HISTORY OF THE FAMOUS CELTIC JERSEY TOLD IN NEW BOOK

Iconic images of historic match-worn shirts & the storylines behind them 
published for the first time

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, December 13, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- This week sees the publication of the first book to chronicle the history of Celtic’s famous football jerseys and the stories behind them - from the origins of the green and white colourway in 1888 to the iconic Lisbon Lions of 1967, and on to the 2021/22 League title and League Cup double season.

Entitled The Celtic Jersey, the stunning 320-page coffee-table book charts the comprehensive and evocative 135-year history of one of the world’s most famous football identities through match-worn shirts and explains why only 47 years ago this month (5th November 1975) the Club wore numbers on the back of the jerseys for the first time.

The book features the Celtic shirt worn by winger Jimmy Delaney in a series of unofficial wartime matches in 1946. The rugby style jersey was worn by the Bhoys’ teams for nearly 30 years virtually unchanged from 1936. It was also the season Delaney and the famous Hoops played in front of a world record crowd for a club match when 147,365 turned out at Hampden Park for the Scottish Cup final.

Many of the shirts included in the book come from the Neilly Mochan collection, without whom, the book would not have been possible. A true Celtic legend both on and off the pitch, he not only trained the Lisbon Lions and the ‘Nine-in-a-Row’ team, but also combined serving as the kitman and the club’s trainer through some of its most successful periods.

Also included in the book are examples of the Lisbon Lions jersey from 1967 worn by Stevie Chalmers; the ‘Shamrock’ jersey of Paddy Crerand (1952-65); the first ‘Umbro double diamond’ shirt from 1976 worn by Alfie Conn; the 1988 centenary jersey adorned by Frank McAvennie; the green-on-green hooped away jersey from the 2017/18 season made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the European Cup victory; and this season’s eye-catching shirt as worn by captain Callum McGregor in Champions League matches against Real Madrid.

Compiled by avid fan and Scottish author and scriptwriter Paul John Dykes and published by Vision Sports Publishing (VSP), the new book is endorsed by The Celtic Football Club and contains:

An example of a player shirt from virtually every home and away variation worn by Celtic players over the past 86 years;

The shirt worn in the final game of the Lisbon Lions era in 1971 by Stevie Chalmers, who scored the winning goal in the European Cup final against Inter Milan in 1967. The shirt remains unwashed from the emotional day and still has mud from Celtic Park on it. Many members of the successful team left the club after this game;

Stories of jerseys worn by many of Celtic’s greatest players, including Sir Kenny Dalglish, Jimmy Johnstone (voted Celtic’s greatest-ever player), Billy McNeill (most appearances for the club and voted best-ever captain), Jock Stein, Danny McGrain, Bobby Lennox, Jimmy McGrory (all-time Celtic leading goal scorer) Tommy Gemmell, Roy Aitken, Paul Lambert, John Collins, Paul McStay, Charlie Nicholas, Stiliyan Petrov, Henrik Larsson (voted greatest-ever foreign player) and most recently successful captain Scott Brown;

A look into Cup Final tracksuits and a ‘dizzying array’ of goalkeeper jerseys worn by Pat ‘Packie’ Bonner, Gordon Marshall and Fraser Forster;

An insight into the special relationship the Club had with its first kit supplier Umbro, which lasted for nearly 70 years from the 1930’s, plus the Nike ‘Swoosh’ decade;

Historic match worn shirts swapped with some of the club’s most illustrious European opponents from the incredible Neilly Mochan collection;

A foreword by legend Tommy Boyd, who played 304 times for the club between 1992 and 2003 and also has a jersey featured.

“It’s incredible to think how much the history of this great club is intertwined with its kit. Nearly every variation of the shirt, home and away, is featured in this fabulous book and it is a fantastic way to look back at the history of our famous club. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have,” said Boyd. “For any Celtic supporter, this book is a must have and to quote the late Tommy Burn, ‘When you pull on that jersey, you're not just playing for a football team, you're playing for people and a cause’ and reading the book evokes a lot of memories for me as it will for any fan,” he added.

Available now, the book comes in a standard hardback version priced at £30, plus a limited Collectors’ Edition is available, including a print of Tommy Boyd, hand-signed by the man himself and the book will come in a bespoke clamshell presentation box (@ £60).

Based in London, specialist sports publisher VSP has produced similar best-selling books on behalf of England - Three Lions on a Shirt - Arsenal, Rangers and Tottenham Hotspur.

For details about the book, visit www.thecelticjersey.com
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For more information, contact Adam Smith at Sports Impact at: adam.smith@sports-impact.com or on +44 (0)7912 508002
Sport Impact is a global award winning Sports Marketing, PR & Sponsorship Agency representing a broad range of clients including, Vision Sports Publishing, Motocaddy, Arccos & Galvin Green, amongst many others.

Note to Editors: Review copies and extracts from the book, including imagery of the most famous Celtic shirts, are available on request, together with interviews with the author and the editor.

Adam Smith
Sports Impact
+44 7751 850970
email us here

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