Located to the south-east of the Eastern Necropolis graveyard in the Parkhead district of Glasgow, Celtic Park was opened on 8 May 1888.

[2] The club had obtained a lease on the site on 13 November 1887,[1] and over the next six months Celtic founder Brother Walfrid brought together a large group of Irish volunteers to build the ground;[3] they erected an uncovered stand with a capacity of around 1,000, laid a nineteen-foot wide track around the pitch (with the aim of hosting cycling events), and created banking around the track to be used as terracing.

[1] Although the ground was built for Celtic, the opening match at the stadium on 8 May 1888 was between the Edinburgh-based Hibernian and Glasgow club Cowlairs,[4] a game that ended in a 0–0 draw with a crowd of 3,000 present.

[1] Hibernian had agreed to play the opening match in order to fulfil a promise that the club's founder and manager Canon Edward Joseph Hannan had made to Brother Walfrid; however, Celtic did benefit from the gate receipts.

Renton's Cameron scored the first-ever goal in the SFL as the visitors won 4–1 in front of a crowd of 10,000.