Old Firm

Rivalry and sectarianism

"When I was growing up, I went to a Catholic school, and there wasn’t one Rangers fan in the entire school," said Neil McGarvey, 43, who is involved in the operation of Kerrydale Street, a popular Celtic fan Web site. "It’s much more mixed now — my boy goes to a Catholic school, and there are maybe 5 percent Rangers fans now."

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 (Catholic and Protestant), Northern Ireland-related politics (Loyalist and Republican), national identity (British or Irish Scots), and social ideology (Conservatism and Socialism).

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 tend to wave the Union Flag.

Traditionally, Rangers, founded in 1872, attracted the Protestant, Scottish establishment: Celtic, founded later in 1887, represented the Catholic Irish people in Scotland, as Celtic were founded on the promise that the club would deliver much-needed money and resources to a poverty-stricken Catholic population in East Glasgow. Nevertheless, this dividing line seems to be blurred today in Glasgow: "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 (none of whom moved directly between the two clubs) .

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 on a Sunday evening in May 1999 at Celtic Park, with the usual tensions heightened by the fact that Rangers could clinch the league title with victory (and it became clear that they would do so from the early stages of the match). 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. With many of those in attendance having spent a full weekend drinking alcohol prior to the event, 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.

In 2005 both Celtic and Rangers joined a project to tackle bigotry and sectarianism in sport, but there was little change in the behaviour and subsequent prosecution of the fans.

The majority of Rangers and Celtic supporters do not get involved in sectarianism, but serious incidents do occur with a tendency for the actions of a minority to dominate the headlines. 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.

Tennent's were the primary commercial sponsor of both teams for many years; any business that only sponsored one would likely lose half its customers. In 2015, former Rangers player Brian Laudrup said that the Old Firm topped all of the rivalries he had played in, which included the Milan derby and the Fiorentina-Juventus meetings in Italy.

From 1 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 posts sent by either 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 this misbehaviour, which has proved difficult in the past.

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 protesters, 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.

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

There are a number of matches between the two clubs that are not recognised in the official records, such as during the Second World War when the Scottish Football League and Scottish Cup were suspended and in their place unofficial regional league competitions were set up. One of these games included a New Year's Day derby in 1943 which Rangers won 8–1.

Biggest wins

* Four or more goals difference between the teams.

Celtic

Rangers

Pre-war

Post-war

Players who played for opposite clubs during their youth and senior careers