THE VITALS:

Team: Celtic

Brand: Nike

Era: 2007-08 (Used for the 2007-08 Scottish Premier League Season)

Name/Number: -

CONDITION: VERY GOOD

The shirt arrives in very good condition and in fact, had the sponsor not been removed, this shirt would be classified as being excellent as the material shows little to no signs of wear, while the crest and embroidery are also in fine condition .

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Medium

Pit to Pit Measurement: 20 inches

Shirt Length: 28.25 inches 

Made using Nike’s ‘Nike Fit’ template that they introduced in 2007; the dimensions of this shirt will provide a very relaxed medium and may also be suitable for a size large who enjoys a more fitted jersey.

DESCRIPTION:

Nike paid homage to Celtic's European Cup victory in Lisbon in 1967 by commemorating the landmark occasion on the clubs crest for both the home and away shirts ahead of the 2007-08 season! Whilst the home shirt utilised the classic white and green hoops; the away shirt was coloured using a classic dark green and grey motif! Much like the home shirt, the away shirt also utilised a hoop neck collar and the minimal grey accents gave the shirt a very rustic and vintage feel and look to it. This shirt will no doubt go down as one of the finest Celtic shirts that Nike produced!

THE SEASON:

A successful 2006-07 season for Celtic saw ‘The Bhoys’ successfully retain the Scottish Premier League title by a whopping 12 points as well add a record 34^th Scottish Cup title to their resume! The club were also impressive in Europe, defeating the likes of Manchester United and Benfica at home, only being eliminated in the Last 16 by eventual winners AC Milan by way of a 93^rd minute Kaka goal at the San Siro! To continue this upward trajectory; Gordon Strachan was backed well in the transfer market as: Massimo Donati, Andreas Hinkel, Georgios Samaras and Scott Brown were amongst a series of new exciting arrivals to Celtic Park!

The campaign began at home to Kilmarnock with a disappointing goalless draw, in what was the first of six games in August. The champions would come from a goal behind to see off Falkirk 4-1 in what was a tune-up match ahead of their trip to Moscow to meet Spartak Moscow for the 1^st Leg of their UEFA Champions League Play-Off. Celtic would come away from the Russian capital with a priceless 1-1 draw on August 15^th, and then 4 days later, they would again come from a goal behind to see off Aberdeen 3-1 at Pittodrie Stadium. On home soil, they would dismantle Hearts 5-0, before the crucial visit of Spartak Moscow on August 29^th also ended 1-1. With no winner after extra time, penaties were needed to determine who would be a part of the Group Stage draw, and Celtic would prevail 4-3 to join Europe’s elite in the next phase of the competition!

Their league form went from strength to strength; beating St Mirren and Inverness by 5-1 and 5-0 score’s respectively to make it 22 goals scored inside of their opening 6 league outings! The Group Stage of the Champions League would see them face familiar foes in both Benfica and AC Milan, while Shakhtar Donetsk were the fourth team in what was going to be yet another difficult group to navigate. Celtic would get a harsh reminder of this as they were beaten 2-0 by Shakhtar on Match-Day 1. 5 days after that set-back, they would lose to Hibernian 3-2 at Easter Road; a result that allowed Rangers to leap frog them at the top of the table. The champions of Scotland regroup by beating Dundee FC in Scottish League Cup and then Dundee united in the league.

This set the stage for the visit of AC Milan to Celtic Park on October 3rd! The European Champions were kept at bay for an hour, and then Stephen McManus would put Celtic ahead! Kaka would equalise from the spot shortly afterward, before Scott McDonald scored a 91^st minute winner to earn Celtic an incredible 2-1 win! The first Old-Firm Derby of the season took place on October 20^th at Ibrox, and it was a day to forget for the visitors as Rangers won 3-0 and went joint top with Celtic with 22 points apiece. A month that began so brilliantly would end in disappointment, as following the defeat to Rangers; Celtic would lose to Benfica in Lisbon; ironically as the club’s shirt celebrated the 40^th anniversary of winning the European Cup in Lisbon, and were also eliminated from the Scottish League Cup by Hearts.

