2008–09 Celtic F.C. season

Celtic

2008–09 season
Chairman	John Reid
Manager	Gordon Strachan
Ground	Celtic Park Glasgow, Scotland (Capacity: 60,355)
Scottish Premier League	2nd
Scottish Cup	Quarter-finals
Scottish League Cup	Winners
Champions League	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Scott McDonald (16) All: Scott McDonald (19)
Home colours Away colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The 2008–09 season was the 115th season of competitive football by Celtic.

Overview

Celtic went into the 2008–09 season defending their Scottish Premier League title, which they won for the third consecutive time in 2007–08.

They also entered the UEFA Champions League directly at the group stage, as well as taking part in the two domestic cup competitions, the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup.

To prepare for the Season, Celtic took part in two Pre-Season Tournaments; the Algarve Challenge Cup in Faro, Portugal, where they finished bottom, having faced Middlesbrough and Cardiff City, and the Feyenoord Jubilee Tournament in Rotterdam, where they finished second, having faced Tottenham Hotspur and host club Feyenoord.

The campaign

League campaign

The Championship flag was unfurled before Celtic's first League game, against St Mirren at Celtic Park on 10 August by Rosemary Burns, the widow of former Celtic player Tommy Burns, who had died of skin cancer at the end of season 2007–08. Celtic won the game 1–0, through a Barry Robson penalty, getting their Campaign off to a winning start.

Celtic finished second in the SPL table at the end of the season, eventually finishing four points behind champions Rangers. This was despite at one point having built up a seven-point lead over Rangers. This lead was squandered though, Celtic dropping points to Dundee United, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Motherwell, Rangers themselves, and on two occasions to both Hibernian and Hearts.

One day after the final league game of the season, a 0–0 draw with Hearts at Celtic Park, it was announced that Gordon Strachan would leave as manager of Celtic with immediate effect. This brought to an end Strachan's four-year spell as manager, during which he guided the club to three SPL titles, one Scottish Cup and two Scottish League Cups. He also guided the club twice into the last 16 of the Champions League, losing out to A.C. Milan and Barcelona respectively.

European campaign

Celtic, as Scottish champions, qualified directly for the UEFA Champions League, where they were the sole Scottish side as Rangers were knocked out in the second qualifying round by FBK Kaunas, meaning Celtic received all the TV money allocated to Scotland.

Celtic were in Pot 3 for the group stage draw, which took place in Monaco on 28 August. They were drawn with Manchester United, Villarreal and Aalborg. The first game, a home tie against Aalborg, finished in a goalless draw. The next game, away to Villarreal ended in a 1–0 defeat, which was followed by a 3–0 defeat away to Manchester United. Next up, at home, Celtic drew 1–1 with Manchester United, with Scott McDonald putting Celtic in the lead in the 13th minute, only for Ryan Giggs to equalise for Manchester United in the 84th minute. A disappointing 2–1 defeat to Aalborg in Denmark saw Celtic's European aspirations end, despite having taken the lead through Barry Robson. Nonetheless, Celtic rallied to end their campaign on a high with a 2–0 victory over Villarreal at Celtic Park.

Domestic cups

Celtic entered the Scottish League Cup at the third round proper (the last 16 stage) and the Scottish Cup at the fourth round proper (the Round of 32). The club beat Livingston 4–0 in the third round of the League Cup on 23 September, and travelled to Kilmarnock on 28 October, beating them 3–1 and qualifying for the semi-finals, where they faced Dundee United at Hampden Park on 28 January. After a 0–0 draw in extra time, Celtic won a penalty shoot-out 11–10 to set up a final against Rangers on 15 March. The team won the 2009 Scottish League Cup Final 2–0 aet at Hampden, with Darren O'Dea and Aiden McGeady getting the goals.

The fourth round of the Scottish Cup took place on 10 January, with Celtic beating Dundee at Celtic Park. In the fifth round, Celtic hosted Queen's Park on 7 February, beating them 2–1. In the quarter-finals, Celtic lost 1–0 at St Mirren on 7 March.

