Catholic United FC are an English football club based in Southend-on-Sea. Founded in 1959, the club was born to represent the local Catholic community, who were previously served by Southend Catholic and Catholic Athletic.
In 1968, Catholic United adopted green and white hoops after Celtic Chairman Bob Kelly obliged a request from the club for a set of kits to wear in their Charity Cup Final. To celebrate the gesture, and pay tribute to what became a winning Cup Final kit, it was written into the club’s constitution that the team’s colours must always be the world famous green and white hoops.
Four decades later, the embryonic stages of a renewed Celtic connection were underway as Cameron Carter-Vickers signed for his local youth football side, none other than Catholic United. Performing well as a child, Tottenham Hotspur swooped for the youngster in 2009, when he was aged 11.
Continuing his progression with the Premier League giants, Carter-Vickers made his professional debut during a loan spell with Sheffield United in 2017. He marked the occasion by scoring the winning goal against Bolton Wanderers in the Championship.
Having rarely been given an opportunity at Spurs, Carter-Vickers has gradually developed his career through a number of further loan spells at Ipswich, Swansea, Stoke, Luton and Bournemouth. Now, in the final minutes of the summer 2021 transfer window, the player has earned another loan move to Celtic. The Hoops have an option to buy the defender at the end of the season, and it is fantastic to see history repeating itself with the connection between Catholic United and Celtic being restored.