Celtic strike Indian club partnership deal

CELTIC have strengthened its historic footballing relationship with India by securing a deal to provide coaching and development services to a top-flight team in the country as part of a partnership scheme run by the club.

Celtic Park. Picture: John Devlin

I-League side Salgaocar FC have already benefitted from coaching by the Scottish club’s staff and community programmes, and will share “in the club’s expertise in developing top class footballers” via coaching camps, training tours to Celtic, and training tours to Glasgow.

The Parkhead side already have a presence in India via their work with the Mahindra Group, a conglomerate through which the club has helped train 3,000 young footballers across the country. The club was also the first in Europe to sign a player from the Indian sub-continent, Mohammed Salim, in 1936.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell said: “The Celtic International Club Partnership Programme is a very exciting programme for the club and we are delighted to welcome Salgaocar FC to be part of it and to the Celtic family.

“Celtic’s connection with India has been longstanding, however this is the first time we have developed a relationship with another professional club in this region. We are excited to see what can be developed from this unique relationship.”

Shivanand V Salgaocar, the S algaocar Football Club president, said: “We at Salgaocar FC are delighted to be closely associated with Celtic FC.

“At the heart of this relationship is a shared philosophy that is devoted to the promotion and development of young, local talent. This is the beginning of what we hope to be a longstanding and highly fruitful association.”