Celtic’s inaugural adjustment as a club, when they faced the rangers in a friendly in 1888, would have been followed through a dinner in which the squadrons showed fitness to their counterparts.
The players and officials taking part in that day’s festivities might not have anticipated the intense rivalry that would develop during the years to come, with the Hoops’ 5-2 win also representing a far more conclusive gap than there has often been between the Glasgow giants.
Ahead of the 2023/24 season, Celtic and Rangers were almost level in terms of trophies and their overall record in the game known as Old Firm Derby. Their last game in the 2023/24 season was on 25 May 2024, in which Celtic won the Scottish Cup final 1-0 and achieved another domestic double.
Their showdown in the Scottish League Cup final of 2024 was among the most dramatic and memorable of recent years — and it gave Celtic the edge when it comes to all-time silverware.
The Sporting News looks at the numbers and trophies among Scottish football’s dominant forces.
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The latest Old Firm clash on January 2 saw Rangers produce a stirring performance to defeat their rivals 3-0. That means their head-to-head record stands, astonishingly, equal.
In total, these two would have completed 444 times in primary competitions.
The last of the Scottish League Cup in December 2024 saw Celtic win their 119th Trophy, ahead of their Glasgow rivals.
The followers of any of the clubs inevitably discuss the prestige and the moment of the trophies won. Clubs also tend to take turns for several years in a row, which is worth celebrating for their nemesis when those winning streaks come to an end.
The Rangers, for example, won 4 successive titles between 1899 and 1902. The Celtic were champions between 1905 and 1910, Rangers between 1911 and 1913, Celtic from 1914 to 1917 and Rangers during the 3 seasons between 1927 and 1947, when Celtic discontinued in 1936 in 1936. And 1938.
Celtic won the league every year between 1966 and 1974 as a component of an excellent era in which they also won the 1967 European Cup under legendary manager Jock Stein, however, Rangers would have won 10 exciting late consequences from 1997/98.
Helped by Rangers’ financial turmoil, transfer of assets to a new company and four seasons outside the top flight after the resurrected club restarted in the lowest division in 2012, Celtic won nine titles between 2012 and 2020.
The Rangers were champions again the following season, finishing in the following two seasons.
Celtic have won the Scottish Cup eight more times than Rangers, while there is a difference the other way of six trophies in the Scottish League Cup. In the latter competition, though, Celtic can claim the largest ever win in a domestic cup final in the UK, beating Rangers 7-1 in 1957.
Celtic’s official site calls that game an “astonishing roasting”, acknowledging: “At the time, Rangers were the dominant force in Scottish football while Celtic enjoyed occasional successes amid regular disappointment.”
It is understood that Celtic-Road rivalry has been nicknamed “Old Firm” since the beginning of the 20th century, when the two faced the final of the Scotland Cup in 1904.
The Mag, the Scottish referee, had written a satirical strip of the comedian’s competition of the two at the head of the game, detecting the commercialization of their giant-scale gatherings that attracted huge crowds and fervent support. One panel of the comedian’s strip showed a guy with a sandwich board that said: “Pitch the old company: Rangers, Celtic Ltd. “
Another theory is that the term originated from suitable commentators who described a first meeting between the two as “like two old friends of the company. “
Many Celtic enthusiasts believe that Old Firm’s Derthrough no longer exists after the financial collapse of the Rangers in 2012, which led the club to be directed through a new company.
Instead, some Celtic fans, and indeed Celtic themselves, prefer to use the term “Glasgow derby”. The Rangers, in particular, still officially use the “old company. “
Relatedly, due to their ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’, Rangers and their fans are commonly referred to by Celtic’s support as ‘zombies’.
Celtic and Rangers are the most successful clubs in Scottish football, but that’s just one side of their stormy, deep and confusing history with others.
Their rivalry is rooted in a divergence of perspectives related to religion, identity and politics, as well as in their relationship with Ireland, i. e. Northern Ireland.
Traditionally, the supporters of the Rangers are provided as Scots of Scottish or Scottish of the Ulster, as well as Protestants and loyal, while Celtic enthusiasts tend to be Irish, Catholics and Republicans.
Rangers enthusiasts also tend to identify themselves as pro-British flags and wave from game to game, while Celtic enthusiasts are more commonly noted displaying the Irish tricolor.
Rangers’ history is deeply rooted in the Protestant community, and until Graeme Souness manager in 1986, they went decades without recruiting a Catholic player. Souness signing former Celtic striker Mo Johnston in 1989 ended this practice.
Old Firm Derbies are intense affairs, rivaling such prestigious matchups as De Klassieker (Ajax vs. Feyenoord), El Clasico (Barcelona vs. Real Madrid) and the Superclásico of Argentina (Boca Juniors vs. River Plate).
Henrik Larsson, who played in El Clasico and Old Firm, admitted that the fiercest battles of Barça-Madrid were not suitable for Celtic’s Rangers. “I’ve never experienced anything before or after that that’s so comparable to my old Firm games in Scotland. It’s the most productive environment and it’s the fierce ones that I’ve been a component of,” he said.
It’s also a brutal environment for players, with Rangers legend Brian Laudrup calling the clash “terrifying. “
“As soon as you succeed in one of those clubs, from the first minutes we tell you about this game,” Laudrup told Daily Record.
“Playing in a derby is terrifying. It’s a bit scary, but on the other hand, it’s wonderful to be involved in one of the biggest derbies in the world.
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“For these players it’s tremendous. They have read about the derby and heard about it from those who have played in the game but to actually be part of it is completely different. It’s something they will never forget.”
Several incidents in the late 90s during the derby including pitch invasions, instances of vandalism and general hooliganism caused by the heightened tension of the clash, prompted the Scottish FA to hold the derby in early afternoon.
When the Rangers had the opportunity to win the opposite championship to Celtic on the last day of the season in May 1999, several Celtic enthusiasts in the stadium began throwing articles on opposite players. One of those articles hit referee Hugh Dallas, who forced the game to prevent and obtain medical care.
Since then, measures have been taken to avoid the option that the Premier League is on the last day between the Celtics and the Rangers.
There have also been crowd measures put into place, with away fans regularly prohibited from attending matches since early 2024.
Ben Miller has written about the game for 25 years, following all the football titles, as well as boxing, MMA, track and field and tennis. He watched five promotions, 3 relegations, a World Cup winner and home matches in at least 3 other stadiums due to his devotion to life in Brighton