Anthony Ralston
The talented full-back has been on an incredible journey with Celtic which has taken him from ball boy to facing the elite of Europe in the UEFA Champions League.
At just 18-years-old, Ralston featured regularly in the first-team squad at the begining of the Hoops' 2017/18 Double Treble season and started the home match against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League Group Stage, impressing in his task of marking Neymar, who at that time was the most expensive player in the world.
Recently, Ralston was part of the double winning squad of the 2023/24 season, in which he made his 100th appearance for the Hoops against Kilmarnock in February 2024.
Celtic Highlights
One of his Celtic career highlights was scoring a 97th minute winner against Ross County in a vital 2022/23 SPFL match after the Hoops had been reduced to 10 men, keeping the club close to rivals Rangers in the league.
At the start of his Celtic career, Ralston had his progress hampered by injury and with game time at a premium he had loan spells at Dundee United in 2017/18 and St Johnstone in 2019/20, having previously being on loan at Queen's Park prior to his Hoops debut.
After signing a contract extension at the start of the 2021/22 season he became a crucial part of the Celtic defence, scoring some important goals which then saw him earn a deserved long-term contract until 2025.
In August 2017, he admitted it was a dream come true when he opened his goalscoring account for his boyhood heroes during a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Kilmarnock in a League Cup tie at Celtic Park.
“It was a dream come true for me as somone who has grown up supporting Celtic. It was an unbelievable feeling, to score at Celtic Park.”
Country Bhoy
After a great start to the 2021 season, Ralston was called up to the Scotland senior squad against Denmark, where he made his debut, coming on for former Celt Kieran Tierney. He has since been called up for a number of other qualifying matches including Armenia in June 2022 where he scored his first international goal and played almost every minute for the full international squad at the recent 2024 Euros which featured matches against hosts Germany and Switzerland.
