of this, with the title going to Belfast Celtc for a 9^th time, while Linfield finished in 3^rd that year. The rivalry between the two club was intense before, due to political and religious factors, but now things were starting to really heat up as they were both vying to become the dominant team in Northern Ireland.

Belfast Celtic won their 10^th title the season after, a point ahead of Derry City, who seemed to be always the bridesmaid and never the bride to either Belfast Celtic or Linfield. Linfield once again finished in 3^rd place that year. In fact, the 1937-38 season saw Belfast Celtic win the league once again at the expense of Derry City. Both clubs finished on the same number of points and so they faced off in a Championship match, which Belfast Celtic won, giving them their 11^th title and seeing Derry City finish runners-up once again. In fact, Despite Derry City’s continuous challenges for the title, they only have ever won the Irish League once in their history, and that came in the 1964-65 season. Of course, they withdrew from the Irish league in 1972 and entered the League of Ireland in 1985 and since then have won many titles.

1938-39 season saw another league title go to the ‘Celtics’ and their 13^th title was not to far away, as they won it in the 1939-40 season. However, with War looming over Europe, the league was suspended and wouldn’t continue until 1947- 48. In the meantime, the Irish Cup resumed, and Belfast Celtic saw their dominance from the league being transferred to the cup with title triumphs in the years, 1940-41, 1942-43, 1943-44 and 1946-47. The club would, in their entire history, have won 8 Irish cups in total.

When the Irish league resumed in 1947, it was business as usual for Belfast Celtic, and they won their 14^th League title, ahead of second placed Linfield. But this would turn out to be their last title as the next season proved to be pivotal in the club’s history.

With tensions running high between the two clubs, it was always going to come to a head, however, nobody expected it to spill on to the football or at least not in the way it did. On the 26^th of December 1948, the two clubs met at Windsor Park. Both were challenging for the title as usual that year. Belfast Celtic had taken the lead early on and it seemed as though they would hold on until the last minute when Linfield scored a last-minute equaliser. It caused mayhem amongst the home supporters, who in their madness, invaded the pitch and attacked some of the Belfast Celtic player, seriously injuring some of them, including breaking centre forward, Jimmy Jones leg while also kicking him unconscious.

With these attacks, Linfield immediately issued a statement blaming Belfast Celtic, for provoking their fans into doing what they did, thus taking no responsibility for what had happened. Of course, Belfast Celtic was not having that as an excuse and blamed Linfield and their supporters for not controlling themselves. They also took aim at the police force who they believed did not offer enough protection to their players that day. Their statement was backed up by the fact that no arrests were ever made that day. Some of their statement read;

"During the whole of this concerted attack the protection afforded to the unfortunate players may be fairly described as quite inadequate. In the circumstances the directors wish to make the strongest possible protest against the conduct of those responsible for the protection of the players in failing to take measures either to prevent the brutal attack or to deal with it with any degree of effectiveness after it developed."

To further make the matter worse, the IFA’s response was to brush it under the carpet as if the incident never happened, and Linfield were never punished for their supporter’s behaviour. Because of this, Belfast Celtic’s committee organised a meeting and from that meeting the concluded that they could no longer take part in the Irish League due to safety concerns for their players, management, and fans. They announced they would not be taking part in the 1949 season and withdrew from the Irish League. Their final ever league game came against Cliftonville, on April 21^st, 1949, at Celtic Park, a game they won 4-3.

That was to be the end of Belfast Celtic’s contribution to the Irish League, winning 14 titles and 8 Irish cups, whilst also picking up other various forms of silverware. They did go on to play in tournaments in North America and played other friendly matches in the 50’s against Glasgow Celtic, but as a football club in Northern Ireland, they were done.

There were plenty of great players to have played for Belfast Celtic, but I am just going to pick out two. Firstly, Partick O’ Connell, a man who doesn’t get enough credit the influence he has had in football, especially in Spain. The man that in Seville they refer to as ‘Don Patricio’, was the manager of Real Betis when they won their only topflight league title to date in 1935. The man managed to get the club promoted from the Segunda first before guiding to them glory. This, though, is not what he is famous for in Spain, or not the most famous thing he did. O’ Connell is the man that was known or saving FC Barcelona, With the Spanish Civil War suspending all official football activity in the country, the depths that Barcelona were racking up were becoming impossible to clear. However, O’Connell came up with an idea as to clear them and asked for a favour from South America. The plan was to bring his Barcelona side on a tour of Mexico and South America to play in exhibition matches. They would use the money raised from gate receipts to clear the clubs’ debts. This worked a treat, and the club was saved from becoming a ‘Forgotten Club’. O’Connell was also a fine player, playing not only for Belfast Celtic, but with Sheffield Wednesday, Manchester United and Hull City. A defender, he also captained Ireland and won the British Home Championships in 1914. He made 6 appearances for Ireland (Before the Republic of Ireland was established). He is also the first Irish man to have played for Manchester United, while also playing his youth football for another ‘Forgotten Club’, former League of Ireland side, and founding member of the League of Ireland, Frankfort, although he played for their youth team at the time.

The other player I found interesting, who played for Belfast Celtic, was a man named Oscar Traynor. The reason for this is that there is a road near where I live in North Dublin that is named after him, one that everyone who is involved in grass roots football in Dublin and indeed Ireland will know about. He was a goalkeeper and toured Europe with Belfast Celtic, playing with the club from 1910-1912. He once famously said that football was not a foreign sport, claiming it was "a Celtic game, pure and simple, having its roots in the Highland of Scotland." A man who got involved in politics, he was involved in no small part, in the 1916 Easter Rising. Without getting to much into his political career, he became a TD and represented the North Dublin constituency at the time. He also became the President of the FAI from 1948 until 1963. You can read more about him if you are into your Irish political history.

When writing about Belfast Celtic, one question kept popping into my head. Why did they, when they left the Irish League, not enter the League of Ireland? I can find no evidence they even tried to do so. Was it too dangerous for Dublin club to travel up to Belfast? That can’t be the reason, as Bohemians and Shelbourne (Tritonville for a year) did so, without much incident. It would have seemed to be the perfect move, with a club from Belfast being apart of the new Republic of Ireland. Maybe I am being too naïve in that aspect, and Im sure there were so many complicated issues that stopped this from happening, but I can’t help but thing what the football landscape would be like nowadays had they decided to take that route. Afterall, Derry City have done it, and it seems to have worked out well for them. Again, it is only a thought of mine and one that I am sure others who have more knowledge of the situation and history of Belfast would be able to answer. The club themselves have been revived in recent times with Belfast club Sports & Leisure Swifts FC announcing in 2018 that planned to bring back the Belfast Celtic FC name. There is also an amateur club that was founded in 2013 that has taken on the name Belfast Celtic Young Men and Ladies, which continues to play in the youth levels of the game in Northern Ireland. As I have mentioned before, Belfast Celtic are definitely not a ‘Forgotten Club’, in the sense that they will always be remembered on this island.