Rivalries in football are considered as highlights of the season in every league across the globe. Whether it’s an intense local affair or an iconic fixture packed with history, there is always a special kind of buzz when two teams who are known to dislike each other come together. When you think of big rivalries in world football, many fans may cast their minds to the likes of the el Classico between Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, or derbies such as Turkish fixture Galatasary vs Fenerbache or the Argentinian rivalry of Boca Juniors and River Plate. However, there is one that is known worldwide for its ferocity, high intensity, history, and high card count – The Old Firm derby. Glaswegian sides Rangers and Celtic’s famed rivalry has a large amount of history behind it. Both sides boast an impressive amount of silverware, with 226 domestic honours between them, meaning that on top of their heated rivalry, the Scottish outfits are both two of world football’s most decorated powerhouses. The name of the rivalry, ‘Old Firm’, is said to have originated from a piece of match commentary, where the commentator described them as “old, firm friends.”
Celtic, who are also known as ‘The Bhoys’, were founded in 1887 by a member of the St Mary’s Church Hall in Glasgow. The purpose of the club’s formation was to raise funds for Irish immigrants living in poverty that had flocked to Scotland after the potato famine, hence the connections that Celtic have to Ireland. A large percentage of the Irish were of Catholic faith, so the Church that created Celtic gave the Irish Catholics something to identify within the Protestant country of Scotland. Since their formation, they have gone on to win 50 League titles, 39 Scottish cups, 19 Scottish League cups, and 1 European cup. The club are currently managed by Neil Lennon, who is enduring his 3rd spell at the club, one of which was as a player. Also, Celtic have won the previous 8 league titles in Scotland, and currently find themselves at the peak of the Scottish premiership (at the time of writing). The Bhoys looked as if they were well underway to win their 9th consecutive league title before the suspension of the 2019/20 season, after giving themselves a 13 point lead over Rangers. Unfortunately for the Bhoys, they had little success in Europe this season, crashing out of the Europa League in the round of 32 stage losing 4-2 on aggregate to Danish side F.C. Copenhagen.
Rangers, nicknamed ‘The Gers’, we’re formed in the year of 1872. Despite their early formation, they had to wait a rather long time before they came into success, as the introduction of the Scottish League in 1890 saw them secure their first two league titles and first three Scottish League cups. In the early years of the rivalry, Celtic were proving to be the more successful club, and with the added incentive of the fans of Celtic being of Catholic faith and Irish nationality, Scots needed a club of their own in order to represent their Protestant faith whilst enjoying the beautiful game at the same time. With the fan base of the club growing rapidly, the Gers began to hit success almost every single season. As of now, they have 54 Scottish top flight titles to their name, alongside 33 Scottish Cups and 27 Scottish League cups, making both sides two of the most decorated clubs in world football. Steven Gerrard is the current manager of Rangers, after a lengthy, famed career at Liverpool. Despite having won no silverware as the manager of the club (yet) most will agree that his start to managerial life has looked somewhat promising. After the years following their liquidation, it is clear that Rangers are now a steady ship, in terms of their staff, squad, and most importantly financially. For the majority of the suspended 2019/20 season Rangers we’re battling with Celtic closely for the title, as more times than not they found themselves top of the division, whilst reaching the round of 16 in the Europa League. They were 3-1 down on aggregate to German side Bayer Leverkusen before the footballing season was stopped worldwide.
As previously mentioned, both clubs have heavy political and religious roots. This is a crucial factor in the rivalry between the two footballing giants. Celtic were of course founded on Catholic faith as a way to help Irish people who had migrated to Scotland and found themselves in poverty, and to unify them. This meant that Celtic not only became a football club but symbolised their pride in their religion as well. The heavy Irish connotations of the club has meant that Celtic as a club have barely connected with Scottish culture. When Rangers began, the club had no ties to politics. In 1888, a Scottish politician called John Primrose took the reins of Rangers, and forced the identity of Rangers to match that of his political and personal beliefs – Anti Irish, and anti Catholic. This meant that Rangers were to sport the colours of the Union Jack flag, and they still wear the famous blue, white and red to this day. There was actually an unwritten policy in place for Rangers that no player of Catholic faith would be able to sign for the club. This policy ended in 1989. In the modern era, despite society being somewhat secularised, there are still heavy political themes when Celtic and Rangers come together. For example, in recent years, Rangers fans have developed a chant that simply states ‘F**k the Pope and the IRA’. Of course, Celtic do no have any direct ties to the IRA, so this chant is an attempt to villain-ise their Catholic connotations. On the other hand, the minority’s of Celtic fans are now native Glaswegians but still represent the Irish community and values that the club was founded on. Whilst they are not directly involved with the Irish Republican Army, some of the songs that Celtic fans sing champion the organisation. It is clear to see where the hatred between the two has come from.
The first game between the two sides predates the introduction of league football. On the 28th of May in 1888, Celtic, who were newly formed, came out 5-2 winners in a friendly over Rangers at Parkhead. The fixtures has since been played 420 times, with Rangers holding the bragging rights over the amount of wins they have over their Glaswegian neighbours. Rangers have ended the game as winners with 162 wins. However, Celtic have been victorious on 159 occasions, with the game also ending in a deadlock 99 times. The most recent clash between them (at the time of writing) ended in a 2-1 away victory for Rangers, with Ryan Kent opening the scoring at Celtic Park, before Nikola Katic snatched a win for Steven Gerrard’s men after Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard has equalised just before half time. The clubs are clearly very close in terms of statistics. In addition to the stats mentioned, The ‘Gers’ and The ‘Bhoys’ are also close in terms of their proximity (Rangers are occupied in West Glasgow whereas Celtic are located on the East side of the city), and often their position in the Scottish Premiership, as they consistently finish in the top two places of the division every season. The only time this didn’t occur was when Rangers found themselves in administration and were sent down to the 4th division known as ‘Scottish League 2’. This halted the rivalry for a few years. However, Rangers found themselves back in the top flight after three successive promotions, meaning the rivalry was able to resume.
In terms of pure football, the Old firm derby has provided many a memorable moments over the long years it has existed. In more recent times Celtic have proven to be the better side more often than not. However, both clubs have had their share of the glory in this fixture, for example, Rangers’ 2016 Scottish Cup semi-final win. The game itself finished 2-2, but Mark Warburton’s Rangers came out victorious on penalties for Rangers first win over their bitter rivals since they were cast into the lower depths of Scottish football. In terms of Celtic, in the same year, Celtic ran riot at Celtic Park, battering Rangers 5-1 with French forward Moussa Dembele bagging a Hat Trick to sink the Gers chances of bragging rights. Earlier famous victories consist of Celtic’s 7-1 victory in the 1957 League Cup final, and Rangers clinched a famous victory in the 1973 Scottish Cup final, beating Celtic 3-2 in front of a huge 122,000 crowd.
For most rivalries across the globe, they are high points of the football season. In Scotland, the Old Firm is the high point of the season. It often always boils down to a fierce clash at either Celtic Park or the Ibrox stadium. Form and quality tends to not matter on the day, with pure passion and desire coming into play to determine the result.
Written by Jack Doyle
Football Club Rivalries 