Celtic Football and Athletic Club was formed in 1888 by Sligo-born Brother Walfrid, a member of the Marist Catholic Teaching Order to raise money for poor children, mainly of Irish background, in Glasgow’s poverty- stricken East End. A humble beginning for a club that is now a giant of world football.

It is a club, like fierce arch-rivals Rangers, with supporters in every part of the globe. Indeed, I recall being in a bar on the edge of Harlem after a Floyd Patterson world heavyweight title fight at the Polo Grounds, and listening to two Scottish exiles with US-Glasgow accents debating the respective merits of George Best and wee Jimmy ‘Jinky’ Johnstone, rated by many as the greatest Celt of them all who died two years ago from the dreaded Motor Neurone Disease.

No longer will questions on Celtic go unanswered, even the most difficult and obscure from the dim, distant past, thanks to a commendable in-depth encyclopedia just published and compiled by Tom Campbell, a Glasgow academic, and George Sheridan, a lifelong supporter and founder of The Celt, a fanzine with a strong historical bent.

This is not a dry-as-dust tome nor 352 pages of cold statistics, but a high-quality book with an astonishing amount of research woven into an entertaining A to Z narrative. I read it from cover to cover digesting many interesting and previously unknown facts.

It also details the background of outstanding personalities on the pitch and those in the boardroom who have graced Scottish football’s and FIFA’s corridors of power. All the historic matches, the successes , the failures, are there including the 1939 British Empire Exhibition Trophy which Celtic won defeating Everton 1-0 after extra-time in the final watched by 82,653 at Ibrox where all the tournament fixtures were staged, and, obviously, the 1967 European Cup triumph of the Lisbon Lions, a never-to-be-forgotten night in the club’s history.

Celtic have been called The Bhoys because of that Irish connection, The Tims and The Hoops, but did you know during the First World War they were labelled The Huns – a reference to the feared and powerful German Army.

Characters have abounded at Celtic, none more so than legendary manager, the late Jock Stein, who rivals Liverpool’s Bill Shankly for his famous sayings. When asked what was Kenny Dalglish’s best position he replied: “Stick a jersey on him and never mind the numbers!”

And on defensive football: “The best place for that is in your opponents’ goalmouth”. His verdict on the penalty-shoot-out: “Just a circus act!”

Did you know that Celtic Park, or Paradise as it is called, has been used for promoting other sports including Belfast flyweight Jimmy Warnock’s 15-round non-title win over Benny Lynch? Or do you remember “the Jungle”? It was a covered enclosure for standing spectators originally called The Hayshed but, after the Second World War, it had become dilapidated to such an extent it was nicknamed The Jungle but demolished in 1993-94 to be replaced by The North Stand.

Want to know anything about the greats of yesteryear or today – John Thomson, the goalkeeper who died after an accidental collision with Rangers’ Irish international forward Sam English, Jimmy McMenemy, Patsy Gallacher, Willie Lyon, Johnny Crum, Joe Kennaway, Jimmy Delaney, Bobby Collins, Packy Bonner, Bertie Peacock, Charlie Tully, Neil Lennon, Tommy Gemmell, Henrik Larsson, Shunsuke Nakamura, to name but a few? You will find it in this excellent addition to the library of football.

An affinity has always existed between Celtic and Belfast Celtic whose Irish League departure in 1949 has left a void never adequately filled. Two Glasgow Celtic players, Jimmy Blessington and Jimmy McColl, managed the Belfast club while several have appeared for both – Billy Crone, Bob Davidson, Jim Foley, Mickey Hamill, George Hazlett, Gerry McAloon, Dan McColgan, Harry McIlvenny, Willie McStay, Con Tierney, Johnny Wallace and, of course, Charlie Tully.

Willie Maley was manager of Celtic for 43 years while others to occupy this role were Jimmy McStay (1940-45), Jimmy McGrory (1945-65), Jock Stein (1965-68), Sean Fallon (1975-76), Billy McNeill (1978-83), David Hay (1983-87), Billy McNeill (1987-91), Liam Brady (1991-93), Lou Macari (1993-94), Tommy Burns (1994-97), Wim Jansen (1997-98), Jozef Venglos (1998-99), John Barnes (1999-2000), Kenny Dalglish (2000, acting), Martin O’Neill (2000-04), Gordon Strachan (2004 to present).

O’Neill, in his five seasons, won three Scottish Cups, three league championships and two League Cups as well as reaching the UEFA Cup Final in Seville.

As Billy McNeill says in the foreword this book now takes its place among Celtic bibliography – an authority ending all arguments – and, perhaps, starting others. A classic of its kind.

Celtic The encyclopedia Tom Campbell and George Sheridan, Argyll Publishing, Glendaruel, Argylll, PA22 3AE, Scotland. Tel: 01369 820229; Price £20 hardback.