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Scottish Premier League

Celtic v St Mirren

10 August 2008 SPL	Celtic	1–0	St Mirren	Celtic Park
	Robson 62' (pen.)	BBC Sport		Attendance: 57,441 Referee: Eddie Smith

Dundee United v Celtic

17 August 2008 SPL	Dundee United	1–1	Celtic	Tannadice Park
	Sandaza 79'	BBC Sport	Hartley 51'	Attendance: 11,648 Referee: Charlie Richmond

Celtic v Falkirk

23 August 2008 SPL	Celtic	3–0	Falkirk	Celtic Park
	McManus 32' Samaras 44', 68'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 56,031 Referee: Iain Brines

Celtic v Rangers

31 August 2008 SPL	Celtic	2–4	Rangers	Celtic Park
	Samaras 39' Nakamura 90+2'	BBC Sport	Cousin 37' Miller 52', 79' Mendes 62'	Attendance: 58,595 Referee: Dougie McDonald

Motherwell v Celtic

13 September 2008 SPL	Motherwell	2–4	Celtic	Fir Park
	Sutton 55' Clarkson 57'	BBC Sport	Maloney 5' Samaras 9', 42' McDonald 24'	Attendance: 11,595 Referee: Craig Thomson

Kilmarnock v Celtic

21 September 2008 SPL	Kilmarnock	1–3	Celtic	Rugby Park
	Taouil 89' (pen.)	BBC Sport	Maloney 26' Samaras 56', 82' (pen.)	Attendance: 8,111 Referee: Mike McCurry

Celtic v Aberdeen

27 September 2008 SPL	Celtic	3–2	Aberdeen	Celtic Park
	Vennegoor of Hesselink 14', 90+3' McDonald 78'	BBC Sport	Mulgrew 57', 65'	Attendance: 57,441 Referee: Eddie Smith

Celtic v Hamilton Academical

4 October 2008 SPL	Celtic	4–0	Hamilton Academical	Celtic Park
	Nakamura 25' Samaras 37' McDonald 76' McGeady 83'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 55,881 Referee: Steve Conroy

Inverness CT v Celtic

18 October 2008 SPL	Inverness CT	1–2	Celtic	Caledonian Stadium
	Wood 69'	BBC Sport	Brown 48' Loovens 65'	Attendance: 7,143 Referee: Iain Brines

Celtic v Hibernian

25 October 2008 SPL	Celtic	4–2	Hibernian	Celtic Park
	McManus 32' Sheridan 36' Loovens 76' Brown 82'	BBC Sport	Nish 41' Fletcher 50'	Attendance: 58,337 Referee: Calum Murray

Hearts v Celtic

2 November 2008 SPL	Hearts	0–2	Celtic	Tynecastle Stadium
		BBC Sport	Maloney 7' Caldwell 20'	Attendance: 7,143 Referee: Craig Thomson

Celtic v Motherwell

8 November 2008 SPL	Celtic	2–0	Motherwell	Celtic Park
	Hartley 45' McDonald 71'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 56,504 Referee: Dougie McDonald

Celtic v Kilmarnock

12 November 2008 SPL	Celtic	3–0	Kilmarnock	Celtic Park
	Sheridan 18', 75' Nakamura 84'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 55,347 Referee: Mike Tumilty

Hamilton Academical v Celtic

16 November 2008 SPL	Hamilton Academical	1–2	Celtic	New Douglas Park
	Offiong 16'	BBC Sport	Nakamura 39' (pen.) Hartley 86'	Attendance: 5,550 Referee: Steve Conroy

St Mirren v Celtic

22 November 2008 SPL	St Mirren	1–3	Celtic	Love Street
	Hamilton 89'	BBC Sport	Samaras 64' Nakamura 66' Sheridan 80'	Attendance: 7,433 Referee: Willie Collum

Celtic v Inverness CT

29 November 2008 SPL	Celtic	1–0	Inverness CT	Celtic Park
	Maloney 29'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 55,117 Referee: David Somers

Hibernian v Celtic

7 December 2008 SPL	Hibernian	2–0	Celtic	Easter Road
	Rankin 55' Nish 69'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 14,289 Referee: Craig Thomson

Celtic v Hearts

13 December 2008 SPL	Celtic	1–1	Hearts	Celtic Park
	McManus 79'	BBC Sport	Driver 23'	Attendance: 56,079 Referee: Charlie Richmond

Falkirk v Celtic

21 December 2008 SPL	Falkirk	0–3	Celtic	Falkirk Stadium
		BBC Sport	Samaras 48' Mizuno 90+1' McDonald 90+3'	Attendance: 6,543 Referee: Eddie Smith

