Introduction
Calum Montgomery, 26 years old, is a well-known name in the football world. Since three years he is not only playing for Juventus Turin but also being the captain of the club. Having started his career at Celtic in Scotland, Montgomery made the switch to the Italian club after having previously spent two years at Real Madrid in Spain. Having made 84 caps so far he is not only an important player for his clubs but also for his home country Scotland. Read now about the unique and interesting career of Calum Montgomery!
Calum Montgomery on the cover
The Beginning
The date is 27th March 2024. An 18-year old kid from Kilmarnock (Scotland) is getting ready to make his debut for his favourite club Celtic FC. At only 12 years of age he made the switch to the Scottish capital to join the club he supported since the first day he could remember. It was a dream come true to finally being able to make his debut for the senior team after six years in the youth ranks. The referee finally interrupts the match to allow the substitution. It was right back Matty Cash who would leave the field. The moment has come: Calum Montgomery steps onto the field of the legendary Celtic Park for the very first time as a Celtic senior squad player.
The journey to this moment hasn't been easy. Montgomery never was the most technical gifted or fastest player but he wouldn't let himself getting stopped by that. He worked harder than anybody else, a trait which would impress many people that have worked with him. Since his childhood days he mainly played upfront. Even at Celtic he was the main striker for the multiple youth teams he went through. Until newly appointed Celtic FC manager AUTFabi, who joined the club after surprisingly winning the league title with Kilmarnock FC, decided to move Calum to right back. A completely new position which he had never played before. But due to his high work ethic he managed to adapt very quickly and got praise from his youth coaches and especially senior team manager AUTFabi, who would keep an eye on Montgomery and his development.
After making a solid debut (Celtic won 6-0) Montgomery continued being close to the first team and even trained with them regularly. At the end of the season Matty Cash got injured and the young ambitious Celtic manager decided to give Calum a run of games. The result for the youngster was great: 4 league wins with only two goals conceded, a start in the Scottish Cup Final (4-0 against Aberdeen) and two substitute appearances in the Europa League. Sadly they lost the final 1-2 against Lazio after leading until the 80th minute, but AUTFabi told them to be proud of themselves and their wonderful performance. Montgomery personally managed to get one goal and two assists in his first season. Most importantly he got extremely comfortable with his new position.
Celebrating his first career goal May 2024 against Hibernian
Calum's Breakout Season
With such an up-and-coming youngster AUTFabi had to make a difficult decision. After the season the club decided to cash in on right back Matty Cash in order to make space for Montgomery in the starting line-up. Calum was thrilled when he heard about this news. He dreamed about this moment since he was a kid. The current Celtic team looked like the best in decades: Luis Suarez banged in goals like crazy, Ryan Christie was the captain and playmaker of the team, Greg Taylor was Calum's counterpart on the left and Luiz Skraback came in hot as back to back Young Player of the Year winner. There also have been important investments in the transfer market: record signing Jean-Clair Todibo came in to be the new leader in defence, Corentin Tolisso and Robert Lewandowski joined for free and provided essential experience to the team. Additionally to that there have been signings of young talents from South America and Europe in order to built for the future.
And Calum Montgomery was now part of that Celtic team. It still felt like a dream to him. Being massive favourite in all national competitions AUTFabi also focused on continental success. The aim was to get into the knockout stages of the Champions League. A hard task but certainly not impossible.
The start of the season was magnificent for Celtic after winning 17 out of their first 20 league games, while loosing not even once. They also have been able to get a 2-0 win against Rangers in the League Cup Final. The Champions League campaign hasn't started as well as hoped for them. After getting a tough group with Manchester City, SL Benfica and PAOK they only managed to achieve third place. This sent them into the Europe League again like the year before. Montgomery was a vital part of the team and constantly involved in goals while also being solid defensively.
