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[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 32 (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] 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 August 2022
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 March 2022

Club career

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 seen him as being part of first-team plans.[15]

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

International career

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
As of 29 June 2023[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Celtic 2019–20[22] Scottish Premiership 1000000010
2020–21[23] Scottish Premiership 16120003[lower-alpha 1]0211
2021–22[24] Scottish Premiership 10020219[lower-alpha 2]1232
2022–23[24] Scottish Premiership 4100101[lower-alpha 3]061
Total 3124031131514
Celtic U20s[lower-alpha 4] 2017–18[25] N/A —1010
2018–19[26] —1010
2019–20[22] —2020
Total 0000004040
Greenock Morton (loan) 2019–20[22] Scottish Championship 151300000181
Career total 4637031171735
  1. Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  2. 2 appearances in the UEFA Champions League, 6 appearances / 1 goal in the UEFA Europa League, 1 appearance in the UEFA Conference League
  3. appearances in the UEFA Champions League
  4. 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.

Honours

Celtic

References
  1. "Stephen Welsh player profile". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  2. "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 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  23. "Games played by Stephen Welsh in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  24. "Games played by Stephen Welsh in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  25. "Games played by Stephen Welsh in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  26. "Games played by Stephen Welsh in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  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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