Anthony Ralston

Anthony Ralston (born 16 November 1998) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and Scotland.

Anthony Ralston
Personal information
Full name Anthony Ralston[1]
Date of birth (1998-11-16) 16 November 1998
Place of birth Bellshill, Scotland
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Right-back
Club information
Current team
 Celtic
Number 56
Youth career
2007–2015 Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015– Celtic 37 (5)
2015–2016 → Queen's Park (loan) 10 (1)
2018 → Dundee United (loan) 11 (1)
2019–2020 → St Johnstone (loan) 22 (0)
National team‡
2016 Scotland U19 6 (0)
2017 Scotland U20 5 (0)
2017–2018 Scotland U21 5 (0)
2021– Scotland 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:09, 2 May 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:35, 14 November 2021 (GMT)

Club career

Part of the youth system at Celtic since the age of eight,[2] Ralston made his debut for the first team on 11 May 2016, in a 2–1 defeat against St Johnstone.[3] He scored his first goal for the club in a 5–0 Scottish League Cup win over Kilmarnock on 8 August 2017.[4] He made further appearances early in the 2017–18 season, including a UEFA Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain,[5] but then suffered a knee injury in late September.[6] Ralston signed a long-term contract with Celtic in December 2017, with the deal due to run until the end of the 2021–22 season.[6]

On 16 March 2018, Ralston joined Dundee United on an emergency loan until the end of the 2017–18 season, a side challenging for promotion from the Championship up to the Premiership.[7] He made his debut on 20 March, in a 3–2 loss in the league to Queen of the South.[8] In 15 appearances, he helped United reached the semi-final play-off for promotion, scoring two goals, albeit the side lost to Livingston in the semi-final play-off.[8]

On 2 September 2019, Ralston moved to St Johnstone on a season-long loan.[9]

Upon his return from the St Johnstone loan, Ralston played in only one game for Celtic during the following season, coming in a 0–0 draw against Livingston when several squad regulars were missing due to a Covid-19 isolation issue,[10] and when centre-half Kristoffer Ajer then loanee Jonjoe Kenny were selected at right-back ahead of him following the sale of Jeremie Frimpong, it appeared his time with the club would be coming to an end.[11]

At the start of the 2021–22 season under new manager Ange Postecoglou, Ralston signed a contract extension until May 2022 and started in both legs against FC Midtjylland in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round.[12][13] Media outlets praised his performances in the early part of the season, following goals against Hearts and Dundee.[14] On 2 November 2021, he signed a new long-term contract with Celtic, keeping him at the club until 2025.[2][11]

International career

Ralston was involved with several Scotland youth squads up to the under-21s.[15] In November 2021 he was called up to the senior squad for the first time ahead of a 2022 World Cup qualifier against Denmark, as a replacement for the suspended Nathan Patterson.[16] He made his international debut in the match[17] as a late substitute for Kieran Tierney.[18]

Career statistics
As of 16 December 2021[19]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Celtic 2015–16 Scottish Premiership 100000000010
2016–17 100010000020
2017–18 300021200071
2018–19 411000000051
2019–20 200000200040
2020–21 100000000010
2021–22 154003011100295
Total 275106115100497
Queen's Park (loan) 2015–16 Scottish League Two 10110000030141
Dundee United (loan) 2017–18 Scottish Championship 11100000041152
St Johnstone (loan) 2019–20 Scottish Premiership 22020000000240
Career total 88740611517110210

Honours

Celtic

References
  1. A Record of Post-war Scottish League Players 1946/47 to 2017/18. 7. John Litster and Scottish Football Historian magazine. 2018.
  2. "Delight as Anthony Ralston signs new Celtic contract". Celtic FC. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  3. Davie, Scott (11 May 2016). "St Johnstone 2–1 Celtic". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  4. "Celtic 5-0 Kilmarnock". BBC. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  5. "PSG ace Neymar blanks Celtic teen Anthony Ralston as he tries to shake his hand". Daily Record. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  6. "Celtic full-back Anthony Ralston signs deal until 2022". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  7. "Anthony Ralston joins Dundee United on emergency loan". Celtic. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  8. "Tony Ralston - Player Profile". Arab Archive. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  9. "Ralston joins on-loan". St Johnstone F.C. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  10. Watt, Martin (17 January 2021). "Celtic 0–0 Livingston". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  11. "Anthony Ralston signs Celtic contract extension as reward for early season heroics". Daily Record. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  12. Watt, Martin (20 July 2021). "Celtic 1–1 FC Midtjylland". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  13. Duncan, Thomas (28 July 2021). "FC Midtjylland 2–1 Celtic". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  14. "How Rogic & Ralston have revived careers". BBC Sport. 18 August 2021.
  15. Anthony Ralston at the Scottish Football Association
  16. "Celtic's Anthony Ralston called for Scotland duty against Denmark". The Scotsman. 13 November 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  17. "Scotland 2-0 Denmark: John Souttar and Che Adams fire Tartan Army to home World Cup play-off". Sky Sports. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  18. Lindsay, Clive (15 November 2021). "Scotland beat Danes to earn home play-off". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  19. "A. Ralston". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  20. "Hibernian 1–2 Celtic" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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