Real Club Celta Vigo, better known as Celta, is a club based in Vigo, Galicia, which competes in La Liga – the top-tier league in Spain. Derived from the name Celts, which represents the people living in that region.
The Spanish side’s home stadium is Balaídos, which has a capacity of 24,791 spectators. Having played many seasons in La Liga, the side has seen meteoric rises and lows in its history.
The Foundation
The year 1923 laid the foundation for the development of the club, which turned out to be an ambitious project. The main goal of the idea was the merger of Vigo’s team, where the Basque sides had been their bête noire in the Spanish Championship. This vision turned out to be successful for the national side and saw the birth of two sides, Real Vigo Sporting and Real Club Fortuna de Vigo respectively.
The torchbearer for the whole process was Manuel de Castro, known as “Handicap,” a sports writer for the Faro de Vigo who, from 1915, began to write about the necessity of a football club. “Todo pory para Vigo” (“All by and for Vigo”) were the words used by the writer that traveled fast into the ears of the managers. However, it had an enormous reception at the assembly of the Royal Spanish Football Federation in Madrid on 22 June 1923.
History and Top Players
In July 1923, the AGMs of Vigo and Fortuna confirmed the merger in the Odeon Theatre and in the Hotel Moderno, respectively, and finally, the “Team of Galicia” was introduced to the world. In the final meeting on August 10, 1923, they even announced the board members after the approval for the new club.
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Manuel Bárcena de Andrés, the Count of Torre Cedeira, was the first club president, and at this AGM, they announced the first 64 members of the squad including players from both Fortuna and Vigo:
Goalkeepers: Isidro, Lilo, and Rubido
Defenders: Otero, Pasarín, Juanito Clemente, Daniel, and Kaíto
Midfielders: Jacobo Torres, Balbino, Queralt, Hermida, Pombo, Cruces, Córdoba, Máximo, and Bienvenido
Forwards: Reigosa, Chiarroni, Posada, Polo, Correa, Gerardito, Ramón González, Caride, Pinilla, Salvador, Chicha, Miguelito, and Casal, Park.
Manager: Francis Cuggy
Celta Vigo’s European Journey
A remarkable European performance got the Spanish side dubbed as the “EuroCelta” by their native press in the 1990s and early 2000s, thanks to results like a 4-1 aggregate win over Liverpool in the 1998-99 UEFA Super Cup. The next season, they reached the last eight after a 4-0 win over Juventus in the second leg and a 7-0 home win against Benfica (8–1 on aggregate). In the domestic league, they reached the Copa Del Rey final, losing 3-1 to Real Zaragoza in Seville.
The notable players of this era are Alexander Mostovoi, Valery Karpin, and Haim Revivo, and a few international players, such as goalkeeper Pablo Cavallero, defender and future coach Eduardo Berizzo, midfielders Claude Makélélé and Mazinho, winger Gustavo López, and strikers Catanha and Lyuboslav Penev, amongst others.
Under manager Miguel Ángel Lotina in the 2002-03 season, Os Celestes finished fourth in the domestic league, thereby qualifying for the 2003-04 UEFA Champions League. In the UCL, they were eliminated in the round of 16 by Arsenal 5-2 on aggregate. In La Liga that year, the side had a sad ending, finishing 19th and relegated to the Segunda División. In the subsequent season, Celta arrived back with an immediate promotion.
Celta Vigo 2023-24 Squad
| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Attackers |
| Cesar Gonzalez | Carl Starfelt | Renato Tapia | Iago Aspas |
| Iván Villar | Óscar Mingueza | Carlos Dotor | Anastasios Douvikas |
| Vicente Guaita | Unai Núñez | Fran Beltrán | Jonathan Bamba |
| Joseph Aidoo | Franco Cervi | Jørgen Strand Larsen | |
| Mihailo Ristic | Luca de la Torre | Carles Pérez | |
| Javier Manquillo | Jailson | ||
| Manu Sánchez | Williot Swedberg | ||
| Carlos Dominguez | Kevin Vázquez | ||
| Javier Domínguez | Hugo Álvarez |
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