The Old Firm: Preview of a Classic Rivalry
On the last matchday of this calendar year on Saturday 30 December, Celtic and Rangers, two teams from Glasgow, will play a match in the Scottish Premiership. The long-standing rivalry between the teams makes this one of the most charged derbies in the world. The matches between these two teams are also called the ‘Old Firm’. It is seen as the match of the football season in Scotland.
The Old Firm
The two teams both come from Glasgow, the most populous city in Scotland. They are also the most successful team from that part of the United Kingdom, with 113 official trophies for Celtic and 115 for Rangers. The rivalry between the clubs has therefore been strongly ingrained in Scottish culture over the years.
Originally, faith played a very important role in the support of the two teams. Celtic are traditionally more Catholic, while Rangers have predominantly more Protestant supporters. However, when the clubs were founded, there were mainly friendly contacts to organize competitions and raise money. Over the years, contact soured and the rivalry between the two teams grew. As a result, the ‘Old Firm’ is known around the world as one of the most heavily charged derbies. The name refers to the old, good relationship between the two teams.
The teams have won the ‘Old Firm’ approximately equally often over the years. The Protestant Rangers have been champions of Glasgow 169 times, the Catholics Celtic 166 times. The 102 remaining matches ended in a draw. The statistics therefore do not provide a clear picture of who has the best chances this week.
Celtic F.C.
Celtic was founded on November 6, 1887, and plays its home games at Celtic Park. The club colors are green-white. It is one of the most successful teams in Scotland, with 53 league titles, 41 Scottish Cup titles and 21 Scottish League Cup titles. It is also the only Scottish football club to ever win the European Cup. They have already won a total of 113 official prizes. They can also boast a very good run in the Scottish Premiership, having finished first on all but one occasion since 2011.
This club from Glasgow also played in the group stage of the Champions League this year. In group E they were together with Atlético Madrid, Lazio Roma and Feyenoord. Their campaign started with a loss against Feyenoord, and after that they could only draw once and win once. They finished in last place in their group and did not winter in Europe.
Celtic are currently top of the table with 45 points, but Rangers are just two points behind. The ‘Celts’ have dropped some points recently, losing to both Heart of Midlothian FC and Kilmarnock FC. They are coached by coach Brendan Rodgers. The Northern Irishman and former Liverpool manager left the team last year to move to Leicester City, and he was not appreciated for that. That is why he promised to win over his supporters again.
Rangers F.C.
This other Glasgow club was founded in March 1872. Their home ground, Ibrox Stadium, is located in the south-west of the Scottish city. With 115 official titles, it is the absolute record holder in Scotland. Of those 115 titles, it has 55 Scottish Premiership titles, 34 Scottish Cup titles and 27 Scottish League Cup titles. Seven times it was able to win those three titles in the same season.
Rangers also played in Europe, specifically in the Europa League. They were drawn in group C, together with Sparta Prague, Real Betis and Aris Limassol. Rangers did better than Celtic: they became group winners with 11 points after 6 games. On the final matchday they won 2-3 against Real Betis. They partly owe these results to a Belgian coach. Philippe Clement, who previously coached at Club Brugge, Genk and AS Monaco, has been Rangers’ trainer since October.
The ‘Teddy Bears’ are now second in the Scottish Premiership, but only need one win to overtake Celtic. It’s been since November 26 that Rangers couldn’t win. They then drew 1-1 on the Aberdeen field.
Bet on the Old Firm
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