Celtic endured an agonising 3-2 extra-time defeat at the hands of Jose Mourinho’s FC Porto – but what happened to the Bhoys of 2003?
Rab Douglas – After making more than 100 appearances for Celtic, the Scotland international stopper moved south of the border to sign for Leicester City in 2005. Douglas then embarked on a nomadic career that took in spells at Millwall, Wycombe Wanderers, Plymouth Argyle, Dundee and Forfar Athletic. Douglas signed for Arbroath whilst in his mid-forties but was declared bankrupt earlier in 2017.
Didier Agathe – The right-sided full back played for Celtic between 2000 and 2006 before joining Aston Villa for a reunion with former Hoops boss Martin O’Neill. However, Agathe only featured in a handful of league games for the Villains before departing in 2007 to set up his own academy in France.
Bobo Balde – The former Guinea international was superb during the UEFA Cup campaign – but was sent off in the final loss to Porto. Balde’s Celtic career ended in 2009 after he transferred to Valenciennes – before ending his playing days at Arles-Avignon.
Joos Valgaeren – The defender played over 100 times for Celtic during a successful five year spell. In 2005 Valgaeren moved back to his homeland when signing for Club Brugge – and ended his career in the lower leagues of the Netherlands.
Johan Mjallby – Between 1998 and 2004, Mjallby won three league titles in his six seasons at Celtic Park, The imposing central defender returned to the club in 2010 to become assistant manager to Neil Lennon – before resuming his managerial pairing with Lennon by becoming Bolton Wanderers’ assistant in 2014. Presently, Mjallby is the manager of Swedish side Västerås SK.
Alan Thompson – The former Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers and Aston Villa midfielder was instrumental to Celtic throughout the 2002/03 UEFA Cup run – including scoring in a 2-0 quarter-final victory over Liverpool at Anfield. However, as with many of the 2003 winning side, Thompson fell out of favour once O’Neill had departed as manager.
Thompson saw out his career with a transfer to Leeds United before becoming a coach; first at Newcastle and then returning to Celtic under Lennon’s tenure. After leaving Celtic for a second time, Thompson has been part of Lee Clark’s backroom staff at Birmingham City, Blackpool and Bury.
Paul Lambert – The current Wolverhampton Wanderers manager joined Celtic shortly after winning the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund in 1997 – captaining the Hoops to their 2003 UEFA Cup triumph. Lambert left Celtic after eight years and more than 200 games, before ending his playing career with a short stint at Livingston.
As a manager, Lambert had a year in charge at Livingston, two with Wycombe, and then jobs at Norwich City (where he led the Canaries from League One to the Premier League with back-to-back promotions) and Blackburn Rovers.
Neil Lennon – The former Northern Ireland international often cut a controversial figure during his playing days – particularly on Glasgow. Whilst at Celtic, Lennon won five league titles and eleven trophies in total, before short stays at Nottingham Forest and Wycombe prior to his retirement in 2008.
Lennon took up a coaching role at Celtic under managers Gordon Strachan and Tony Mowbray and was offered the chance to manage the club in 2010 upon Mowbray’s departure.
Perhaps the highlight of Lennon’s managerial career to date remains the defeat of Barcelona in the group stages of the Champions League. Lennon’s next job was at struggling Bolton, where an unproductive spell resulted in his departure – and eventual return to Scotland to manage current employers Hibernian.
Stiliyan Petrov – After a marvellous Celtic career that took in 65 goals from 312 appearances for the club – in addition to a heavy medal haul to show for his time in Scotland – Hoops’ hero Petrov was signed by O’Neill for Villa in 2006.
The man endearingly known as Stan went on to captain the English side before retiring after being diagnosed with leukaemia in 2012. Petrov admirably battled against the illness to secure arguably his biggest victory of his life – and even attempted a playing return last summer.
Chris Sutton – The former Premier League winner became Celtic’s record transfer when he joined the Bhoys for £6m in 2000 – a fee that remains Celtic’s largest outlay to this day. Sutton was another O’Neill star during his five and a half seasons in Glasgow, with the one-time-capped England international scoring more than 60 goals from what was usually a deeper position to support goal machine Henrik Larsson.
Sutton left Celtic just a matter of months after O’Neill’s departure and had spells at both Birmingham City and Aston Villa – before retiring to become a manager. After for one year at Lincoln City, Sutton moved into media and is currently a pundit for BT and the BBC.
Henrik Larsson – A true Celtic legend and considered one of the best players in the history of the club, Henrik Larsson bagged an incredible 242 goals in 315 Celtic games between 1997 and 2004 – including both goals in the UEFA Cup Final of 2003. Larsson left Celtic in the summer of 2004 and signed for Barcelona for two years, before a return to his native Sweden to play for Helsingborg – a time that was permeated with a loan spell at Manchester United in 2007 before retirement in 2009.
In 2012, Larsson came out of retirement for a brief stint at Swedish lower league side Raa IF – enabling the forward to play alongside his son, Jordan, at the age of 42.
Upon finally retiring, Larsson moved into management with spells at three Swedish clubs – the latter at Helsingborg, where Larsson ultimately oversaw the club’s relegation and his consequent departure followed.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