November by contrast was a fine month for Gordon Strachan’s side as they defeated Kilmarnock and Aberdeen in the league, and won their pair of home outings against Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk to complete a 100% home return in the Group Stage for the second season running! Crucially, it also guaranteed Celtic a place in the Last 16 also, making the visit to San Siro on December 4th where they were beaten 1-0 a dead rubber of sorts. Their reward would be a 3^rd tie this decade against the mighty FC Barcelona in 2008! In the league, Celtic would experience yet another patchy month as they won 3 of their 5 outings, meaning that they would go into 2008 trailing Rangers by 4 points.

Rejuvenated by the 2 week hiatus, Celtic began the defence of their Scottish Cup title by defeating Stirling Albion 3-0, and then both: Kilmarnock and Falkirk would be felled by 1-0 score-line’s to complete a clean sweep of wins in January. Kilmarnock would be beaten again, this time by a 5-1 margin in the Scottish Cup on February 2^nd! With less than 3 weeks before Barcelona came to Celtic Park; the wins kept coming as Aberdeen and Hearts were put to the sword, taking their win streak to 8 in all competitions.

The biggest fixture of 2008 thus far arrived as Barcelona came to town on February 20^th! Celtic would take the lead on two occasions, but in the end, would lose 3-2 at home in an exciting clash at Celtic Park; their qualification hopes however, were severely compromised, having failed to stop Barca winning. February would end on a high nevertheless, as they added St Mirren and Inverness to their list of beaten teams in the streak, and kept pace with Rangers at the top of the table, with just a point separating the two sides and Old Firm Derby to come at the end of March.

The March 1^st victory over Hibernian saw Celtic’s winning run peak at 9, as they were held at home by Dundee United in their following outing. Sandwiched between those games was firstly, the visit to Camp Nou on March 6^th, where Celtic would need to score twice in order to reach the quarter final. It wasn’t to be as Barcelona won 1-0 to win the tie 4-2 on aggregate. In addition, they would battle to a 1-1 draw with Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup to set up a replay at Celtic Park on March 18^th. The month would culminate with not only Celtic being eliminated from the Scottish Cup, losing at home in a domestic contest for the first time since March 2007, but they would also be beaten by Rangers at Ibrox to lose further distance on them in the title race.

April began with a stunning 1-0 defeat at home to Motherwell, fortunately for them, Rangers could only draw themselves, so the arrears didn’t extent farther than 5 points. The defeat would set the stage for an incredible end of season tilt for ‘The Bhoys’ as Motherwell were beaten 4-1 in the reverse on April 13^th. With the benefit of 2 home editions of the Old Firm Derby still to play; Celtic would defeat Rangers 2-1 on April 16^th, and then 3 days later, edge past Aberdeen 1-0. The fourth and final Old Firm Derby of the season took place on April 27^th in what was a must win affair for Celtic. A 5-goal classic at Celtic Park saw Celtic overcome a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2 and blow the title race wide open with 3 games to spare.

 A comeback win over Motherwell on May 3^rd saw Celtic go above Rangers on goal difference, and goal difference would be all that separated the 2 sides heading into the final day of the season on May 22^nd. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink would score the decisive goal in a 1-0 win away at Dundee United as Aberdeen defeated Rangers; allowing Celtic to complete an incredible 3^rd successive league title win!

The notable players that season(s) were:

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Kenny Miller, Georgios Samaras, Maciej Zurawski, Derek Riordan, Scott McDonald, Chris Killen, Massimo Donati, Barry Robson, Jiri Jarosik, Aiden McGeady, Scott Brown, Shunsuke Nakamura, Paul Hartley, Steven Pressley, Mark Wilson, Gary Caldwell, Adam Virgo, Lee Naylor, Stephen McManus, Andreas Hinkel, Dianbobo Balde, Artur Boruc