Rangers v Celtic

27 December 2008 SPL	Rangers	0–1	Celtic	Ibrox Stadium
		BBC Sport	McDonald 58'	Attendance: 50,403 Referee: Craig Thomson

Celtic v Dundee United

3 January 2009 SPL	Celtic	2–2	Dundee United	Celtic Park
	Samaras 12', 58'	BBC Sport	Dixon 60' Feeney 77'	Attendance: 59,558 Referee: Steve Conroy

Aberdeen v Celtic

18 January 2009 SPL	Aberdeen	4–2	Celtic	Pittodrie Stadium
	G. McDonald 24' Duff 31' Diamond 75', 78'	BBC Sport	Brown 25' McDonald 73'	Attendance: 14,289 Referee: Dougie McDonald

Celtic v Hibernian

24 January 2009 SPL	Celtic	3–1	Hibernian	Celtic Park
	McDonald 3', 76' McManus 9'	BBC Sport	Jones 17'	Attendance: 58,930 Referee: David Somers

Motherwell v Celtic

22 February 2009 SPL	Motherwell	1–1	Celtic	Fir Park
	Quinn 81'	BBC Sport	McDonald 60'	Attendance: 8,593 Referee: Iain Brines

Celtic v St Mirren

28 February 2009 SPL	Celtic	7–0	St Mirren	Celtic Park
	Nakamura 16', 35', 58' Crosas 51' Brown 55', 68' Potter 76' (o.g.)	BBC Sport		Attendance: 58,286 Referee: Crawford Allan

Kilmarnock v Celtic

4 March 2009 SPL	Kilmarnock	1–2	Celtic	Rugby Park
	Invincibile 36'	BBC Sport	McDonald 27', 81'	Attendance: 6,712 Referee: Craig Thomson

Dundee United v Celtic

22 March 2009 SPL	Dundee United	2–2	Celtic	Tannadice Park
	Sandaza 47', 58'	BBC Sport	McDonald 24' Naylor 81'	Attendance: 12,043 Referee: Steve Conroy

Celtic v Hamilton Academical

4 April 2009 SPL	Celtic	4–0	Hamilton Academical	Celtic Park
	Samaras 5', 66' McGeady 22' Vennegoor of Hesselink 83'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 58,961 Referee: Brian Winter

Celtic v Falkirk

8 April 2009 SPL	Celtic	4–0	Falkirk	Celtic Park
	Caldwell 29' Vennegoor of Hesselink 62' McGeady 78' O'Dea 90+2'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 57,669 Referee: Willie Collum

Hearts v Celtic

11 April 2009 SPL	Hearts	1–1	Celtic	Tynecastle Stadium
	Aguiar 32'	BBC Sport	Vennegoor of Hesselink 1'	Attendance: 16,514 Referee: Craig Thomson

Celtic v Aberdeen

18 April 2009 SPL	Celtic	2–0	Aberdeen	Celtic Park
	Vennegoor of Hesselink 43' McDonald 55'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 58,581 Referee: Dougie McDonald

Aberdeen v Celtic

2 May 2009 SPL	Aberdeen	1–3	Celtic	Pittodrie Stadium
	Maguire 22'	BBC Sport	Considine 44' (o.g.) McDonald 72', 90+2'	Attendance: 14,752 Referee: Dougie McDonald

Rangers v Celtic

9 May 2009 SPL	Rangers	1–0	Celtic	Ibrox Stadium
	Davis 37'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 50,321 Referee: Craig Thomson

Celtic v Dundee Utd

12 May 2009 SPL	Celtic	2–1	Dundee Utd	Celtic Park
	Loovens 22' Samaras 52'	BBC Sport	Robertson 57'	Attendance: 57,407 Referee: Stuart Dougal

UEFA Champions League

Celtic v Aalborg

17 September 2008 Group stage	Celtic	0–0	Aalborg	Celtic Park
		BBC Sport		Attendance: 57,432 Referee: Matteo Trefoloni

Villarreal v Celtic

30 September 2008 Group stage	Villarreal	1–0	Celtic	El Madrigal
	Senna 67'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 21,515 Referee: Viktor Kassai

Manchester United v Celtic

21 October 2008 Group stage	Manchester United	3–0	Celtic	Old Trafford
	Berbatov 30', 51' Rooney 76'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 74,655 Referee: Frank De Bleeckere

