The Old Firm is the collective name for the Glasgow association football clubs Celtic
and Rangers.
The origin of the term is unclear but may derive from the commercial benefits of the
two clubs' rivalry.
The rivalry between the two clubs deeply embeds Scottish culture and has largely contributed
to the political, social and religious division in Scotland.
As a result, the fixture is widely considered one of the biggest derbies in world football.
The two clubs are the most successful in Scotland, between them having won 99 Scottish League
championships, 68 Scottish Cups and 41 Scottish League Cups.
Interruptions to their ascendancy have occurred infrequently, most recently with the challenge
of the New Firm of Aberdeen and Dundee United in the first half of the 1980s.
Since the 1985–86 season one half of the Old Firm has won the Scottish League consistently
and from the 2005–06 season to the 2011–12 season both clubs finished in the top two
places.
Rangers and Celtic have played each other 399 times: Rangers won 159 matches, Celtic
144 matches and 96 were draws.
The clubs have large support bases around Glasgow but also have supporters clubs in
most towns throughout Scotland and in many cities around the world.
The presence of Rangers and Celtic has been estimated to be worth £120 million to the
Scottish economy.
Rivalry and sectarianism
The competition between the two clubs had roots in more than just a simple sporting
rivalry.
It has more to do with Northern Ireland than Scotland and this can be seen in the flags,
cultural symbols and emblems of both clubs.
It was infused with a series of complex disputes, sometimes centred on religion, Northern Ireland-related
politics, national identity, and social ideology.
Another primary contributor to the intensity of the rivalry in the west of Scotland was
that Rangers supporters are historically native Scots and Ulster Scots, and Celtic supporters
are historically Irish-Scots.
While the confrontation between the two sets of supporters was often labelled as 'Sectarianism',
'Native-Immigrant tension' was an equally accurate catalyst for hostility between the
two teams' supports in Scotland.
Rangers' traditional support was largely from the Protestant community, while Celtic's was
largely from those of Irish Roman Catholic backgrounds.
One effect is that Scottish flags are rarer than might be expected amongst both sets of
supporters; Celtic fans are more likely to wave the Irish tricolour while Rangers fans
tended to wave the Union Flag or the Ulster banner.
Traditionally, Rangers, founded in 1872, attracted the Protestant, Scottish establishment: Celtic,
founded later in 1887, represented the Catholic Irish people in Scotland.
Nevertheless, this dividing line seems to be blurred today: Glasgow is increasingly
homogeneous, "mixed marriages" between Protestants and Catholics have never been higher and the
old certainties -the Rangers supporter voting Conservative and the Celtic supporter voting
Labour- are lost.
The ferocity of the rivalry made it rare for a player to represent both teams during his
career.
Players who played for both sides of the Old Firm included Alex Bennett, Scott Duncan,
Robert Campbell, and George Livingstone, who all played before the intensity of the rivalry
had started prior to 1912, as well as later players: Alfie Conn, Maurice Johnston, Kenny
Miller, Steven Pressley and Mark Brown.
Opposing fans fought an on-pitch battle in the aftermath of Celtic's 1–0 victory in
the 1980 Scottish Cup Final at Hampden.
This remains one of the worst invasions onto a football pitch ever reported, and was instrumental
in alcohol being banned from football grounds in Scotland.
There was serious fan disorder during an Old Firm match played in May 1999 at Celtic Park,
as several objects were thrown by Celtic fans, one of which struck referee Hugh Dallas, forcing
the game to be stopped while he received medical treatment.
At least four Celtic fans invaded the field of play to confront Dallas during the game,
and more missiles were thrown at players on the pitch after the game.
Since the events of that day, Old Firm league matches have normally been played in the early
afternoon and the possibility of an Old Firm title decider has been deliberately avoided.
The Old Firm rivalry fuelled many assaults on Derby days, and some deaths in the past
have been directly related to the aftermath of Old Firm matches.
An activist group that monitors sectarian activity in Glasgow has reported that on Old
Firm weekends, violent attacks increase ninefold over normal levels.
An increase in domestic abuse can also be attributed to Old Firm fixtures.
