With Celtic involved in a tense title race this season, it does look like this one is going to go to the wire as Rangers remain on our coattails.
With just three points separating the teams (at the time of writing) Brendan Rodgers just needs to win his remaining four games to ensure the Scottish Premiership trophy remains within the Parkhead boardroom.
There have been many significant title wins in Celtic’s history but today, I take a look at the five we have won this century that I believe hold special place in our most recent history for their own important reasons.
Martin O’Neill’s incredible Celtic treble season in 2000/01
Martin O’Neill swept into Celtic Park in a blaze of publicity. Having last won the league in the famous 1997/98 season, the Celtic fans had to sit back and watch a Dick Advocaat side dominate Scottish football for the previous three seasons.
Signing players like Chris Sutton, Alan Thompson and John Hartson, O’Neill set out his stall as he looked to strengthen and build the team around Henrik Larsson.
Winning the first Glasgow Derby 6-2, the Northern Irishman made a clear statement of intent as he lost just three games that season romping the title by a massive 17 points.
It was an incredible turnaround considering Celtic lagged 21 points behind the previous season.
The season was capped off with a Scottish Cup Final win over Hibs that sealed Celtic’s first domestic treble since the Jock Stein era after a League Cup win over Kilmarnock earlier in the season.
Martin O’Neill heals Celtic’s Seville pain in 2003/04
Another Martin O’Neill league win makes the list as the legendary former Celtic boss continues his successful period at the club.
At this point, Celtic had watched Alex McLeish’s Rangers lift the treble the previous season and were still getting over the disappointment of losing the 2003 UEFA Cup Final to Jose Mourinho’s Porto.
It would have been so easy for Celtic to have felt sorry for themselves, especially after losing the league title by just a single goal.
However, undeterred, O’Neill’s side went through the season with just two defeats to win the league by a massive 17 points, scoring 105 goals and completing a whitewash over Rangers beating them four times in the league and in the Scottish Cup as Celtic picked up a league and Scottish Cup double.
Neil Lennon begins Celtic’s nine-in-a-row run in 2011/12
This title win by Neil Lennon is so significant in that it began Celtic’s run to an incredible second nine-in-a-row in their history.
Having not won the league since 2008, Lennon was charged with taking over from the disastrous Tony Mowbray era where Celtic finished six points behind our rivals and trophyless.
Lennon won the league by 20 points after Rangers slipped into administration and were deducted nine points for their financial irregularities. But, in truth, Celtic already had fashioned a commanding lead in the league.
Rangers went into liquidation in the following summer and Celtic went on to dominate Scottish football in what did turn out to be one of the club’s most dominant periods in our history.
Lennon left Celtic in 2014 but returned five years later to seal the nine-in-a-row and complete a historic Quadruple Treble.
Brendan Rodgers completes an Invincibles season in 2016/17
And that Quadruple Treble was started with current Celtic boss, Brendan Rodgers. Ronny Deila’s Celtic lost the Scottish Cup semi-final to a championship Rangers and sparked the Celtic board into action to acquire the Northern Irishman’s services.
Snapping up Moussa Dembele, Scott Sinclair and Patrick Roberts, captained by Scott Brown, Rodgers’ Celtic swept all before them with an all-out attacking style of football as Celtic went through the season unbeaten in all competitions to sweep to an Invincibles treble.
It was a period of unprecedented success for Celtic as Rodgers then sucesssfully defended his first treble the following season with Neil Lennon then picking up the baton in 2019 to get the Quadruple Treble over the line.
Rodgers, back for a second spell, now bids to tie up Celtic’s third title in a row after taking over from popular Hoops gaffer, Ange Postecoglou.
Ange Postecoglou brilliant league and cup rebuild double in 2021/22
Ange Posteoglou took over at Celtic after one of their most turbulent seasons of their most recent history. Losing every domestic trophy, Celtic fell so far behind Rangers that the Ibrox club had the COVID title sealed by March.
After failing in a long and protracted courting process of Eddie Howe, Postecoglou was brought in at the last minute to rebuild a Celtic team who just lost their captain, Scott Brown, Peter Lawwell as their CEO and top players like Odsonne Edouard, Kritsoffer Ajer and Ryan Christie amongst others.
Undettered, the Australian’s attacking style of football saw Celtic begin to overpower every team in the league after a stuttering start but it was Ange’s work in the transfer market that really brought home the silverware.
Raiding Japan for the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda, Postecoglou also unearthed gems like Matt O’Riley, Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Sealing the League Cup final in October, that win pushed Celtic on to to go on an unbeaten run where, after losing to Livingston in September, Ange won the league by four points as his free-scoring Celtic racked up an impressive goal difference of +70 but not losing another game that season.
Most importantly though, Postecoglou’s work in the transfer market in that season coupled with his impressive style of football set Celtic up to go on and win their historic eighth domestic treble the following season.
Celtic’s illustrious trophy history
Of course, there are other significant title wins that could have been listed here. The one that sealed the doube and treble Treble could easily have been included here.
As could the Quadruple Treble title win.
There was also Ange Postecoglou’s treble winning title that etched the Australian’s name into the Celtic history books as only the fifth ever Celtic manager to complete a domestic treble.
But looking at the significance on these once listed, I believe that these five listed hold a special place in Celtic’s recent history.