Celtic v Manchester United

5 November 2008 Group stage	Celtic	1–1	Manchester United	Celtic Park
	McDonald 13'	BBC Sport	Giggs 84'	Attendance: 58,903 Referee: Tom Henning Øvrebø

Aalborg v Celtic

25 November 2008 Group stage	Aalborg	2–1	Celtic	Energi Nord Arena
	Cacá 73' Caldwell 87' (o.g.)	BBC Sport	Robson 53'	Attendance: 12,647 Referee: Konrad Plautz

Celtic v Villarreal

10 December 2008 Group stage	Celtic	2–0	Villarreal	Celtic Park
	Maloney 14' McGeady 45+2'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 58,104 Referee: Claudio Circhetta

Scottish League Cup

Celtic v Livingston

23 September 2008 Third round	Celtic	4–0	Livingston	Celtic Park
	Loovens 24' Samaras 64', 85' (pen.) Brown 81'	BBC Sport		Attendance: 23,569 Referee: Willie Collum

Kilmarnock v Celtic

29 October 2008 Quarter-finals	Kilmarnock	1–3	Celtic	Rugby Park
	Invincibile 69'	BBC Sport	McDonald 11' Nakamura 45+1' McGeady 72'	Attendance: 6,319 Referee: Craig Thomson

Celtic v Rangers

15 March 2009 Final	Celtic	2–0	Rangers	Hampden Park
	O'Dea 91' McGeady 120' (pen.)	BBC Sport		Attendance: 51,193 Referee: Dougie McDonald

*Celtic won the match 11–10 on penalties

Scottish Cup

Celtic v Dundee

10 January 2009 Fourth round	Celtic	2–1	Dundee	Celtic Park
	Brown 37' McGeady 44'	BBC Sport	McMenamin 14'	Attendance: 23,070 Referee: Calum Murray

Celtic v Queen's Park

10 January 2009 Fifth round	Celtic	2–1	Queen's Park	Celtic Park
	Caldwell 19' McDonald 45'	BBC Sport	Coakley 66'	Attendance: 22,223 Referee: Willie Collum

St Mirren v Celtic

7 March 2009 Quarter-finals	St Mirren	1–0	Celtic	St Mirren Park
	Mehmet 55' (pen.)	BBC Sport		Attendance: 5,925 Referee: Charlie Richmond

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Premier League		FA Cup		League Cup		Other
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	POL	Artur Boruc	47	0	34	0	3	0	4	0	6	0
2	DF	GER	Andreas Hinkel	42	0	32	0	2	0	4	0	4	0
3	DF	ENG	Lee Naylor	30	1	19+4	1	2	0	2	0	3	0
4	DF	SCO	Stephen McManus	41	4	31	4	2	0	2	0	6	0
5	DF	SCO	Gary Caldwell	47	4	36	3	2	1	3	0	6	0
6	DF	GUI	Dianbobo Balde	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	FW	AUS	Scott McDonald	47	19	33+1	16	3	1	4	1	4+2	1
8	MF	SCO	Scott Brown	48	7	36	5	2	1	3+1	1	6	0
9	FW	GRE	Georgios Samaras	41	17	19+12	15	0+3	0	1+2	2	4	0
10	FW	NED	Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink	32	6	15+10	6	3	0	1+1	0	0+2	0
11	MF	SCO	Paul Hartley	33	3	20+5	3	1	0	2+1	0	3+1	0
12	DF	SCO	Mark Wilson	25	0	15+3	0	0	0	1+1	0	5	0
13	FW	SCO	Shaun Maloney	30	5	14+7	4	1	0	1+1	0	4+2	1
14	MF	NIR	Niall McGinn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	DF	CZE	Milan Mišůn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	MF	IRL	Willo Flood	5	0	2+3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	MF	ESP	Marc Crosas	22	1	14+4	1	3	0	1	0	0	0
18	MF	ITA	Massimo Donati	8	0	2+2	0	0+1	0	2	0	0+1	0
19	MF	SCO	Barry Robson	24	2	13+4	1	0+1	0	0+1	0	4+1	1
20	MF	NIR	Paddy McCourt	5	0	0+4	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
21	GK	SCO	Mark Brown	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	DF	NED	Glenn Loovens	23	4	13+4	3	1	0	3	1	2	0
23	FW	ENG	Ben Hutchinson	4	0	0+3	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
24	DF	CMR	Jean-Joël Perrier-Doumbé	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	MF	JPN	Shunsuke Nakamura	42	9	30+2	8	2	0	3	1	5	0
26	FW	IRL	Cillian Sheridan	16	4	6+6	4	0	0	0+1	0	1+2	0
29	MF	JPN	Koki Mizuno	10	1	2+8	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	FW	NZL	Chris Killen	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
41	DF	SCO	John Kennedy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
42	MF	NZL	Michael McGlinchey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
46	MF	IRL	Aiden McGeady	40	7	21+8	3	3	1	4	2	3+1	1
48	DF	IRL	Darren O'Dea	16	2	7+3	1	2	0	2	1	0+2	0
52	DF	SCO	Paul Caddis	7	0	0+5	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
54	MF	SCO	Ryan Conroy	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
55	MF	SCO	Paul McGowan	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0

