The original Celtic Park was leased at a cost of £50 a year and was built some 200yards from the current site at the junction of what is now Janefield Street and Springfield Road where the Barr's Irn Bru factory now stands. The site consisted of a small open air stand built by volunteers and a pavilion with dressing rooms and offices, as well as some rough terracing.
Celtic
didn't actually play in the first game at the new site - that was a game played between Edinburgh Hibirnians and Cowlairs - although the game did attract some 5000 fans. Three weeks later, however, Celtic did play there on an unseasonably cold May evening before 2000 fans where they warmed their hearts with the first victory in the first ever Old Firm derby. The score on this momentous occasion was Celtic 5 Rangers 2.In 1890, however, the landlord of the site raised the rent tenfold and Celtic refused to pay - hence the move to the ground that is now known as "Paradise." Legend has it that the name "Paradise" came about at this time as a journalist of the day referred to the move across the cemetry as leaving a graveyard to enter "Paradise."
And so an old disused quarry hole filled with water was bought for some £10,000, a huge amount at the time, and a state of the art ground featuring a running and cycling track was created - a highly innovative move at the time.
The hosting of the World Cycling Championships, then a huge event, saw Celtic Park move ahead of its rival venues, Hampden Park and Ibrox, in the prestige stakes.
The first ever fixed floodlights were introduced in 1893 and in 1898 director James Grant built his own stand opposite the pavilion. It was tantamount to man early executive box - with the exception of the fact that today's plush suites don't fall foul of the window condensation that blighted Grant's early construction.
By 1903 Celtic Park was regularly holding international matches as well as athletic meetings and even a Coronation parade for King George V.
In 1929 a fire in the pavilion coupled with the crumbling state of the Grant Stand led to the construction of a new South Stand at a cost of £35,000 - the structure being the foundation for the modern façade which currently welcomes visitors to Celtic Park. After Celtic's European Cup triumph in 1967 a roof was built over the East End terracing, while in 1971, the roof of the main South Stand was replaced.
It was then that the now distinctive hanging box (used then as a press box) was added and seating for 8,686 spectators was created. Of course, to generations of Celtic fans the most nostalgia is reserved for the now-fabled "Jungle", the shed-like terracing now replaced by the magnificent new North Stand. The "Jungle" housed Celtic's most vociferous fans.
Indeed, it was the footballing equivelent of the old Glasgow Empire Theatre. The sheer fright admitted to by the various visiting players on approaching the area was a factor in many an opposition collapse at Celtic Park.
Still, it's hard to believe that the towering new stands can be anything less than intimidating - though plenty will still argue that case. It's fitting that the last stand to be constructed in the new Celtic Park, thus completing the stadium, was named after arguably the greatest name in the history of Celtic FC, the man that masterminded the winning of the
European Cup
,Who else but the great JOCK STEIN.
It is also fitting that the stadium was completed just as Celtic once again became
Champions of Scotland. Any other state of affairs simply would'nt be worthy of such a magnificent sporting arena.