The second half of the season continued to be a success. Finishing the league season unbeaten with only four draws. They also managed to defend their cup win from the year before by winning the penalty shootout against Rangers. Calum was ready to be the fifth penalty taker but to his disappointment it didn't get that far after Rangers missed two. After finishing second in the Europa League the year before, the team managed to reach the final again. After beating Club Brugge, Atalanta, Tottenham and Liverpool only Arsenal stood in their way. It was a dramatic game, especially for Calum Montgomery. No goals after regular time and the teams got ready to kick off extra time. After another 15 minutes of no goals, the first half of extra time was going to end when Montgomery went in for a nasty challenge. Straight red card! It was a harsh but justified decision. Was it all over now? Another second place after coming so close? The referee interrupted the game for a short break right after the foul. Manager AUTFabi gathered all players into a circle and gave a short motivating speech. He then brought Calum into the circle and the Scottish lad made sure to fire up his colleagues. You could see how passionate and focused they were after his speech, they were ready to play their hearts out. And they absolutely did. Arsenal started to dominate and saw almost 70% of the ball in the second half of extra time. But Celtic fought bravely until the end and managed to hold onto a 0-0 draw.
This meant another penalty shootout for the Scottish team just five days after the cup final. Only Celtic left back Aaron Hickey managed to score after three takers from each team but then Juan Castro missed and Gabriel Martinelli evened the score. After one Gunner and two Celtic players scored it was Antonio Marin's time to step up. He had to score or else Arsenal would have lost. It seemed like time was standing still when Marin slowly placed the ball on the spot, made five steps backwards, breathed in twice and started his run. SAVED! Jeroen Zoet saved it! Unbelievable! Celtic have done it! They won the Europa League!
"It was the most crushing moment in my career. Letting my team down and getting them in a very difficult situation. I didn't feel like celebrating but rather only thought how I could apologise to my team mates, manager and most importantly the fans. I am so happy we could overcome the odds and still walk away victorious." - Calum Montgomery, years later when asked about this final.
Montgomery being send off in extra time
On an individual note Montgomery definitely was complete success too. In 45 appearances he picked up 12 assists and two goals. He also made his international debut for Scotland in September 2024. Over the years he continued being a regular for them playing mainly as a right back or striker. Montgomery also won Young Player of the Year and got voted into the Team of the Season.
Not a Youngster Anymore
After his breakout season Calum wasn't just a youngster hardly known by anyone anymore. Instead he was one of the first names on the team sheet of manager AUTFabi. Some may would have crumbled under that pressure or started to behave like rock star. But not him! Calum would work even harder to ensure his starting spot and being a role model for the other young players. Having won the EL Celtic were invited to play in the UEFA Supercup against Champions League winners Barcelona. Ironically the game went to penalties again and Celtic, seemingly penalty experts now, managed to win! High on momentum they continued having a strong rest of the year and even got out of CL group stages by winning five of their six matches and finishing first in front of Porto. Surprisingly Real Madrid missed out and finished only third in front of Rosenborg. They also won the League cup again and were unbeaten in the league so far.
And they continued this form in 2026. A League win with just one draw and one loss and another Cup win for the dominating side.
Our cover star Montgomery had another very good year. In terms of number it was almost the same as last year: two goals and ten assists in 37 games. Overall he continued being one of the best performers in the team, even though he missed out on the team of the year. His personal highlight of the year was being named captain for the very first time. A dream come true for a lifelong supporter of the club.
About two weeks after the season ended the news reported that AUTFabi was going to quit his Celtic Park job to become the new Real Madrid manager. Of course Calum was disappointed that one of the most important people in his footballer life went elsewhere. But he was ready to prove his worth to the new manager. AUTFabi made sure to call every first team player to say goodbye. And he told them nobody knows if their ways will be parted forever. "Maybe we will see us as opponents again, maybe some will train under me again. Who knows what the future holds?"
