The Glasgow Derby – Early Years of a New Rivalry, 2015-19

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The Celtic Star

·21 de octubre de 2024

The Glasgow Derby – Early Years of a New Rivalry, 2015-19

The Glasgow Derby rivalry between Celtic and theRangers dates back to February 2015, with that match and every subsequent game carrying monumental significance for players and fans alike…

Since the first ever meeting of the two clubs in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden in February 2015, there have been numerous important victories for Celtic that not only impacted the league standings but also shaped the landscape of Scottish football. Here, we highlight the first four years of the new rivalry which started three years after the death of Rangers FC.

In these early years 14 matches were played Celtic won ten, there were two draws and theRangers managed two wins, one being a penalty shoot out and the second being the last game in 2018 which had them dreaming about a first ever Scottish Premiership title…

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2015

Celtic v theRangers, League Cup semi-final, 1st February 2015. Photo Vagelis Georgario

1st February 2015, Celtic 2 theRangers 0 – League Cup semi-final at Hampden. Goals from Leigh Griffiths and Kris Commons settled the tie in the first half. Celtic never needed to get out of second gear to defeat the Championship side who had brought out a t-shirt to celebrate their first ever semi-final since founding father Charles Green used an off the shelf company to create his new football club.

2016

Celtic v theRangers, Scottish Cup semi-final, 17 April 2016. Photo Vagelis Georgario

17 April 2016, Celtic 2 theRangers 2 AET – It went to penalties and Tom Rogic missed, so Celtic lost 5-4. It was an incredible game with Celtic wasteful in front of goal. Paddy Roberts had the miss of the season which summed up the day for Celtic. In the posh seats the current chairman of theRangers was, as the story goes guilty of over celebrating and acting more like a supporter than a director much to the annoyance of Irish billionaire Dermot Desmond. Within a month former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had replaced Ronny Deila at Celtic just as theRangers were getting set for their first ever season in the Scottish Premiership. Before that they lost the Scottish Cup Final to Hibs.

Moussa Dembele of Celtic takes away the match ball having scored 3 of the 5 goals during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on September 10, 2016. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)

10 September 2016, Celtic 5 theRangers 1 – The first ever league meeting between the clubs and the first time clubs had met at Celtic Park. A Moussa Dembele perfect hat-trick, right foot, left foot and header, plus goals from Scotty Sinclair and Stuart Armstrong blew the new club away.

Scotty Sinclair celebrates scoring Celtic’s second goal with his team mate Leigh Griffiths during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on December 31, 2016 in (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

31 December 2016 – theRangers 1 Celtic 2 – Hogmanay 2016 saw Celtic make the trip to Govan to play theRangers for the first time ever at the stadium Charles Green bought from the old club’s administrators just before it headed into liquidation. The latest club to play out of Ibrox took the lead but Dembele and Sinclair responded for Celtic who remained unbeaten domestically all season. There was a full allocation in the Free Broomloan and the 7500 Celtic supporters certainly enjoyed their Hogmanay celebrations.

2017

Leigh Griffiths is tackled in the penalty box by Clint Hill during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 12, 2017. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

12 March 2017 – Celtic 1 theRangers 1 – Probably Celtic’s worst domestic performance of the season but Stuart Armstrong’s first half goal looked like it was going to be enough until veteran defender Hill managed to find the back of the Celtic net in the closing stages. That woke Celtic up and Leigh Griffiths was about to win the three points when pulled down by theRangers goalscorer from behind at point blank range. Unbelievably Bobby Madden decided against awarding the penalty and issuing a red card. An astonishing decision.

Callum McGregor celebrates scoring with his team mate Mikael Lustig during the Scottish Cup Semi-Final match between Celtic and theRangers at Hampden on April 23, 2017. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

23 April 2017 – Celtic 2 theRangers 0 – A second meeting in a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden for the two clubs and this time Celtic make sure that they would be in the final against Aberdeen. Callum McGregor scored one of his best ever goals, passing the ball into theRangers net in the opening stages. A stonewall penalty in the second half was scored by Scotty Sinclair.

Celtic fans celebrate in front of the scoreboard during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on April 29, 2017 (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

29 April 2017 – theRangers 1 Celtic 5 – The final meeting of the first ever season playing each other in league football was at Ibrox, again Celtic had the full, free Broomloan and just like back in September Celtic bookended the Glasgow Derby encounters with another 5-1 thrashing. It could and should have been more. 50,000 were in the stadium Charles Green bought at the start but around 7500 were still there at the final whistle. A joyous afternoon for the Celtic support. Celtic were on their way to an Invincible treble in Brendan Rodgers’ first season as Celtic manager.

