West Ham United continue preparations for the 2021/22 season with a challenging pre-season fixture at Scottish Premiership side Celtic at 3pm on Saturday.
The game is being streamed for Club London Members and Season Ticket Holders for free, while supporters can watch on pay television channel Premier Sports, or you can follow the game live via whufc.com and our social media channels.
The Hammers will play their fifth warm-up game of the summer at Celtic Park, having previously won 3-0 at Reading and 2-1 at Northampton Town and drawn 2-2 and 0-0 at Dundee and Leyton Orient respectively.
The 51-times Scottish champions Celtic, meanwhile, have already kicked-off their competitive campaign, drawing 1-1 with Danish side FC Midtjylland in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round first leg at Celtic Park on Tuesday evening.
The Irons will wear their new Umbro Home Kit for the second time in Scotland, and you can get your hands on it now either by visiting our Online Store here, or by visiting one of our four Official Club Stores.
Some 18,000 Celtic supporters will be in attendance on Saturday, but please note that NO away tickets are available for West Ham United fans, in line with COVID restrictions still in place in Scotland, and supporters are advised not to travel to Glasgow.
Team news
Lifelong Celtic supporter and former Bhoys defender David Moyes potentially welcomes back Łukasz Fabiański to his matchday squad, as the Poland international goalkeeper returned to training at Rush Green this week.
Five first-team players remain away on international duty or post-UEFA Euro 2020 breaks - Winston Reid is at the Tokyo Olympic Games with New Zealand, while Declan Rice, Vladimír Coufal, Tomáš Souček and Andriy Yarmolenko are recovering after excelling for their respective countries at the Euros.
Celtic have a new manager in Australian Ange Postecoglou, who has looked to freshen things up after seeing Rangers run away with the Scottish Premiership title last season.
Postecoglu has signed midfielder Liam Shaw and defender Osaze Urhoghide from Sheffield Wednesday, forward Joey Dawson from Scunthorpe United, Israel international striker Liel Abada from Maccabi Petah Tikva, Japanese forward Kyogo Furuhashi from Vissel Kobe, Irish midfielder Bosun Lawal from Watford and Swedish defender Carl Starfelt from Rubin Kazan.
Celtic's squad also includes former West Ham striker Albian Ajeti.
The opposition – Celtic
Celtic FC was founded in a church hall by Irish Marist Brother Walfrid on 6 November 1887, with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the East End of Glasgow by raising money for the charity Walfrid had instituted, the Poor Children's Dinner Table.
Brother Walfrid, who hailed from County Sligo and whose real name was Andrew Kerins, late forged close links with east London, where he continued his work, organising football matches for and showing great kindness to the children in Bethnal Green and Bow.
Back to Celtic and the new football club won its first match against the team who would become their biggest rivals, Rangers, 5-2 in friendly match in May 1888.
Since then, the pair have wrestled for supremacy, locally and nationally, with Celtic winning 51 Scottish titles, 40 Scottish Cups, 19 Scottish League Cups - including seven domestic trebles - and, famously, a European Cup by beating Inter Milan in Lisbon in 1967.
However, in 2020/21 Rangers ended Celtic's bid for a tenth consecutive Scottish Premiership title and the Bhoys ended a season trophy-less for the first time since 2009/10.
Regardless, the club has a huge worldwide fanbase, while Celtic's influence is seen in the number of clubs who have taken their name as part of their own.
With a capacity of 60,411, Celtic's home stadium in the city's Parkhead district, is the largest football ground in Scotland and the sixth-biggest football venue in the United Kingdom.
Previous meetings
The Hammers have visited Celtic Park just once previously, when Harry Redknapp’s side took on Martin O’Neill’s Hoops in a July 2000 friendly.
Paolo Di Canio, who played for Celtic in the 1996/97 season, scored on his return to Glasgow, but goals from Tommy Johnson and Stiliyan Petrov gave the home side a 2-1 win.
West Ham have also welcomed Celtic to east London on three occasions, most famously for Bobby Moore’s Testimonial match in 1970, when Geoff Hurst, Johnny Ayris and Clyde Best scored for the east Londoners in a 3-3 draw.
Previous friendly meetings in 1924 and 1949 ended in a 2-2 draw and 5-2 West Ham victory respectively.
In addition to current Celtic player Albian Ajeti, among the players to have turned out for both clubs were Frank McAvennie, Billy Grassam, John Hartson, Craig Bellamy, Eyal Berkovic, Ian Wright, Marc Rieper, Stuart Slater, Di Canio, Carlton Cole, John Cushley and Jeremie Aliadiere.
How can I follow the game?
As mentioned, only 18,000 home fans will be admitted to Celtic Park, with no West Ham United supporters permitted to attend Saturday's game.
The game is being streamed for Club London Members and Season Ticket Holders for free, while supporters can watch on pay television channel Premier Sports, or you can follow the game live via whufc.com and our social media channels.
You can also follow proceedings on whufc.com and our social media channels, followed by post-match reaction, goals and extended highlights.
