Comparing Celtic FC Greatest XI v Rangers FC Greatest XI Of All Time
ST – Henrik Larsson
Larsson is a Celtic legend, playing a central part in the revitalisation of the club as it once again dominated Scottish football having been in the doldrums for much of the previous 15 years. He broke domestic scoring records and was the talisman to take the club to the UEFA Cup final in 2003. He was a truly world-class player.
Signed from Feyenoord with a deal costing £650,000, Henrik Larsson joined Celtic F.C in 1997. After his poor start to the season, he went on to score 18 goals in all competitions and was Celtic’s top scorer for the season. In November 1997, Larsson won his first medal for the club with a 3–0 win over Dundee United at Ibrox Stadium to give Celtic the Scottish League Cup. On the final day of the league season, he scored the opener with a powerful shot from 20 yards out in a 2–0 win against St Johnstone to clinch the championship for Celtic. It was the club’s first league championship win since the double-winning season 1987–88 and stopped Old Firm rivals Rangers from breaking Celtic’s record of nine titles in a row.
At Celtic, he went on to win four Scottish Premier League titles, two Scottish League Cups, and two Scottish Cups. He even received the European Golden Boot in 2001. During this time at the club, Larsson scored not less than 242 goals while playing a total of 315 competitive matches for Celtic F.C. He is remembered by Celtic fans as ‘The King of Kings’.
ST – Jimmy McGrory
When it comes to arguments over who is the greatest Celt of them all the name at the top of many people’s list is the incomparable James Edward McGrory. Even although he was only 5 ft 6ins, he was renowned for his prowess and ability from headers. His trademark was an almost horizontal, bullet header, which he performed and scored regularly from and which earned him his nicknames, of the “Human Torpedo” and the “Mermaid”
Signed by Celtic’s first manager Willie Maley, McGrory was loaned to Clydebank for a season, scoring 13 goals in 30 games for the Bankies before returning to Celtic Park, where he would proceed to become the club’s record marksman. He is Celtic’s top scorer of all time, with 469 goals in 448 games and holds their record for the most goals in a season, with 57 League and Scottish Cup goals from 39 games, in season 1926–27. He has also notched up a British top-flight record of 55 hat-tricks, 48 coming in League games and 7 from Scottish Cup ties. It could be argued he in fact scored 56, as he hit 8 goals in a Scottish League game against Dunfermline in 1928, also a British top-flight record.
In the summer of 1928 he turned down an offer from Arsenal to become the highest-paid footballer in Britain because he could not bear to leave Parkhead. It latterly turned out that the Celtic board were banking on McGrory’s departure as a way of boosting the club’s bank account and so riled were they by his refusal of Arsenal’s offer (£10,0000 transfer) that they secretly paid him less than his teammates for the rest of his career. When he later discovered this dastardly deed McGrory simply said:
“Well it was worth it just to pull on those Green and White Hoops.” Money meant nothing to McGrory. Scoring goals for Celtic meant everything.