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FootballSPLTop 10

10 Greatest Foreigners Ever To Play For Celtic FC

3. Patsy Gallacher

Nationality – Ireland

After a number of trial games Gallacher was eventually signed by Willie Maley on October 25 1911 and made his full competitive debut at Parkhead in a 3-1 league win over St Mirren.

Within six months he secured his first winner’s medal, scoring once in the 2–0 victory over Clyde in the 1912 Scottish Cup Final. He revitalised Celtic’s team, which had slipped to fifth place in the league in 1910–11 as the great team of Jimmy Quinn, Davie Hamilton and Jimmy McMenemy which had won six successive league titles began to tire. With Gallacher added to the lineup, Celtic won six Scottish First Division Championships, four Scottish Cups, four Glasgow Cups and eleven Glasgow Charity Cups.

He went on to play for Celtic for 15 years from 1911 to 1925, featuring in 491 games in all competitions. In 464 games in major competitions Patsy scored 195 goals.

2. Packie Bonner

Embed from Getty Images

Nationality – Ireland

The big keeper joined Celtic in 1978 from his local side Keadue Rovers and somewhat appropriately made his debut on St Patrick’s day 1979 in a 2-1 win at home to Motherwell. Brave, athletic and a superb shot stopper, Packie was to become a mainstay of the Celtic team throughout the 1980s and the early years of the 90s. Notably, he was Jock Stein’s last signing for the club.

Bonner went on to play 642 times for Celtic, with 483 league appearances. In total with Celtic, he won four League Championship medals, three Scottish Cup winners’ medals and a League Cup winners’ medal. His last appearance for Celtic was winning the 1995 Scottish Cup final under Burns.

1. Henrik Larsson

Embed from Getty Images

Nationality – Sweden

Larsson was signed in July 1997 by Wim Jansen for a fee of £650,000. In his first season at the club, he played a crucial role in stopping Rangers winning ten league titles in a row, which endeared him to the fans. However, he suffered a leg break in 1999 in a UEFA Cup tie against Lyon. Despite this, Larsson came back stronger and in the 2000–01 season, he netted 53 goals, which saw him claim the European Golden Shoe. Larsson went on to win five golden boots at Celtic and four league titles in seven years.

A Celtic legend, he played 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 failed to win the 2003 UEFA Cup Final against Porto despite scoring two goals. However, his 242 goals in 315 matches will make him be remembered by Celtic fans as ‘The King of Kings’.

Checkout: 10 Greatest Celtic Players Ever

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SUBHAM

A sports addict! @subhamchaurasia

2 thoughts on “10 Greatest Foreigners Ever To Play For Celtic FC

  • John Howley

    Alan Thompson but no Lubo? Are you kidding me?

  • I think Moravcik, Nakamura, Sutton and Mjallby deserve to be on this list

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