The American stars who have played for Celtic over the years

As Celtic embarks on another pre-season tour of the United States, Brendan Rodgers's Scottish champions play their first USA Tour match against DC United in Washington in the early hours of Sunday, July 21, before going head-to-head in two mouthwatering glamour clashes against Manchester City on Wednesday, July 23, and Chelsea on Saturday, July 27.

The Celtic Way decided to dig into the archives - in particular, the Celtic Wiki which helped fill in some of the blanks - to find out which players from 'The Land of the Free and The Home of the Brave' have worn the Celtic shirt.

John Blackwood (1899)

According to the wonderful Celtic Wiki site: "John Blackwood signed for Celtic as a striker from Glasgow side Petershill in 1899. He was signed after a trial match for Celtic v The Kaffirs (a South African team from Orange Free State) on 21 Sep 1899.

‘The Kaffirs‘ were the first black tourist team to play in the UK, so it’s an interesting landmark in football and a show of egalitarianism that Celtic are a small part in this piece of history."

Blackwood enjoyed the briefest of Celtic careers making just a solitary league appearance in a 2-0 home defeat to Hearts on 30th September 1899 played in adverse conditions. The Glasgow Herald match report included this interesting excerpt: “The Hearts played their usual team, but the Celts made an experiment - one, we venture to state in playing Blackwood (Petershill) in the centre. It was a trying introduction to first-class football, and the Celtic paid the penalty, as Blackwood was seldom noticed during the game.”

For the following match, the great Sandy McMahon returned to the first team. Blackwood would go on to play for Partick Thistle, Woolwich Arsenal, Reading, Queen's Parl, West Ham United and Royal Albert.

Sadly Blackwood died prematurely at just 35 years of age in 1913 in Glasgow.

August Julius Hjulin (1925/26)

August Julius Hjulin was Swedish-born but never actually played a competitive match with the Celtic first team. Hjulian was credited as being the first “European” player (from outwith the British & Irish Isles) to play for Celtic, albeit with the reserves.

The American connection comes from the fact that he was the first player on Celtic’s books to have played in the World Cup (1934 with the USA).

Hjulian featured in a few reserve games, and in one game when Celtic ‘A’ side/reserves lost 5-0 to Rangers ‘A’ side/reserves. He also played in a Benefit Match (Peter Kerr) v Hibs on 21st April 1926 as well as featuring in an Edinburgh v Glasgow game on 2nd December 1925

Hjulian emigrated to the US on 4th November 1922, where he settled down and made it his forever home.

John Donoghue (1926)

John Donoghue was born in New York to Irish parents and was signed by Celtic in June 1926 from Shawfield Juniors.

The left-back made his debut in a 3-2 league defeat at Hibernian on 25th September 1926 and he would prove a solid and versatile defender for the Hoops over the following seasons.

The great Jimmy McStay once said of him: “I liked in particular the way he covered for colleagues in moments of pressure… he will go far”.

He won a Glasgow Cup medal in Oct 1926, playing in hurricane conditions, during a 1-0 victory over Rangers at Hampden Park.

His only goal came in a 3-2 league win over Motherwell in April 1927, scoring the first one for Celtic, with the Glasgow Herald match report stating: “Donoghue headed a fine goal“.

He remained at Parkhead until the summer of 1930 when he joined Wrexham before returning to Celtic in 1932 but didn't feature in any matches. He joined French side Excelsior de Roubaix not long after.

Donoghue played in 50 league & Scottish Cup games for Celtic, scoring one goal. He passed away in 1971.

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Dominic Cervi (2009)

Dominic Cervi is not the only American to sign for the club and not play a solitary first-team game. Cervi cut his teeth with four years in college 'soccer' with Tulsa University and enjoyed a brief playing stint with lower division Michigan Bucks.

He was drafted by the Chicago Fire ahead of the 2008 MLS season but decided to try his luck in Europe. He was called into the United States U23 team for Olympic Qualifiers in March and the Toulon Tournament in May. He played one match in each competition (against Honduras and Turkey, respectively) where he came to the attention of Celtic.

He came to Parkhead for a trial period in April 2008 (without a deal being agreed) and in June he received a shock call-up to the full US international squad for the World Cup qualifying double-header with Barbados.

A trial at Portsmouth followed before Cervi headed back to Celtic and agreed to sign in late September. The manager Gordon Strachan proclaimed him "a two-year project" and he was given runouts in the reserve team friendly with Manchester United on 5th November and a bounce game with Morton the following week.

