Anthony Ralston
Scottish footballer (born 1998)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthony Ralston (born 16 November 1998) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Scotland national team.
|
Ralston training with Celtic in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anthony Ralston[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 16 November 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | Bellshill, Scotland | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Celtic | ||
| Number | 56 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2007–2015 | Celtic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015– | Celtic | 106 | (7) |
| 2015–2016 | → Queen's Park (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| 2018 | → Dundee United (loan) | 11 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | → St Johnstone (loan) | 22 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016 | Scotland U19 | 6 | (0) |
| 2017 | Scotland U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | Scotland U21 | 5 | (0) |
| 2021– | Scotland | 25 | (1) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:15, 5 April 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:11, 28 March 2026 (UTC) | |||
Club career
Part of the youth system at Celtic since the age of eight,[3] Ralston made his debut for the first team on 11 May 2016, in a 2–1 defeat against St Johnstone.[4] He scored his first goal for the club in a 5–0 Scottish League Cup win over Kilmarnock on 8 August 2017.[5] He made further appearances early in the 2017–18 season, including a UEFA Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain,[6][7] but then suffered a knee injury in late September.[8] 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.[8]
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.[9] He made his debut on 20 March, in a 3–2 loss in the league to Queen of the South.[10] In 15 appearances, he helped United reach the semi-final play-off for promotion, scoring two goals, albeit the side lost to Livingston in the semi-final play-off.[10]
On 2 September 2019, Ralston moved to St Johnstone on a season-long loan.[11] 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,[12] 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.[13]
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.[14][15] Media outlets praised his performances in the early part of the season, following goals against Hearts and Dundee.[16] On 2 November 2021, he signed a new long-term contract with Celtic, keeping him at the club until 2025.[3][13]
On 15 December 2021, Ralston headed in a 97th-minute winner against Ross County in a 2–1 away victory for a Celtic side that had been reduced to ten men.[17] It has been assessed as one of the most important moments of the season for Celtic as they went on to win the 2021-22 Scottish Premiership title, as the result kept them within touching distance of Rangers who were four points ahead in the table at that time.[18] At the end of 2022, Celtic signed Canadian Alistair Johnston who quickly became the first-choice right-back, with Ralston's role becoming that of a dependable back-up.[19]
On 26 September 2023, Ralston signed a new four-year contract with Celtic, keeping him at the club until 2027.[20]
International career
Ralston was involved with several Scotland youth squads up to the under-21s.[21]
Selected for the Scotland under-20 squad in the 2017 Toulon Tournament,[22] Ralston played as Scotland beat Brazil under-20s 1–0, which was the nations first ever win against Brazil at any level.[23] The team went on to claim the bronze medal.[24] It was the nations first ever medal at the competition.[25] Selected for the under-21 squad in the 2018 Toulon Tournament.[26] They lost to Turkey under-21s in a penalty-out and finished fourth.[27]
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.[28] He made his international debut in the match[29] as a late substitute for Kieran Tierney.[30] On his second Scotland appearance he scored his first international goal during a 2022–23 UEFA Nations League group match against Armenia.[31]
On 7 June 2024, Ralston was named in Scotland's squad for the UEFA Euro 2024 finals in Germany.[32] A week later, he started the opening match of the tournament, where Scotland lost 5–1 to hosts Germany.[33] He went on to start in both the second match against Switzerland and the third against Hungary as Scotland finished bottom of Group A with one point from three matches.[34][35]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 5 April 2026
| Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Celtic | 2015–16[36] | Scottish Premiership | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| 2016–17[37] | Scottish Premiership | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18[38] | Scottish Premiership | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2[a] | 0 | — | 7 | 1 | ||
| 2018–19[39] | Scottish Premiership | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20[40] | Scottish Premiership | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21[41] | Scottish Premiership | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22[42] | Scottish Premiership | 28 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 12[c] | 1 | — | 47 | 5 | ||
| 2022–23[43] | Scottish Premiership | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24[44] | Scottish Premiership | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25[45] | Scottish Premiership | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | — | 23 | 2 | ||
| 2025–26[46] | Scottish Premiership | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7[d] | 0 | — | 29 | 0 | ||
| Total | 106 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 26 | 1 | — | 155 | 9 | |||
| Queen's Park (loan) | 2015–16[36] | Scottish League Two | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[e] | 0 | 14 | 1 | |
| Celtic U20 | 2016–17[37] | — | — | — | — | 3[e] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||||
| 2019–20[40] | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | — | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||||
| Dundee United (loan) | 2017–18[38] | Scottish Championship | 11 | 1 | — | — | — | 4[f] | 1 | 15 | 2 | |||
| St Johnstone (loan) | 2019–20[40] | Scottish Premiership | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 24 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 149 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 26 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 212 | 12 | ||
- Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
- One appearance in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
- Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, nine appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League, one appearance in UEFA Europa Conference League
- Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearance(s) in Scottish Challenge Cup
- Appearance(s) in Scottish Premiership play-off
International
- As of match played 28 March 2026[47]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 1 | |
- Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ralston goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 June 2022 | Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland |  Armenia | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B |