AUTFabi leaves Celtic FC and Montgomery
The New Manager
Two weeks went by until Celtic FC presented their new manager: José Mourinho! This was quite a surprise for Montgomery. He didn't think someone like Mourinho would go to Scotland. But in fact this just showed which level of importance Celtic reached under AUTFabi and how well the team has developed. In Mourinho's 4-2-3-1 system Montgomery continued playing as the main right back. But he had to take more defensive responsibilities and was limited going forward. Mourinho really valued Calum's conduct and even appointed him as vice captain. As always he did what was asked from him and played another very good season. In 36 appearances he got two goals and three assists and earned his second Team of the Year nomination.
As a team Celtic won another league title and the cup. They missed out on the League Cup as they lost to Greenock Morton in the second round. Quite a surprise but probably due to the change in management. In the Champions League they finished second in their group with Chelsea, Valencia and Royal Antwerp. After beating Tottenham 3-1 at home they still went out of the competition after loosing the second leg 0-4. Everyone was disappointed to go out like that but especially Montgomery who was forced to sit out the second leg due to injury. Compared to the seasons before it felt like a disappointment. But what would you expect after many important players left the club for big transfer fees and a new manager with a completely different tactical system took charge at the club. They still dominated the league, won the cup and qualified for the CL knockout stages. Montgomery and his captain Greg Taylor made sure the lads would celebrate the right way instead of being disappointed!
Mourinho takes charge at Celtic Park in 2026
Summary and Next Chapter
After the season ended Calum decided to take some time off and went on holiday. One day his phone rang and he looked on the screen: it was his former manager AUTFabi! Quite a surprise, what would he possibly want from him...
Make sure to read Part 2 of our Calum Montgomery story and see how his career continued. Read about his time in Madrid, his special relationship with AUTFabi, the transfer to Juventus and how he became captain of the Italian club. Coming out soon!
Montgomery's profile in the year 2032
- Career apps: 126
- Goals: 7
- Assists: 27
- Average Rating: 7.41
- International Caps: 27
- International Goals: 9
- Titles: 4x Scottish Premiership, 4x Scottish Cup, 2x Scottish League Cup, 1x Europa League, 1x UEFA Supercup
- Major Awards: Young Player of the Year 2025, Team of the Year 2025, Team of the Year 2027
Calum Montgomery's Career stats
After my first FM story was very well received I decided to continue writing. I had planned to give Calum his own story even before I started to write at all. The whole idea is that this is a magazine from the year 2032, which writes about him and his career so far. That's why he wears a Juventus and not a Celtic shirt. First part is about his time in Celtic, second about Madrid and Juventus will be released soon and there will probably be a third (maybe even a fourth) about the rest of his career. But I have to continue playing the save first.
It's really surprising how could his career turned out so far considering his bad technical attributes. Some of them have been better, some worse over the years. When I first saw him in the youth team he was very well rounded but nothing stood out. I basically could play him in any position I wanted. Right back seemed like a good fit and he immediately got good great ratings for the youth team. So I continued playing him there. Later at Madrid he played almost everywhere on the pitch for me since he is so versatile. And at Juventus I made him a Box to Box midfielder. So yeah, that's why I think he is so special and worth a story.
Make sure to check out my first Story here, which is about this whole save in general and puts the spotlight on my manager and all the other important players.
![[link]](https://i.imgur.com/XoCz4Y5.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/5aftw0lczyc51.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/7vjb70luezc51.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/tiqo6tw8x2d51.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/fn48qcb550d51.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/8lqze4ic01d51.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/1iej5p4hu2d51.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/0hgtnhjsd0d51.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/muwi36lmz2d51.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/s3ipi7yhb2d51.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/iq7fft1tf3d51.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/0hrsbqync0d51.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/rnohc6yuo2d51.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/iwpit63q62d51.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/fo3acd4tx3d51.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.imgur.com/t1BOYq4.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/plbl7fx31zc51.png){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/954yaozj64d51.jpg){kind=link}
No comments:
Post a Comment