Old Firm

Old Firm

Celtic and Rangers fans, separated by police, at Celtic Park
Other names	Glasgow derby
Location	Glasgow, Scotland
Teams	Celtic Rangers
First meeting	28 May 1888 Friendly Celtic 5–2 Rangers
Latest meeting	25 May 2024 Scottish Cup Celtic 1–0 Rangers
Statistics
Meetings total	441
Most wins	Both clubs (169)
Largest victory	Celtic 7–1 Rangers (19 October 1957)[1]
Celtic Park Ibrox (Rangers) Hampden Park Location of the two teams' stadiums in Glasgow, and Hampden Park, where cup semi-final and final meetings between the two are normally played

Celtic

Rangers

The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded in Scottish culture. It has reflected and contributed to political, social and religious division and sectarianism in Scotland.^[2] As a result, matches between them have had an enduring appeal around the world.^[3]

Between them the two clubs have won 109 Scottish League championships (Rangers with 55 and Celtic with 54),^[4] 76 Scottish Cups (Celtic with 42 and Rangers with 34),^[5] and 49 Scottish League Cups (Rangers with 28 and Celtic with 21).^[6] Interruptions to their ascendancy have occurred rarely, mainly in the two decades after the Second World War from 1946 to 1965 when five other clubs won the league, and in the first half of the 1980s with the challenge of the New Firm of Aberdeen and Dundee United. Since the 1985–86 season, one half of the Old Firm has won the Scottish League every season, and in all but one of seventeen seasons between 1995–96 and 2011–12, both clubs finished in the top two places.

In the early 2010s, Rangers endured financial difficulties, and its holding company was liquidated in 2012. Subsequently, the team had to apply for entry to the bottom (fourth) tier of the Scottish league. As a result of the liquidation, many Celtic supporters maintain that the current Rangers is distinct from the pre-2012 club, and the rivalry no longer exists under the Old Firm identity. Instead, they (and often Celtic themselves) use the more generic term Glasgow Derby to refer to the rivalry.^{[7][8][9][10]} While Rangers climbed back through the divisions, Celtic were champions in each of the next nine campaigns; Rangers won the title in 2020–21 to prevent a tenth for Celtic, which would have beaten a record set by them in the 1960s/70s and matched by Rangers in the 1980s/90s.

Celtic and Rangers have played each other 441 times in major competitions: both clubs have won 169 matches and 103 ended in a draw.

The clubs have large fan bases around Glasgow and Scotland and have supporters clubs in many towns throughout Scotland and Northern Ireland and in cities around the world. In 2005 the presence of Rangers and Celtic was estimated to be worth £120 million to the Scottish economy each year.^[11]