Celtic closing in on Al-Ahly’s ‘Most Successful Club in World’ record

The Celtic Star

·30 aprile 2025

Celtic closing in on Al-Ahly’s ‘Most Successful Club in World’ record

Celtic won the Scottish Premiership title on Saturday with an emphatic 5-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice allowing Brendan Rodgers’ side to sprint past the finishing line as his Celtic teams always seem to do…

Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

This was the fourth title that the Irishman has won as Celtic manager and on each occasion that the title was secured his team won each match 5-0.

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On the wrong end of these hammerings were Hearts at Tynecastle in 2017, theRangers at Celtic Park on this day in 2018, Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in 2025 and now Dundee United in 2025. All of these results – especially the one against theRangers left each and every Celtic supporter happier than a winner on the bitcoin live casino, and also hungry for Brendan to do it again next season.

Celtic title celebrations. Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).

The weekend before Celtic won 5-0 again, this time in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park. Aberdeen await in the final and earlier in the season Jimmy Thelin brought his then high-flying Aberdeen team to the national stadium and went one better (from a Celtic’s perspective at least), losing 6-0 to a Celtic on their way to lifting the trophy against theRangers back in December 2024.

Callum McGregor and Brendan Rodgers with the Premier Sports Cup after Celtic’s victory over theRangers on 15 December 2024 at Hampden Park. Photo Kenny Ramsay

That win made it major trophy number 119 for Celtic, pushing them ahead of the joint efforts of the two Rangers clubs (Rangers FC was liquidated in 2012 and phoenix club was started joining the bottom tier of Scottish football (4th level).Rangers FC had won 115 major honours and theRangers three, so their combined total of 118 was beaten by Celtic in December and at the weekend it became 120.

With the Scottish Cup final to come Celtic will be strong favourites to make it 121. Now Rangers FC had claimed that they were the most successful club in the World, something that Celtic supporters always dismissed pointing out that they had never won the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) and that the logical choice for the world’s most successful club would be Real Madrid as they have been Champions of Europe more times that any other club, including Celtic.

Evening Citizen reports on Celtic’s European Cup Final win on 25 May 1967 in Lisbon against Inter Milan.

Celtic has one triumph to their name, becoming Champions of Europe in the most iconic final of them all in Lisbon on 25 May 1967 beating Inter Milan 2-1 in the final.

But if you want to look as this ‘Most Successful Club in the World’ thing along the lines of the Rangers supporters then in fact despite their boastful claims, they were never actually the club with the most honours at all. Just like they’re not the same club after the old one went bust.

According to BBC Sport, Celtic’s total of 120 major honours puts the Scottish Champions in second place behind Egyptian club Al-Ahly who currently have 125 major honours won in their domestic football.

“Celtic’s 55th league title, added to 42 Scottish Cups, 22 League Cups and one European Cup, takes their total of major trophies to 120 – now two more than Rangers (both combined). However, that is only second in the world, with Egyptian club Al-Ahly amassing 125.”

Celtic’s 55th title at the weekend matches the number won by the Ibrox clubs, you may recall them using this number during their one and only title win back in the Covid season of 2020/21 when no supporters were allowed to attend games. The reason for this was simply, they wanted to establish that the previous 54 titles won by the now defunct Rangers FC were actually still theirs – despite the liquidation resulting in over £80m in unpaid creditors.

Celtic Supporters holding up “Bye Bye Rangers” and “RIP Rangers 1872-2012” banners. Photo Geo (The Celtic Star)

They claimed the trophies but not the debts, saying that it was the holding company and not the club that went bust and anyway clubs can’t die. They never shouted about title 47 or 51. They just celebrated winning the league, maybe a double or even a treble. That’s what fans in Scottish football have always done.

So Celtic supporters are only concerned with title 56 because it will take us ahead of the combined Rangers efforts if it’s won next season. And it could also take us closer to our Egyptian friends and new rivals Al-Ahly.

Unlike others, Celtic will never claim something that belongs to another club, Al-Ahly deserves the respect that their achievement merits. As Brendan Rodgers said at the weekend, winning titles in Scotland is far from easy and the same will be true in Egypt.

Perhaps in a year or so Celtic and Al-Ahly could arrange friendly match – maybe home and away – in friendship and mutual respect for each other. The winners could even challenge Real Madrid to a play-off! Now that would be something.

Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

For now Celtic are the finest team in Scotland. I hope that you agree.

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