A freedom of information request found that Strathclyde Police incurred costs of £2.4
million for the seven derbies played during the 2010–11 season, with the clubs only
contributing £0.3 million towards that.
Other high profile games involving Rangers and Celtic incurred much lower costs.
The reason for the disparity in costs and the contribution made is that Strathclyde
Police had to increase its activity elsewhere in Glasgow and beyond, while the clubs were
only responsible for costs incurred in the vicinity of their stadium.
Anti-Sectarianism Legislation In 2005 both Rangers and Celtic joined a project
to tackle bigotry and sectarianism in sport, but there was little change in the behaviour
and subsequent prosecution of the fans.
On the first of March 2012 the police were given more powers to act against Sectarian
acts at football matches through the new Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications
Act.
The law was designed specifically to target the Old Firm rivalry by reducing the religious
hatred between the two opposing sides.
The Act created two new offences.
One covering behaviour in and around football matches and the other related to post sent
by electronic or postal methods.
People convicted under the act could face up to five years imprisonment.
This is a much higher sentence than was previously in place.
It will now make it much easier to prosecute people, which has proved difficult in the
past.
March 2013 protest In March 2013 a protest by a number of Celtic
fans took place to protest against the new laws and the subsequent match bans that a
number of fans had received for breaking the Act.
The protestors, known as the “Green Brigade” had marched without police authority and the
event was therefore cracked down on by local authorities resulting in thirteen arrests.
The protestors claim that the police instigated the trouble that occurred at this march.
Following the March media coverage reported that the fans were growing further apart from
the police than ever before.
They claimed that the trust the fans hold with the police to work in cooperation with
them is falling dramatically.
The march that took place resulted in a number of complaints from both the Celtic and the
Rangers fans that they were harassed by the police.
Investigations are still underway to discover the legitimacy of these claims.
Rivalry in the sport The Old Firm rivalry is listed as one of the
top five biggest rivalries in the footballing sphere.
Its deeply religious roots are the main cause of this, but in more recent years there have
been claims that this is used as a pretext for the violence, because many of the supporters
now belong to other religions or none at all.
Head-to-head record
Note: League championship statistics include play-off match for the 1904–05 title which
Celtic won 2–1.
1888–1999 statistics obtained from RSSSF; Remaining stats obtained from Soccerbase
Biggest wins * Four or more goals difference, OR the winning
team scored five or above Celtic
Celtic 6–2 Rangers on 27 August 2000.
Scottish Premier League Celtic 5–1 Rangers on 21 November 1998.
Scottish Premier League Celtic 4–0 Rangers on 26 April 1969.
Scottish Cup Final Celtic 5–1 Rangers on 1 January 1966.
SFL Division One Celtic 7–1 Rangers on 19 October 1957.
Scottish League Cup Celtic 6–2 Rangers on 1 January 1939.
SFL Division One Celtic 5–0 Rangers on 21 March 1925.
Scottish Cup Celtic 4–0 Rangers on 1 January 1914.
SFL Division One Celtic 4–0 Rangers on 10 March 1900.
Scottish Cup Rangers 0–4 Celtic on 1 January 1898 SFL
Division One Celtic 6–2 Rangers on 1 January 1896.
SFL Division One Rangers
Rangers 5-1 Celtic November 26, 2000 [Scottish Premier League]
Rangers 4-0 Celtic March 26, 2000 [Scottish Premier League]
Rangers 5–1 Celtic August 27, 1988 [Scottish Premier Division]
Rangers 4–0 Celtic on 14 April 1928.
Scottish Cup Celtic 0–4 Rangers on 1 January 1899.
SFL Division One Rangers 5–0 Celtic on 1 January 1894.
SFL Division One Players who played for both teams
Pre-war Tom Dunbar
Allan Martin George Livingstone
Alex Bennett Tom Sinclair
Robert Campbell Hugh Shaw
Willie Kivlichan David Taylor
Davie McLean Scott Duncan
James Young Tully Craig
Post-war Alfie Conn
Mo Johnston Kenny Miller
Steven Pressley Mark Brown
See also
Footnotes
Further reading
External links Head-to-head results Soccerbase
The Old Firm, The Scotsman