25 Years Ago Today: The Day The Famous Celtic Huddle Was Born

The Celtic huddle has become almost as iconic as the hoops these days and it was first introduced by Tony Mowbray on this day in 1995.

Huddles have been common among sporting teams for some time. At Celtic, it used to take place in the dressing room during the 1940s, when John Hogan introduced a huddle to motivate the team.

It became a Celtic tradition on the pitch in 1995 though, thanks to former Captain Tony Mowbray. Mogga felt it would be a good way of showing unity amongst the team during a difficult period, though it was reported that it was due to the death of his wife. However, Mowbray later refuted that claim.

The inaugural match attributed to the introduction of the Huddle at Celtic was an away fixture against Kickers Emden in Germany. Present in that Huddle were: Bonner, Martin, McKinlay, Mackay, Mowbray, Grant, McLaughlin, Vata, Van Hooijdonk, Walker, Collins.

The Huddle has since gone on to become a huge part of Celtic’s pre-match ritual, and provokes a huge roar as the players break from it on European nights.

In 2010, the Green Brigade started up a mass Huddle in the stands. It was a new phenomenon which quickly caught on and soon enough Celtic Park was a mass green and white huddle every second week. It is part of the Celtic culture or, as Tony Mowbray put it himself: “It’s in the fabric of Celtic now.”

Mowbray also described the origins of the idea when he returned to the club as manager: “I don’t like to put a patent on it. But I take a great sense of pride in it. It was nothing to do with my wife, as has been wrongly reported. It came out of adversity. The Celtic players needed to show real unity and togetherness. We needed to show the supporters we cared.”