Top scorers

R	Player	Scottish Premier League	Scottish League Cup	Scottish Cup	UEFA Champions League	Total
1	Scott McDonald	16	1	1	1	19
2	Georgios Samaras	15	2	0	0	17
3	Shunsuke Nakamura	8	1	0	0	9
4	Scott Brown	5	1	1	0	7
	Aiden McGeady	3	2	1	1	7
5	Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink	6	0	0	0	6
6	Shaun Maloney	4	0	0	1	5
7	Cillian Sheridan	4	0	0	0	4
	Stephen McManus	4	0	0	0	4
	Glenn Loovens	3	1	0	0	4
8	Paul Hartley	3	0	0	0	3
	Gary Caldwell	2	0	1	0	3
9	Barry Robson	1	0	0	1	2
	Darren O'Dea	1	1	0	0	2
10	Koki Mizuno	1	0	0	0	1
	Marc Crosas	1	0	0	0	1
	Lee Naylor	1	0	0	0	1

Team statistics

League table

Technical staff

Transfers

In

Date	Player	From	Fee	Source
19 June 2008	Paddy McCourt	Derry City	08£500,000	[1]
15 July 2008	Georgios Samaras	Manchester City	08£3 million	[2]
15 July 2008	Matty Hughes	Rochdale	08Undisclosed	[3]
10 August 2008	Marc Crosas	Barcelona	08 £400,000	[4][5]
16 August 2008	Glenn Loovens	Cardiff City	08£2.5 million	[6]
22 August 2008	Shaun Maloney	Aston Villa	08£2.2 million	[7]
16 December 2008	Niall McGinn	Derry City	08£300,000	[8]
23 December 2008	Milan Mišůn	FK Příbram	08£500,000	[9]
30 January 2009	Willo Flood	Cardiff City	08£1.3 million	[10]
2 February 2009	Filip Twardzik	Hertha Berlin	08Undisclosed	[11]
2 February 2009	Patrik Twardzik	Hertha Berlin	08Undisclosed	[11]

Out

Date	Player	To	Fee	Source
17 June 2008	Michael McGovern	Dundee Utd	08Free Transfer	[12]
30 June 2008	Adam Virgo	Brighton & Hove Albion	08 Free Transfer	[13]
1 July 2008	Diarmuid O'Carroll	Morecambe	08Free Transfer	[14]
27 July 2008	John Kennedy	Norwich City	08 Loan	[15]
7 August 2008	Rocco Quinn	Livingston	08 Loan	[16]
8 August 2008	Jim O'Brien	Motherwell	08 Undisclosed	[17]
14 August 2008	Scott Cuthbert	St Mirren	08 Loan	[18]
18 August 2008	Thomas Gravesen		08Retired	[19]
21 August 2008	Evander Sno	Ajax	08£1.2 million	[20]
1 September 2008	Steven Pressley	Randers FC	08Free	[21]
1 September 2008	Derek Riordan	Hibernian	08£500,000	[22]
7 January 2009	Paul McGowan	Hamilton Accies	08Loan	[23]
31 January 2009	Chris Killen	Norwich City	08Loan	[24]
2 February 2009	Rocco Quinn	Hamilton Academical	08Free	[25]
2 February 2009	Cillian Sheridan	Motherwell	08Loan	[26]

See also

• List of Celtic F.C. seasons

References

External links

• Celtic FC website