August 20, 1892: Celtic Park Opens

August 20, 1892: Celtic Park opens in the Parkhead neighborhood, on the East Side of Glasgow. It is the most honored stadium in Scotland.

It was actually the 2nd stadium with the name. The Celtic Football Club was founded in 1888, as an advocacy group for poor people of Irish descent in Glasgow. As the team's success grew, winning 52 League Championships and 40 Scottish Cups through the 2021-22 season, and the 1967 European Cup (forerunner of the UEFA Champions League), Celtic became, far beyond America's Boston Celtics basketball team and the University of Notre Dame "Fighting Irish" football team, the most popular sports team among the world's Irish diaspora.

(UPDATE: As of the 2025-26 season, the count is 56 League titles and 43 Scottish Cups.)

And Celtic Park became known as "Paradise." It gained lights in 1957. The Taylor Report, written in the wake of the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster, mandated that all British stadiums be converted to all-seaters, and Scotland was not permitted to allow exceptions. This led to a redevelopment, so crowds like the record of 83,500 to see their New Year's Day 1938 win over Glasgow arch-rivals Rangers were no longer possible, limiting them to 34,000 seats -- had they simply put seats where there had previously been only terraces, without building new stands.

In the Summer of 1994, the North End "Jungle," East Terracing and West Terracing were demolished, with only the structure of the Main Stand left intact. Celtic played their home games at Hampden Park during the 1994-95 season. The North Stand, the Main Stand (south), and a temporary West Terrace were ready for the 1995-96 season. The East Stand was ready for 1996-97. And in 1998, the new Jock Stein Stand, named for their greatest manager (and also a very good player), opened on the west. Capacity is 60,411. What had been "Paradise Lost" had been regained.

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August 20, 1892 was a Saturday. In America, professional sports was pretty much limited to baseball's National League, and these games were played:

* The New York Giants split a doubleheader with the Cleveland Spiders, at League Park in Cleveland. The Giants won the opener, 6-4. The Spiders won the nightcap, 3-2. The Spiders were 1 of the 4 teams the NL consolidated out of existence after the 1899 season, making the American League team known for most of its existence as the Cleveland Indians possible. This version of League Park would be their home from 1901 to 1909, before a replacement of the same name opened on the site in 1910, and was used until 1946.

* The Brooklyn Bridegrooms, so named because several players had gotten married in a single off-season a few years earlier, beat the Chicago Colts, 9-6 at South Side Park in Chicago. The Colts became the Cubs in 1903, and the Bridegrooms the Dodgers in 1911.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Beaneaters, 5-1 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. The Beaneaters became the Braves in 1912.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0 at League Park in Cincinnati. Yes, both Ohio teams played at stadiums named League Park. This one would be replace with another park on the same site in 1902, and another in 1912, which would eventually be named Crosley Field.

* The Louisville Colonels beat the Washington Senators, 4-2 at Eclipse Park in Louisville, Kentucky. Both teams would be eliminated after 1899. While this made the AL's Washington Senators possible, Louisville has never had another major league team.

* And the St. Louis Browns beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-4 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Orioles were also discarded after 1899. The Browns became the Cardinals the name year. Sportsman's Park would be replaced by new parks of the same name, on the same site, in 1898 and 1909. The AL would have a St. Louis Browns, but they moved for the 1954 season, becoming... the Baltimore Orioles.