Celtic’s five best strikers of all time with incredible 1454 goals between them

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67 Hail Hail take a look at the best forwards in Celtic’s esteemed history.

Fans of a green and white persuasion will speak about ‘the Celtic way’, an exciting attacking brand of football that gets bums off seats.

For the most part of the club’s history between 1888 to present day, that style of football has sent supporters home from Celtic Park absolutely buzzing.

The formula, however, will not succeed if there aren’t men who can score goals constantly with their eyes closed shut.

Thankfully for the Bhoys, they haven’t ever been in short supply of those profiles. In alphabetical order below, we list Celtic’s five greatest forwards of all time.

• READ MORE: The best Celtic goalkeepers of all time

Celtic’s five best forwards of all time

Stevie CHALMERS

• Appearances: 431
• Goals: 236
• Debut Celtic goal: September 1959 (vs Raith Rovers)
• Last Celtic goal: May 1971 (vs Clyde)
• Honours: European Cup (x1), Scottish League (x4), Scottish Cup (x3), Scottish League Cup (x4)

Chalmers would have made this list even if his winning goal for the Hoops in the 1967 European Cup final was his first and last contribution for the club.

But while that’s what the Glaswegian will be mostly remembered for, Chalmers did enjoy a stunning 12-year Celtic career.

Chalmers is Celtic’s fifth-highest scorer with 236 goals, his 85th minute strike against Inter Milan in the heat of Lisbon the most important.

Imagine being the man to seal the first ever European Treble and the only ever legitimate Quadruple?

Kenny DALGLISH

• Appearances: 338
• Goals: 173
• Debut Celtic goal: July 1971 (vs Dumbarton)
• Last Celtic goal: May 1977 (vs Motherwell)
• Honours: Scottish League (x4), Scottish Cup (x4), Scottish League Cup (x1)

Liverpool fans will argue that ‘King Kenny’ is more revered in Merseyside than Glasgow, but that can’t be further from the truth.

A member of the Quality Street Gang, Kenny Dalglish was a phenomenal striker for Celtic during a period when the Lisbon Lions were breaking up.

After a few years in the reserves, Dalglish established himself in the first-team during the 1971-72 season and went on to become a goalscoring machine.

His best individual campaign was 1972-73 when he fired in 39 goals across 56 games, winning the Scottish Division One title.

Dalglish was appointed captain in 1975 before two years later, he left a bitter taste in the mouths of Celtic fans by signing for Liverpool for a British record transfer fee of £440k.

Henrik LARSSON

• Appearances: 315
• Goals: 242
• Debut Celtic goal: August 1997 (vs Berwick Rangers)
• Last Celtic goal: May 2004 (vs Dunfermline Athletic)
• Honours: Scottish League (x4), Scottish Cup (x2), Scottish League Cup (x2)

Only two players in Celtic history have scored more goals for the club than Henrik Larsson, which we’ll come to below.

Signed from Feyenoord in 1997, Larsson was a ridiculously good player and a million miles ahead of any other player in the SPL at the time.

He spent seven magnificent seasons in Glasgow and only failed to score more than 35 goals in two of those campaigns – quite frankly unbelievable.

Larsson suffered a serious double leg break in 1999, but returned with a bang in the 2000-01 season by netting a stupendous 53 goals in 50 games as Celtic won a domestic Treble.

He also scored two goals in the UEFA Cup final against Porto, but it sadly wasn’t enough to win the trophy.

Celtic’s greatest player of all time? Many would argue so.

Bobby LENNOX

• Appearances: 599
• Goals: 301
• Debut Celtic goal: September 1963 (vs Third Lanark)
• Last Celtic goal: April 1980 (vs Hibernian)
• Honours: European Cup (x1), Scottish League (x11), Scottish Cup (x8), Scottish League Cup (x4)

Or does that title belong to this man, Bobby Lennox?

The Lisbon Lion is one of Celtic’s most decorated players ever with 25 major honours won, including the 1967 European Cup.

Lennox was an outside left forward who also operated as a striker, scoring 301 goals in almost 600 appearances for the Bhoys.

He enjoyed two stints for Celtic, the second between 1978 and 1981 after a disappointing spell with Houston Hurricane in the USA.

Incredibly, Lennox played just 10 times for Scotland between 1966 and 1970.

Jimmy MCGRORY

• Appearances: 501
• Goals: 523
• Debut Celtic goal: February 1923 (vs Kilmarnock)
• Last Celtic goal: October 1937 (vs Queen’s Park)
• Honours: Scottish League (x3), Scottish Cup (x5)

Celtic’s greatest ever goalscorer is undoubtedly Jimmy McGrory, who ended up netting 22 more goals than appearances made for the Parkhead giants.

Moreover, McGrory remains the man with the most goals scored in British top-flight football history with a total of 550 goals for club and country.

If you thought Larsson’s 53 goals in 50 games in one season was seriously impressive, then what about McGrory’s record of 62 goals in 46 during the 1927-28 campaign?

McGrory once obliterated Dunfermline Athletic single-handedly in January 1928 when he scored eight goals in one match against them. No other player in British top-flight history has achieved such a feat.

The former Celtic hitman scored an unbelievable 56 hat-tricks across his career, again a British top-flight record that will surely never be beaten.