Inside the UK’s fiercest derby: The Old Firm

Rooted In Religion This rivalry is deeper than just sport and geography; it is primarily rooted in religious and political differences between the two. Green and blue, Catholic and Protestant, Republican and Unionist—the two sides couldn’t be more opposite. For years, Rangers refused to knowingly sign players of the Catholic faith.

This was until Graeme Souness changed it by signing former Celtic forward Mo Johnston in July 1989. The political aspect of the feud developed strongly in the early 20th century, with perhaps the most significant development occurring in 1912 when Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff (a company that already had anti-Catholic hiring practices) set up a new yard in Govan, Glasgow, due to instability in Ireland. Hundreds of Ulster Protestant workers, many of Scottish descent, also made the move and adopted Rangers, the closest and largest club to the Govan yard, as their new team.

Due to other events, such as the First World War and the Easter Rising, the club came to represent the Scottish Establishment and British Unionism in the face of the Irish Catholic uprising personified by Celtic’s success. As a result, many people in Scotland and Northern Ireland began supporting Rangers or Celtic instead of their local teams in accordance with their own political and religious views and beliefs. Later down the line, 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.

While the majority of Rangers and Celtic fans do not involve themselves in sectarianism, serious incidents do occur and tend to dominate headlines surrounding the fanbases of both clubs. The most well-known incident of disorder between fans occurred 27 years ago, on a Sunday evening in May 1999 at Celtic Park, with the usual tensions heightened by the fact that a win for Rangers would see them secure the league title at the home of their biggest foes. Celtic supporters were the centre of attention at points throughout the game, throwing a number of objects from the stands, one of which struck referee Hugh Dallas, forcing the game to stop while he received medical attention.