Celtic have offered the victims of a sexually abusive coach their "regret and sorrow".

James McCafferty, 73, admitted to 11 charges of abusing teenagers between 1972 and 1996, and one charge of breach of the peace at the High Court in Edinburgh last Tuesday.

Four of the young players were abused by McCafferty while they played for Celtic Boys Club and Celtic youth team, while other victims trained with youth teams he ran in North Lanarkshire.

McCafferty, who was employed by Celtic in the 1990s, committed the acts across a number of organisations over 24 years.

Calls have been made by politicians and legal firms for Celtic to compensate the abuse victims.

In a statement, the club said: "James McCafferty has pleaded guilty to offences he committed against young people between 1972 and 1996.

"Celtic Football Club wishes to express its regret and sorrow to those young people.

"All those who have come forward to report abuse and to give evidence deserve enormous praise for the courage they have shown.

"We offer our sincere sympathy to those young people, their families and all those involved."

They added: "Celtic Football Club was the first club in Scotland to appoint a safeguarding officer, responsible for developing our policies for the protection of young people, and monitoring and reviewing our procedures to ensure they continue to reflect best practice."

Police described the scale of the abuse McCafferty inflicted as "unprecedented" and said his victims "lived in fear".

The court heard how McCafferty - who was also placed on the sex offenders register - abused his position of power and used his intimidating physique to carry out a campaign of "sexual depravity" against budding footballers.

McCafferty, originally from Wishaw, worked at Celtic more than 20 years ago and had spells as kitman at other Scottish clubs, including Falkirk and Hibernian.

He is the fourth man connected with Celtic or Celtic Boys Club to be jailed for historical sex abuse in the last year, after Jim Torbett, Frank Cairney and Gerald King.