Without any football occurring, we begin our series taking a look at the Glasgow Derby, formerly the Old Firm, by starting with how it all began. Enjoy!
The world-famous Glasgow Derby or the Old Firm has endeared itself around the entire world, with the rivalry between Rangers and Celtic achieving an almost folkloric status. But what are its origins? What is the context behind such a bitter rivalry?
Celtic and Rangers have played each other 420 times in major competitions: Rangers have won 162 matches, Celtic 159 matches, and 99 ended in a draw.
It is hard to even begin to imagine the history between these two bitter rivals. Even new fans coming in, who knows nothing about Celtic or Rangers can gather that this has been a long, and for the most part, evenly matched series. What they would not know is the deep, historical disdain that both sides have for one another and the football that only amplifies this.
It wasn’t always like that though. The name “The Old Firm” has different origins depending on who you ask. A radio broadcast in 1904 referred to the two clubs as “like two old, firm friends.” There is an old caricature depicting the two clubs as “two firm, old men.” But to begin to understand this history one must take a look at this origins of both clubs.
Celtic FC was founded in 1887 in a poor Catholic district of Glasgow. The club was designed to help this district with the issue of poverty in which it was facing. Soon, Celtic began to establish themselves as a formidable team and they had soon found their sporting rivals in the form of Rangers FC. At least that is what it was in the early days, “sporting”.
More than sport
As time has marched on, this rivalry that has turned out to be something much more than sport as the rumbling between these two teams runs a lot deeper than what goes on on the pitch.
In 1912, Harland and Wolff set up a smaller shop in Glasgow and a great number of Ulster-Protestants made the journey to Glasgow from to work in this new shipyard. Unsurprisingly, they chose Rangers FC as their go to team.
The coming years would see a greater increase in sectarianism with the outbreak of World War 1 and the 1916 Rising in Dublin, Ireland. This led many to choose a club based on religion and politics, which then only continued to ignite the “rivalry” between the two sides.
Religion plays a big factor in the two teams, Celtic FC was supported by a Catholic majority while on the other hand, Rangers FC was predominantly Protestant. Now, I say “was” due to the fact that the rivalry has spread across the world so now there are supporters on both sides that don’t have to identify as one or the other.
While religion was one of the main focal points of the origins of these two clubs, one also has to look as how each club’s popularity spread due to geopolitics within the United Kingdom and beyond. That is a subject we will tackle in the next segment.
Part 2 is coming later in the week in which we will take a look at the cultural and political history of the clubs and how they have spread to the rest of the UK and Scotland.