For the first 120 years of its existence, Celtic only fielded male football teams. In the early 1960s Rose Reilly was noticed by a Celtic scout who wanted to sign her, but the scout found out she was female and withdrew the offer. Reilly cried, asking: "Why can a girl not play for Celtic?" A women's section was established in June 2007 when Celtic took over Arsenal North L.F.C., founding a Girls and Women's Football Academy at the same time. Celtic reached the Scottish Women's Cup final in their inaugural year, losing 3–1 to Hibernianafter extra time in May 2008. The team's first silverware arrived two years later as Spartans were beaten 4–1 in the final of the 2010 Scottish Women's Premier League Cup. In October 2012 Celtic were expelled from the Scottish Women's Cup. They had tried to force the postponement of a quarter final with Glasgow City, but the SWF did not accept Celtic's reasons and instead awarded the tie to Glasgow. In August 2013 Celtic faced being thrown out of the national Cup for the second successive season, following a complaint from beaten second round opponents Forfar Farmington. Celtic won the match 5–2 but had named former player Emily Thomson as a substitute in a bid to cup-tie her for the season at her new club, rivals Glasgow City. At the end of 2014 season, Celtic saw a mass exodus of established first team players and promising young prospects, with a number of players' apparent frustration at the lack of ambition on Celtic's part, due to the club looking to cut back their involvement in the women's game. The likes of Gemma Fay, Rhonda Jones, Chloe Arthur and Heather Richards headed for the exit door, while Scotland legends like Julie Fleeting and Suzanne Grant hadn't committed for the following season. Celtic reached their second SWPL Cup final in May 2018, but were beaten 9–0 by Hibernian at Falkirk Stadium. Head coach David Haley said of his beleaguered players: "I'm sure they're as embarrassed as I am". Later that month Haley stood down from first team coaching to concentrate on running the girls' academy. Former Glasgow City coach Eddie Wolecki Black was appointed from Motherwell L.F.C. as his replacement. Celtic announced in December 2018 that their women's team players would be employed as full-time professionals, with the transition beginning in the 2019 season. In doing so they became the first ever professional women's football team in Scotland. Among Wolecki Black's first three signings for the team was his wife, Emma Black. Wolecki Black left his position at the end of the 2019 season, with the club stating they would make further investment to bolster the team's status as a professional operation.
Stadium and facilities
Celtic have used East Kilbride's K-Park Training Academy as their home ground since 2015. From its inception in 2007, the team trained at the newly built Lennoxtown Training Centre outside Glasgow. In 2019, Celtic announced plans to redevelop their older Barrowfield training ground near Celtic Park for use by their youth academy and the women's team, including an indoor pitch and a matchday venue, augmenting the Lennoxtown base which would continue to be used by the men's first team squad.
Former Dundee United player John Holt was the team's manager in their inaugural 2007–08 campaign. Robert Docherty took charge between 2008 and 2012 and was succeeded by Peter Caulfield, who spent six months in position. David Haley was then head coach for five years until stepping down in 2018 to head the club's women's academy. He was replaced by former Glasgow City managerEddie Wolecki Black, who left 18 months later.
