Celtic v theRangers: How the ‘Old Firm’ died and was replaced by the Glasgow Derby | OneFootball

Celtic v Rangers: The History of how the ‘Old Firm’ changed into the Glasgow Derby…

One of the things that makes sports culture so enticing is the presence of rivalries. Dynamic face-off between two teams or players that have historically been well-known enemies. These rivalries run rampant in professional leagues throughout the world.

However, especially when certain franchises share territory, another dimension is added to an already heated opposition. This can be seen with some famous sports teams such as NHL’s bitter rivalry between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins as well as the one with American football organizations Florida State Seminoles and Miami Hurricanes.

The same is true for European football, best represented by the sport’s legendary duo, Celtic and until 2012 Rangers FC. That was a long-lasting example of fiery rivalry, those two clubs meeting for more than a century and yet their intense competitions continued right to the last ever Old Firm match 0n 29 April 2012 which Celtic won 3-0 and the 55,000 Celtic Supporters taunted the visitors about their club’s pending demise with the chant of “Liquidation, Liquidation, na na na”.

After this game Celtic did not face another side playing out of Ibrox until the League Cup semi-final in 2015. By that time Rangers FC had gone into liquidation and the death of that club meant that the ‘marriage’ between the two Glasgow rivals was at an end.  Rangers FC finished second on the Scottish Premier League in 2012 but as a result of the liquidation lost their place in the league. A new club was founded by Charles Green and was admitted to the fourth tier of the Scottish game, beginning life with a cup match at Brechin. They were still working their way up the leagues in 2015 when they played Celtic in the League Cup semi-final, a match that Celtic won 2-0 and this was the first ever Glasgow Derby – the new term for a new rivalry between Celtic and the latest club playing out of Ibrox.

A group of Celtic Supporters placed a full page newspaper advertisement in the Sunday Herald the week before this semi-final in 2105 outlining the exact status of theRangers and stating categorically that as far as Celtic are concerned the Old Firm tag died with Rangers FC.

What is meant by the ‘Old Firm?’

The unique relationship between football clubs Celtic and Rangers is a perfect representation of how old history and sports culture has often joined together to create passionate oppositions. To understand the famous Celtic, Rangers FC rivalry, we must first go all the way back to its beginnings.

The two clubs first met in 1888 during a friendly match and although it isn’t recognised as an official game, many fans consider it to be the origin of the lengthy, deep-seated rivalry. During another one of these foundational match-ups, a football announcer made the comment that the franchises were like “two old, firm friends,” coining a name that would stick to that last ever meeting between the two clubs in April 2012.

The fact that they both reside in Glasgow is a huge driver of the rivalry as well, as the teams have had to share space for over a hundred years. Additionally, they both have seen huge successes such as multiple Scottish League Championships and Scottish Cups League Cups over the years. Celtic however won the European Cup in 1967 a feat that Rangers FC never managed before they died. Obviously, this adds even more coals to the fire. Celtic fans believe that their Old Firm rivals died trying to match Celtic’s Champions of Europe status.

Today’s Glasgow Derby Rivalry

While Celtic’s position is clear – they regard the Old Firm rivalry to have ended in 2012 when Rangers FC was liquidated, the new club simply cannot bring themselves to face this reality. Founded in 2012 after the Administrations of the old club failed to agree a CVA with the creditors, the club was doomed to be liquidated and Charles Green bought the assets of the failed football club for just £5.5m and began life in the bottom tier of Scottish football.

Recently theRangers have won the Scottish Premiership, which their fans should be regarding as quite an achievement for the newest football club on Scottish football. But instead of celebrating their first ever major trophy win they have instead wiped the FACT that Rangers FC was liquidated from their minds and instead claim that the new club is somehow entitled to the titles won by the former club, Rangers FC (in liquidation).

So a club formed in 2012 are claiming that they have won 55 league titles in Scotland. Rangers FC won 54 and the new club one. Actually Rangers shared an early title with Dumbarton FC – who scored more goals and had a better goal difference but as the two clubs finished on the same number of points Rangers FC argued that the both sides should share the title. So if it’s equal shares then that takes their tally down to 53.5.

In the mid 1970s Scottish football was restructured and the Scottish Premier League began. Rangers won that 20 times,  while Celtic have been Premier League or Premiership Champions 22 times.  Excluding this season which has seen theRangers win their first Premiership title, these are the facts. Facts matter not to the Rangers support though as they even claim 55 Premier titles!

How has the Glasgow Derby developed since that first game in 2015?

Tomorrow is the 22nd Glasgow Derby since the fixture began in February 2015 at Hampden. So far Celtic have won 13 games and theRangers 5, one of these being a penalty shoot-out win after a 2-2 draw in the 2016 Scottish Cup semi final. If we count that as a win for theRangers than means that there have been two draws.

Celtic have scored 39 goals in the Glasgow Derby while theRangers have found the back of the net 17 times. Celtic have scored 5 goals against their Glasgow Derby rivals twice,  and scored 4 goals and 3 once each. In contract theRangers have never scored more than twice against Celtic in a match in their first decade as a Scottish football club.

What is worrying from a Celtic point of view is that after early dominance in this Glasgow Derby fixture the tables have turned recently with theRangers having won the last three figures, two at Celtic Park and the other at Ibrox with two of those three matches being behind closed doors. The absence of the vocal backing from the Celtic support clearly being a factor.

In the days leading up to the Glasgow Derby, fans of both teams interact from all over the world by reviewing expert pundit’s statistics and betting on the match’s outcome. It isn’t a stretch to say that both Celtic and theRangers fans are just as much a part of the experience as the players themselves, even when they aren’t allowed inside the stadium due to the ongoing pandemic. Whenever these Glasgow clubs get together, it is a sensational spectacle.

So it seems that the Glasgow Derby is ever bit as significant to both sets of supporters as the now defunct Old Firm and tomorrow’s game is set to be watched all around the world. In fact, January game between the two teams pulled in a record-breaking 1.4 million viewers, one of the SPFL’s all time highest.

Tomorrow John Kennedy’s Celtic side has to end that losing run if the interim manager is to have any chance of getting the job on a permanent basis. If the Celtic players want that to happen we’ll know tomorrow.

COYBIG!