The five best Celtic youngsters to come through the academy since 2000

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Celtic’s academy is one to be proud of throughout the years.

In the past we’ve been blessed enough to have the likes of Paul McStay and Billy McNeil come through and wear the green and white.

It has been a proud part of Celtic history and a tradition that will keep on going until the end of time.

Supporters have seen some true greats at Celtic Park, especially since the turn of the century. But who are some of the best to come through the academy since 2000?

• READ MORE: Scott Brown revealed what Gordon Strachan said to convince him to leave Hibernian to join Celtic

Kieran Tierney

Kieran Tierney is Celtic through and through and although he left in 2019 to join Arsenal, he returned to his boyhood club in the summer of 2025.

Tierney made his debut as a teenager on 22 April 2015 against Dundee in a Scottish Premiership match as an 81st minute substitute.

The following season would see him break into the first team and become a regular, featuring over 30 times.

He has since been captain of the club and in his second spell, is one of the senior figures in the squad.

Callum McGregor

Club captain Callum McGregor has been here for as long as time, but had to work his way into contention.

A loan away to Notts County got him ready for the 2014/15 season, when he scored on his first-team debut against KR Reykjavik in a Champions League qualifier.

Since then, McGregor has been at the heart of the midfield, and even took on the armband when Scott Brown left.

He is still going strong now and can safely be called a Celtic legend.

James Forrest

James Forrest is Celtic’s most decorated player of all time and will probably hold that record for some time.

The tricky winger has never known anything different to the Bhoys and like McGregor, scored on his debut in a 4-0 win against Motherwell.

Since then, Forrest has gone on to score in every season for the Bhoys, and his final day of the season equaliser against St Mirren means he is in a goalscoring pantheon that features Bobby Lennox.

Aiden McGeady

Easily one of the most skilful players to come out of the Hoops academy, Aiden McGeady had the ability to get bums off seats at any given moment.

The Republic of Ireland international struggled with injury at times but his standout season was in 2007/08 when he contributed eight goals and 24 assists in a remarkable season.

He would leave the club in August 2010 to join Spartak Moscow for a fee just shy of £10m. At the time, it was a record fee received for a player in Scotland.

Shaun Maloney

There is nothing quite like making your senior debut in a Glasgow derby and it was the perfect one for Shaun Maloney as the Bhoys hammered Rangers 3-0 in their own backyard.

Maloney was perhaps best-known for his set piece delivery and played a role in the run to the 2003 UEFA Cup final, scoring against Stuttgart.

Gordon Strachan brought the best out of him in the 2005/06 campaign after changing his role to become a left midfielder, which led to him being crowned SPFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year, becoming the first person in Scottish football to do so.

He returned to Parkhead after hanging up the boots to work as a youth coach at the academy.