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Discussion: original hoops skip?Reported This is a featured thread

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MairtínMacÉinrí
MairtínMacÉinrí
original hoops skip?
Nov 26 2011, 1:01 PM EST | Post edited: Nov 26 2011, 1:01 PM EST
i heard years ago,that the hoops skip was originally worn by Hibs when they first started out,that Celtic "stole" the idea? is there any truth to this? 6  out of 10 found this valuable. Do you?    
antshistory
antshistory
1. RE: original hoops skip?
Nov 1 2012, 11:25 AM EDT | Post edited: Nov 1 2012, 11:32 AM EDT
As nobody else has answered this query, I will give it a go, although my area of expertise is Junior football, not the seniors.

Firstly, I don't think that there is any absolute proof that Celtic nicked the hoops from anyone. It may just be that they got tired of the vertical stripes which they had been wearing for well over a decade by 1903.

Secondly, I have seen three theories put forward about the origin of Celtic's hoops...

a) BELFAST CELTIC - All the pre-World War One photos I've seen show Belfast Celtic wearing vertical stripes and although the photos were in black and white the 'colours' appear to be very similar to the black and gold strip worn by Aberdeen at this time.

b) HIBERNIAN - Hibs wore green and white hoops in 1886/87, the season they won the Scottish Cup, and the season before Celtic were formed. The only difference between the Hibs and Celtic hoops was that Hibs had HFC embroidered across the chest in large gothic letters. The Hibs hoops lasted from 1886 to 1889. Hibs had a huge support amongst the Catholic population of Glasgow at this time and even considered a move to the Oatlands district of the city at the end of the 1880s. Many future Celtic supporters (and directors) supported Hibs during their 1886/87 Scottish Cup campaign, and it is possible that their warm memories of that campaign influenced the choice of a hooped jersey in 1903.

c) ST ANTHONY'S - A story appeared in a book about Celtic (published in the 1980s or 1990s I think) which stated that a Celtic director had gone along to see the Ants play and had been so impressed by the strip that he recommended that Celtic adopt it. The story has grown legs since it first appeared and is now widely believed in the Govan area. However, it cannot possibly be true as Celtic first wore the hoops in August 1903, while the Ants did not play their first match until March 1905. 2  out of 2 found this valuable. Do you?    
antshistory
antshistory
2. RE: original hoops skip?
Nov 7 2012, 12:44 PM EST | Post edited: Nov 7 2012, 12:44 PM EST
Since posting the reply above I have tracked down the book containing the story about St Anthony's and the hoops. It was "Dreams, and Songs to Sing: A New History of Celtic" by Tom Campbell and Pat Woods, published in 1996 by Mainstream Publishing.

The story appears as a footnote on page 59 and doesn't actually state that it was a director who watched the Ants play, contrary to what I was told. It says: "It seems somebody at Parkhead took a fancy to the strip after seeing it worn by the Glasgow junior club, St Anthony's".

As I said above, this would have been quite impossible. But Celtic donated many sets of strips and other equipment to the Ants prior to World War One, so maybe the story got twisted round in the telling? Do you find this valuable?