June Several former
youth academy players left during the month of June. The most notable being
Paul McGowan who went to fellow
Scottish Premier League side
St Mirren after his contract expired.
Ryan Conroy was released by the club and joined
Scottish First Division side
Dundee.
Sean Fitzharris also went to the First Division as he joined
Morton Kelvin Wilson from
Nottingham Forest and
Dylan McGeouch from
Rangers. All three had already signed on
pre-contract agreements and joined Celtic after their contracts expired. Three players also left the club after the expiry of their contracts. Former
Germany and
Sweden internationals
Andreas Hinkel The first match was on 2 July and Celtic lost 1–0 against
Central Coast Mariners. On 7 July
Niall McGinn joined English
League One side
Brentford on a season-long loan. The next day
Graham Carey signed for
St Mirren after Celtic agreed to cancel his contract. On 9 July Celtic played the second match of their Australian tour and beat
Perth Glory 2–0. On the same day Celtic officially signed
Victor Wanyama from
Belgian Pro League club
K. Beerschot AC on a four-year deal. He had signed for Celtic nine days earlier but had to wait to get a
work permit. On 13 July Celtic won the final match of their Australian tour as they beat
Melbourne Victory 1–0. Celtic's last friendly before the start of the league campaign was a 1–0 away win over
Championship side
Cardiff. Due to the fact that the
2011–12 Scottish Premier League started several weeks earlier than usual, Celtic's first competitive match came on 24 July. Goals from
Ki Sung-yueng and
Anthony Stokes secured victory over
Hibernian, although
Gary Hooper also missed a penalty in the match played at
Easter Road. Two days later
Efraín Juárez moved to
La Liga side
Real Zaragoza on loan. Celtic's next game was another friendly against
Premier League team
Wolverhampton Wanderers which they lost 2–0. Celtic then finished second in the
2011 Dublin Super Cup after losing 2–0 to
Inter Milan on 30 July and beating a
League of Ireland XI 5–0, the next day. The other team competing was
Manchester City who won the competition.
August On 3 August, Celtic lost 2–0 against English
Premier League side
Swansea City at the
Liberty Stadium. The next day
Darren O'Dea signed for English
Championship side
Leeds United on a season long loan. Celtic were then drawn against
Swiss Cup winners
FC Sion in the play-off round of the
Europa League. On 7 August Celtic resumed their SPL campaign with a 1–0 win over
Aberdeen,
Anthony Stokes scored the winner. However, the match was overshadowed by
Emilio Izaguirre suffering a broken ankle which was expected to keep him out till the new year.
Josh Thompson then went to Championship side
Peterborough on loan. On 17 August,
Fraser Forster joined on a loan deal from
Newcastle United, having spent the previous season as first choice goalkeeper at Celtic. On 21 August, Celtic suffered their first home defeat to
St Johnstone since 1998 when
Dave Mackay scored to give the away side a 1–0 victory.
Richie Towell went to
Hibs for a second loan spell.
Mohamed Bangura also joined the club in a £2.2 million deal from
AIK Stockholm.
Badr El Kaddouri joined on a six-month loan from
Dynamo Kyiv.
Shaun Maloney moved to English
Premier League side
Wigan Athletic for £1 million.
September Sion won 3–1 on aggregate, however were found guilty of fielding ineligible players by
UEFA and were excluded from the competition. As a result of this Celtic were awarded both matches as 3–0 wins and took Sion's place in the group stage along with
Atlético Madrid,
Udinese and
Stade Rennais. On 5 September,
Morten Rasmussen joined Turkish
Süper Lig side
Sivasspor, on a short-term loan, until December. Celtic drew
Ross County in the third round of the
League Cup and beat the home side 2–0 at
Victoria Park. Celtic were then drawn to play Hibs in the quarter-final.
October On 2 October, Celtic lost 2–0 to
Hearts at
Tynecastle with winger
Kris Commons getting sent off. This defeat left Celtic in third place, 10 points behind leaders Rangers. In the following match, Celtic drew 3–3 with
Kilmarnock at
Rugby Park. Kilmarnock had been leading 3–0 at half-time but two goals from
Anthony Stokes and a
Charlie Mulgrew header brought Celtic back into it. Following the Kilmarnock game, Celtic travelled to France to play
Rennes in
UEFA Europa League action. Rennes led 1–0 at half-time after a mix-up between
Cha Du-ri and
Fraser Forster, but
Joe Ledley scored in the second half with a header to secure a draw. The Bhoys returned to
Scottish Premier League action defeating
Aberdeen 2–1 at
Celtic Park on 23 October 2011.
Hibernian were the opponents for the final two games of October. Celtic won 4–1 in the
Scottish League Cup before the Edinburgh team secured a 0–0 draw in the
Scottish Premier League tie at Celtic Park on 29 October 2011.
November Stade Rennais were Celtic's first opponents of November in the Europa League. Celtic won the match 3-1 thanks to an
Anthony Stokes double and a third from
Gary Hooper. On 5 November 2011, Celtic were third in the
Scottish Premier League behind leaders
Rangers, who were 15 points clear of their rivals, and
Motherwell. Celtic then won four Scottish Premier League ties in November, defeating
Motherwell 2–1,
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2–0,
Dunfermline 2-1 and
St Mirren 5–0. November ended poorly for Celtic after
Atlético Madrid won 1–0 in a
UEFA Europa League tie at Celtic Park, thanks to a goal from
Arda Turan in the second half. However, the excellent league form during November ensured Celtic won a clean-sweep of monthly awards with
Neil Lennon winning SPL Manager of the Month,
Gary Hooper winning SPL Player of the Month and
James Forrest winning SPL Young Player of the Month.
December Celtic continued their excellent league form throughout December, winning all five of their
Scottish Premier League games. A solitary goal from
Gary Hooper in the first half was enough to defeat
Dundee Utd whilst a
Victor Wanyama strike from 25 yards saw off the challenge of
Hearts at Celtic Park the following week. Celtic travelled to Italy to face
Udinese in the
UEFA Europa League and claimed a 1–1 draw, a result which meant they would exit the tournament at the group stages.
Gary Hooper added to his seasonal goal tally in a 2–0 win over
St Johnstone at
McDiarmid Park.
Georgios Samaras scored both in a 2–1 home win versus
Kilmarnock. Celtic's last league game of 2011 was a home game against arch-rivals
Rangers.
Joe Ledley scored the only goal of the game as Celtic won 1–0. The result meant that Celtic had overturned a 15-point deficit in the
Scottish Premier League and moved top of the league, two points clear of Rangers in the title race. ==Competitions==