Why are Celtic called The Bhoys? Nickname meaning explained

Scottish football champions Celtic has mastered the art of winning trophies in their country, having won the domestic league title over 50 times.

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The giants from Scotland are famously known as 'The Bhoys', a nickname that has stuck with the Glasgow-based club for decades. The club has always managed to compete well domestically and has also come to be known as 'Celts' and 'Hoops' since their inception.

But what do these nicknames mean, and what are the stories behind them? GOAL has you covered.

Why are Celtic known as The Bhoys?

Celtic has been known as The Bhoys ever since their inception more than 100 years ago. It is basically the word boys, with an additional letter 'h'.

The extra ‘h’ in Bhoys imitates the spelling system in Gaelic, in which the letter h usually follows the letter b.

The term's first known use dates back to an early 20th-century postcard with pictures of the Celtic team, and it had the label ‘The Bould Bhoys’. People back in the day added the extra 'h' to make it similar to the Irish pronunciation of the word.

What are the other nicknames of Celtic?

Celtic are not only known as The Bhoys. They also have nicknames such as Celts, Tims and Hoops.

Celts and Tims generally refer to both the team and the supporters. Celts has a similarity to the club name Celtic, whereas the origin of Tims is thought to come from a Catholic gang from the early 1900s, which had the word 'Tim' in their name. There are also reports that the word was just rhyming slang for “Bhoys”.

Celtic are also nicknamed 'Hoops' due to the pattern in their jersey. After initially playing in all-white shirts, then in green and white stripes, the team switched to a hoop pattern in 1903 and have stuck with it ever since.