Wikipedia

Stephen Welsh

Stephen Welsh (born 19 January 2000) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Scottish Premiership club Celtic.

Stephen Welsh
Welsh with Celtic in 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (2000-01-19) 19 January 2000 (age 24)[1]
Place of birth Coatbridge, Scotland[2]
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Celtic
Number 57
Youth career
Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019– Celtic 41 (2)
2019–2020 → Greenock Morton (loan) 15 (0)
International career‡
2016–2017 Scotland U17[1] 8 (0)
2017–2020 Scotland U19[1] 13 (0)
2021–2022 Scotland U21[1] 10 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 May 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10 June 2022

Club career

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Welsh began his career in the youth sides at Celtic, stepping up to their development side in 2017, and in March 2018, signed a contract with the club until 2020.[3] Alongside fixtures in the SPFL Development League, he featured for the team in the Scottish Challenge Cup.[4][5]

On 29 August 2019, Welsh moved on a season-long loan to Scottish Championship club Greenock Morton.[6] He was recalled by Celtic during January 2020.[7] He made his first team debut for Celtic on 2 February 2020, in a 4–1 win away to Hamilton Academical.[8]

On 6 February 2021, Welsh scored the first senior goal of his career with a header from a David Turnbull corner in the opening minutes of a 2–1 league win against Motherwell.[9] On 13 April 2021, he signed a new contract with Celtic that is due to run until 2025.[10] On 9 December 2021, Welsh scored an early header against La Liga side Real Betis in a UEFA Europa League match where Celtic won 3–2 at Celtic Park in their last group-stage game in the competition that season.[11][12]

On 31 July 2022, Welsh scored the first goal in Celtic's 2022–23 Scottish Premiership opener against Aberdeen in a 2–0 home win.[13] On 10 January 2022, it was reported that Serie A side Udinese had made a loan offer with an option to purchase attached for Welsh, which Celtic chose to reject.[14]

In the summer transfer window, Ligue 1 side Toulouse made an approach for Welsh. However, Celtic remained uninterested in selling the player as manager Ange Postecoglou saw him as being part of first-team plans.[15]

On 18 August 2023, Welsh signed a new four-year contract with Celtic, keeping him at the club until 2027.[16]

International career

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Welsh has represented Scotland at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels.[1] He captained the under-21 side on numerous occasions.[17][18] On 10 June 2022, he played his final game for the under-21s against Denmark in a 1–1 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying draw where he faced Celtic teammate Matt O'Riley.[19][20]

Career statistics

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As of 18 May 2024[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Celtic U20s[a] 2017–18[22] N/A — 1 0 1 0
2018–19[23] — 1 0 1 0
2019–20[24] — 2 0 2 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 0
Celtic 2019–20[24] Scottish Premiership 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2020–21[25] Scottish Premiership 16 1 2 0 0 0 3[b] 0 21 1
2021–22[26] Scottish Premiership 10 0 3 0 2 1 9[c] 1 24 2
2022–23[26] Scottish Premiership 4 1 0 0 1 0 1[d] 0 6 1
2023–24 Scottish Premiership 10 0 3 0 0 0 1[e] 0 14 0
Total 41 2 8 0 3 1 14 1 66 4
Greenock Morton (loan) 2019–20[24] Scottish Championship 15 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 18 1
Career total 56 3 11 0 3 1 18 1 88 5
  1. ^ Appearances for Celtic under-20s/21s in the Scottish Challenge Cup in which age-restricted sides from the Scottish Premiership clubs compete against senior clubs.
  2. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ 2 appearances in the UEFA Champions League, 6 appearances / 1 goal in the UEFA Europa League, 1 appearance in the UEFA Conference League
  4. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Champions League

Honours

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Celtic

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Stephen Welsh player profile". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Stephen Welsh Celtic player profile". celticfc.com. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  3. ^ Henderson, Mark (13 March 2018). "Stephen Welsh signs new contract with Celtic". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Disappointment for 10-man Celtic Colts in Irn-Bru Cup". Celtic F.C. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  5. ^ "ANNAN ATHLETIC V CELTIC COLTS". Annan Athletic F.C. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  6. ^ Hendry, Mark (29 August 2019). "Celtic youngster Stephen Welsh joins Greenock Morton on season-long loan". Evening Times. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  7. ^ "STEPHEN WELSH RECALLED BY CELTIC". gmfc.net. Greenock Morton F.C. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Celtic beat 10-man Hamilton to move seven clear". Sky Sports. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Celtic see off spirited Motherwell for consecutive league wins". BBC Scottish Football. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Stephen Welsh: Celtic defender signs new four-year contract until 2025". Sky Sports. 13 April 2021.
  11. ^ FC, Celtic. "Celtic - Real Betis | 9 Dec 2021". Celtic FC. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Celtic 3-2 Real Betis: Hoops win final group game but injuries for Kyogo Furuhashi and Albian Ajeti". Sky Sports. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Celtic 2-0 Aberdeen: Stephen Welsh and Jota score as the Scottish Premiership champions impress in opener". Sky Sports. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Stephen Welsh: Celtic reject approach from Udinese for defender after Serie A club enquire about an initial loan deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Stephen Welsh: Toulouse make enquiry for Celtic defender". Sky Sports. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Stephen Welsh delighted to commit his future to Celtic". www.celticfc.com. Celtic FC. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  17. ^ Mair, Steven (28 March 2022). "Celtic defender Stephen Welsh calls Scotland under 21 defeat 'worst at any age'". Daily Record. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  18. ^ "Celtic defender Stephen Welsh captains Scotland U21s to clean sheet in Belgium". 67 Hail Hail. 5 June 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  19. ^ "Scotland's Welsh relishing U21 battle with O'Riley". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  20. ^ "%competition_name% (Sky Sports)". Sky Sports. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  21. ^ Stephen Welsh at Soccerway
  22. ^ "Games played by Stephen Welsh in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  23. ^ "Games played by Stephen Welsh in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  24. ^ a b c "Games played by Stephen Welsh in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  25. ^ "Games played by Stephen Welsh in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Games played by Stephen Welsh in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  27. ^ "Dundee United 1–1 Celtic: Ange Postecoglou's side reclaim league title". BBC Sport. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  28. ^ Duncan, Thomas (3 June 2023). "Celtic 3–1 Inverness CT: Ange Postecoglou's side win Scottish Cup to claim treble". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  29. ^ "Hibernian 1–2 Celtic" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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