Celtic fans celebrate during the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox Stadium on September 23, 2017. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

23 September 2017 – theRangers 0 Celtic 2 – Celtic visited Ibrox for the second Glasgow Derby to be staged there. Again the Free Broomloan was packed full of Celtic supporters who had plenty to cheer about as The Wizard of Oz himself, Tom Rogic gave Celtic the lead early in the second half with Leigh Griffiths adding a second shortly afterwards.

Kieran Tierney attempts a shot on goal during the Scottish Premier League match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on December 30, 2017. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

30 December 2017 – Celtic 0 theRangers 0 – This game was summed up perfectly on The Celtic Wiki: A terrible game to watch but it’s the end to one of the most enjoyable years in our history. Raise a glass to Celtic tomorrow night, we all deserve it. Celtic were so poor in this match so this was their big chance to beat the Hoops for the first time in the Scottish Premiership and they blew it.

2018

Odsonne Edouard celebrates scoring to give Celtic a 3-2 lead. theRangers v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Ibrox – 11 March 2018. Photo by Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

11 March 2018 – theRangers 2 Celtic 3 – Hopes were high in Govania that this would be the day when their new club beat Celtic for the first time at Ibrox and they got off to a great start when Windass scored in the opening few minutes to start euphoric celebrations in the home stands. Tom Rogic silenced them shortly afterwards with a beautifully struck shot from distance. Candeias restored theRangers lead on 26 minutes then just before the break Scott Brown was fouled as he hit the ball forward from inside the Celtic half – to huge applause from the home support who clearly had their eyes fixed on that incident rather than what was going on at the other end of the field. The ‘wit’s the goalie daein’ Tom’ banter years moment as Moussa Dembele sent Celtic in level in the most dramatic of circumstances. Jozo Simunovic saw red on 57 minutes and the home support reckoned that there was only going to be one winner now. Brendan Rodgers responded by bringing on another striker – Odsonne Edouard to play up front alongside Moussa Dembele. The Frenchmen combined on 69 minutes for Eddie to score an iconic Celtic goal, and therein is the reason why the away allocation at Glasgow Derbies ended. Lest they forget.

Callum McGregor celebrates with teammates after scoring Celtic’s second goal during the Scottish Cup Semi Final match between theRangers and Celtic at Hampden on April 15, 2018 . (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

15 April 2018 – Celtic 4 theRangers 0 – This time it was yet another Scottish Cup semi-final and when the draw was made some of their supporters were filmed celebrating wildly getting drawn against Celtic. Be careful what you wish for. The journalist Graeme Spiers described that match as follows: “Utter humiliation for (the)Rangers today at Hampden. Treated with contempt by Celtic. The root of it is not Graeme Murty’s fault: a youth coach placed in charge by an Ibrox board singularly incapable of giving their team and its supporters a manager. A straightforward incompetence.” The Celtic goals were scored by Rogic and McGregor in the first half before two penalties were converted by Frenchmen Dembele and Ntcham. It couldn’t get any worse for theRangers, or could it?

Odsonne Edouard celebrates after he scores Celtic’s second goal during the Scottish Premier League match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park on April 29, 2018. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

29 April 2018 – Celtic 5 theRangers 0 – The first post split fixture was the Glasgow Derby and Celtic needed to win to secure the title. Five nil up with 53 minutes played and if this was a boxing match there is no question that the referee would have stopped it after Callum McGregor added to earlier goals from Edouard (2), Forrest and Rogic. Everyone was thinking the same thing – SEVEN but instead Celtic took the foot off the gas. What a missed opportunity!

Beautiful Sunday makes The Celtic View. Photo Celtic FC

2 September 2018 – Celtic 1 theRangers 0 – Olivier Ntcham scored the only goal. The Celtic View’s headline was Beautiful Sunday. Their new boss Steven Gerrard raged that there should have been a foul awarded at the other end of the park as Celtic broke to score. He liked a good moan did Gerrard.

Reduced allocation starts after too many pumpings

29 December 2018 – theRangers 1 Celtic 0 – A Ryan Jack goal in the first half settled the New Year Glasgow Derby on what was a real off day from the Champions. Callum McGregor thought he’d levelled the scoring but was flagged offside. They now believed that the title race was on!

To be continued…