He was loaned to Dundee in December 2010 but did not make an appearance but a year later in November 2011, he was loaned out to Greenock Morton, where he played in 7 matches, keeping a clean sheet on his debut. On 15th May 2012, it was confirmed by goalkeeper coach Stevie Woods that Cervi would be leaving the club without appearing in a competitive fixture.

Manny Perez (2019)

US-born of Mexican descent) Manny Perez was another surprise signing at the end of the January transfer window. Billed as a future long-term prospect. Perez had represented the USA at U20 level and was named Player of the Year in the USA Soccer Development Academy.

He was loaned straight back to North Carolina FC for further experience after his signing as the supporters waited to see what kind of Celtic player he would be.

However, Covid destroyed any chances he had of making the grade at Celtic as he became stranded back home in the United States. Perez ended up joining Portland Timbers in 2021 after failing to feature for Celtic at any level.

Andrew Gutmann (2019)

Andrew Gutmann had previously enjoyed a one-week trial with Rangers in 2018 where he was labelled as: “one of the best players in college soccer”.

A year later, he ended up on Celtic’s radar having won the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Player of the Year Award in the US as well as The Hermann Trophy, which is considered the most prestigious award for a US college player.

He came to Celtic on trial in January 2019 intending to sign only for the deal to supposedly fall through. On the final day of the transfer window, he put pen to paper but was immediately loaned back to Nashville FC.

The MLS disapproved of the loan and he returned to Celtic before he secured a loan back to the US with Charlotte Independence within days.

He was out of sight and out of mind in the US as Celtic's 10-in-a-row bid faltered badly amid Covid restrictions. Gutman eventually completed a permanent transfer to Atlanta Utd on 12 March 2021, where ironically he was sent on loan to New York Red Bulls which was managed by ex-Celtic manager Ronny Deila.

He was another example of a Stateside player who never featured in a first-team match for Celtic.

(Image: SNS Group)

Timothy Weah (2019)

Timothy Weah is the son of legendary Liberian striker George Weah. He enjoyed a largely successful loan spell at the club in 2019 but the joy was to last a few short months.

He was born in the US and chose to represent the country of his birth despite his father becoming the 25th President of Liberia. When at PSG Weah made the highly prestigious NxGn 2019 list of the top young talents in the world. PSG boasted world-class players in the shape of Neymar, Edison Cavani and Kylian Mbappe, so young Weah ended up at Celtic to gain some valuable first-team experience.

Weah fell in love with Celtic and made his debut on January 19 as a 69th-minute substitute for Scott Sinclair in a Scottish Cup fourth-round match at home to Airdrieonians and scored in a 3–0 win.

His second goal for Celtic, and his first in the league, came in a 4–0 victory over St Mirren on January 23. In February 2019 he was added to Celtic's Europa League squad.

With Celtic, he won the Scottish Premiership and was all set to feature in the Scottish Cup final but his loan spell at Celtic was terminated early by the club in May after he was selected to represent the USA for the Under-20 World Cup, causing the loan spell to be terminated early as he missed the 'Treble-Treble' showpiece. Weah made a total of 13 appearances for Celtic scoring four goals. He has since gone on to turn out for Lille and Juventus.

For the Celtic supporters, Weah's stint was a short and sweet spell while it lasted.

Cameron Carter-Vickers (2022 to present day)

Celtic's defensive colossus arrived at the club in the 11th hour of the transfer window on 31 Aug 2021 to bolster new manager Ange Postecoglou's squad. He arrived on loan with an option-to-buy clause inserted for Celtic. Carter-Vickers's father was Howard Carter, who was an American basketball player who spent his professional career in the NBA and Europe before becoming a French citizen.

CCV made an incredible debut, winning man of the match, and scoring an unexpected opening goal in a 3-0 Scottish Premiership win over Ross County.

He has been a consistent player and rock in the Celtic defence ever since. His physical frame led to the nickname of The Fridge after the old 1980s American footballer. He is rock-solid, reliable, dependable and unflappable.

In April 2022 he effectively secured Celtic the league title when he scored the winner in a 2-1 win over Rangers at Ibrox after a scramble in the box.

He signed on permanently in the summer of 2022 and put in a performance for the ages when he turned in a man-of-the-match display in a 1-0 victory in the Scottish Cup semi-finals over Rangers at Hampden in April 2023, after which he was rested for the rest of the season to undergo knee surgery. This match signalled the end of Carter-Vickers's season and set Celtic up for the domestic treble.

Carter-Vickers proudly flies the USA flag for Brendan Rodgers's present-day side. The American has been a revelation since he pitched up in Glasgow's east end three years ago winning seven of the nine domestic trophies on offer - three Scottish Premierships, two Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups. He is by some distance the most successful American player to have represented Celtic.