There’s a point when you realise Celtic isn’t just something you follow – it’s something you carry. Maybe it will hit during a wet Tuesday at Rugby Park. Maybe it’s hearing your dad talk about the Lisbon Lions like he knew them. Either way, the club has a way of pulling people in and keeping them.

But the strange thing about legacy is that, over time, it gets commercialised. What was once raw and grassroots gets polished, licensed, and repackaged. Celtic, in its own quiet way, has been navigating that shift. Successfully? That depends on how you measure success.

From East End Hunger to European Glory

Let’s go back, properly back, to 1887. Celtic wasn’t founded to win trophies. It was formed to feed the poor. Brother Walfrid’s original idea was as much a social enterprise as it was a sporting venture. The club was a response to poverty, not a plaything for investors.

That matters, especially now, because Celtic’s foundations aren’t rooted in business plans or branding exercises. They’re built on solidarity, on a community that had nothing and created something.

And then, decades later, that “something” won the European Cup. Not just any European Cup, but a squad of local lads managed by a Glaswegian beating the best team in the world. Football folklore, yes. But also a reminder: Celtic never needed gimmicks to be iconic.

The Modern Game Doesn’t Wait

Fast forward to today, and football feels less like a game and more like a broadcast platform. Everything’s sponsored; everything’s monetised. The badge still means what it always meant, but now it’s stitched onto limited-edition collabs and streaming intros.

Celtic hasn’t escaped this. There are corporate tie-ins, digital campaigns, and yes, an increasing appearance in places that feel adjacent to football. Some fans embrace it. Others roll their eyes. Either way, the shift is happening, and Celtic’s image, the green and white, the crest, the mythology has become a kind of cultural shorthand, even in corners far removed from Parkhead.

You even see bits of Celtic showing up in football-themed games online. It’s not official, but the colours, symbols, and feel are hard to miss. If you’ve been around Celtic Park long enough, you’ll recognise it straight away. Whether it’s a tribute or just clever marketing – that’s up for debate. One example that stands out is Boomerang Casino’s football games you might just recognise a familiar touch.

What Gets Lost Along the Way

There’s a trade-off when legacy becomes a brand. The stories that meant everything to one generation risk becoming aesthetic to the next. When a club like Celtic shows up in unexpected places, a digital ad here, a themed mobile game there, it begs the question: how much of the soul comes along for the ride?

None of this is unique to Celtic. But it feels more personal when it’s a club built on meaning. When your history is inseparable from your identity, you feel every shift that much more deeply.

That said, maybe it’s too easy to blame the present. After all, nobody’s pretending it’s still 1967. And despite everything- the commercial creep, the algorithms, the content churn- Celtic still manages to feel like Celtic.

Still Standing

You see it in the fans more than anywhere else. The ones who show up week after week, no matter the form. The older supporters who remember ten-in-a-row the first time, and the younger ones who’ve grown up with highlights instead of history. The scarf passed down. They sat in the same section. The songs don’t change.

The reality is, Celtic has changed; of course, it has. But somehow, it hasn’t lost itself in the process. It walks the tightrope, sometimes shakily, between tradition and transition.

You don’t need to romanticise it. You just have to look at it, honestly.

More Than a Club – But Not Untouchable

Celtic’s strength is that it still means something. Not as a product, not as a storyline, but as a lived, emotional experience. You can’t really replicate that. Not with hashtags, not with NFTs, and not with themed spin-offs.

But that mean? It’s fragile. It doesn’t survive by accident. It has to be protected by supporters, by leadership, and by resisting the temptation to cash in every time someone wants to borrow the brand.

Because if we’re being honest, it’s never just about the game. It never was.