#7 Celta de Vigo (Home, 2007/2009)

12:29 celta , celta benfica , celta de vigo , celta home shirt , celta uefa cup , football shirt collection , hristo stoichkov , kamel ghilas 0 Comments

Celta de Vigo is specially popular in Portugal. Well, maybe not popular, but pretty well-known. Porto fans love Celta. They really do. And Benfica fans can't hear a single word about them. Why? Well, back in the late 90's, Benfica was a complete disaster. Awful squads, with a lot of low quality players, a huge amount of problems with the board, and also financial problems that made them realease ridiculous videos with appeals for money. Ah, a classic.

At the same time, Celta were doing just fine. A good squad, with great players like McCarthy, Karpin, Makalele, Giovanella, Mostovoi or Revivo. When Benfica faced them in a UEFA Cup match, one could predict the galician side had some good chances of going through. But I think noone expected them to go for a massive and unforgettable 7-0 win at Vigo. Yeah, 7-0. Boavista, my football club, a lot weaker and smaller than Benfica, never had such a day. Our worst european result was against Internazionale, a 1-5 defeat at Bessa. And Inter is, at least, a legendary team. I've seen San Marino defending way better than Benfica that day:


After glorious days both in Europe and in domestic football, Celta is now facing some tougher days. Relegated a few years ago, they keep playing in Liga Adelante, the 2nd division in spanish football. Last season they were close to promotion, but Betis, Rayo and Granada stole the show. But they're still a big deal in Vigo and Galicia. I've been there last year, and they were all over the newspapers. And you could easily spot some Celta scarves and flags in small towns in Galicia. I bought this shirt in Vigo, in a really cool sports shop by the sea. A great finding, actually, as I bought 3 other shirts (one from a mexican club!). My family went to Spain again in July or August, and my brother went there again, buying two more shirts. The seller asked if I wasn't with them this year. Clever.


The shirt is definitly great. Sky blue is Celta's traditional home colour, and it has some red and black details. And the material is also quite good. Umbro did a nice job with this one indeed. Here's Kamel Ghilas wearing it:

Celta also reminds of Hristo Stoichkov, the great bulgarian striker. He's a living legend in Bulgaria, and Barcelona fans seem to love him too. But I believe he does not have many friends in Vigo. He never played for Celta, but they were crazy enough to appoint him as a manager a few seasons ago, after 3 disappointing years in charge of the national team.

In Bulgaria, some important players said they wouldn't play for the country again while Stoichkov was the coach. The resulst weren't good, also, so he was sacked. And Celta thought "ah, great, let's get this bad tempered coach and see what he can do!". He certainly showed them what he could do.

Once he arrived in Vigo, he said that he didn't "believe in tactics". And he really didn't. Once, he started a match in a 2-4-4 formation. Genius? Maybe not. Crazy bastard? Probably.

Stoichkov probably making the headlines for some stupid reason.

And now some more photos of the shirt. That's why we're here in the first place, right?

Nice crest. Too religious though.

One of my latest hauls was a Deportivo Coruña shirt, and Depor is Celta's biggest rival. I'll post it, but maybe not too soon, as I might get in trouble with galician supporters.