Derbies in football have started to become marketing tools rather than rivalries. Put any word before derby on a telecast and you have yourself a selling point for the viewer. Whether it be geographical or between league heavyweights, a derby weekend helps puts butts in the seats and eyes towards screens. But there are some derbies that continue to buck this trend. Liverpool and Manchester United supporters legitimately loathe one another, as do the players on the pitch. For all of its grandeur, El Clasico is one of the scrappier fixtures on the La Liga schedule each season. But one matchup trumps all others in my humble opinion, and that is the Old Firm Derby in Scotland between Rangers and Celtic. It is the signature game of their calendar, yet it is entering a new era of the rivalry.
There are many religious, social, and political overtones surrounding the Old Firm. They are ugly in nature and I quite frankly don’t feel like going into them. I am by no means qualified to discuss the plights of any sector of Scottish society on any of those three levels. But what I can talk about is two teams that have dominated Scottish football for the near entirety of its professional existence in the country.
The two Glasgow giants have combined to win 101 top flight titles in Scotland. The next closest team to the Old Firm’s tally has four. Rangers have 54 wins to Celtic’s 47. It is a near certainty year in, year out, that one of the two will take home the Premiership crown. But in recent years, the balance of power has shifted, or should I say completely tilted, in the favor of the boys in green and white.
For those unfamiliar with the Scottish football scene, the Old Firm was broken apart for a few years. That is because in 2012, in the simplest of explanations, Rangers ran afoul of their creditors. This put the club through administration and eventually liquidation. After securing new ownership, the team was placed in the Scottish League Two, the country’s fourth tier. They lost nearly all of their recognizable players and had to scratch their way back to the Premiership, doing so last year under new manager Mark Warburton. They even got a measure of comeuppance against Celtic, eliminating them from the Scottish Cup. But that is where Rangers’ tales of joy end at the moment. Because in Glasgow, the Hoops have reigned unopposed in their absence.
The Bhoys have won five Premiership titles in a row, starting with the year Rangers imploded. The closest any team has come to them in that period was Aberdeen last season, who finished 15 points adrift. They’ve added a Scottish Cup and League Cup during the half decade as well. Celtic’s run has been impressive to say the least, even if many attribute the dominance to Rangers not being in the picture.
However, Celtic showed this past weekend that Rangers still have a lot of catching up to do. Brendan Rodgers’ men laid waste to their eternal foes by a 5-1 scoreline, the third widest margin in Old Firm derby history. Summer signing Moussa Dembele netted a hat trick as well as assisting on fellow newcomer Scott Sinclair’s classy finish. Rangers finished the game with ten men, and looked out of their league for the vast majority of the 90 minutes. As a Celtic supporter, the result brought joy to me. But earlier when I spoke of a new era of the Old Firm, it wasn’t about this game. It was about a result several days later that put things even more so into perspective.
There was a time not too long ago that both Celtic and Rangers weren’t just revered in Scotland, but also in Europe. Whichever team made it to the Champions League usually made some noise once there. Celtic won it all in 1967. Rangers lost in the Finals of the UEFA Cup in 2008. But since the Old Firm broke apart in 2012, their presence on center stage has all but diminished. The lack of competition destroyed the country’s UEFA coefficient. It made Celtic complacent and most of all made Scotland unattractive for talent.
This was on full display Tuesday as Barcelona put a seven spot past Celtic at the Camp Nou. Celtic never looked dangerous in the match. To be honest, Barca was merciful in not going for double digits. Celtic came off an immense high in their homeland. A huge dose reality came soon thereafter. They were minnows. Hell, they may even be guppies or polliwogs.
So yes, the Old Firm is back in full swing. Celtic are clearly the leaders of the pack, but they must now look over their shoulders once again. However, being the best of the duo carries little weight outside of Scotland. Hopefully this rivalry renewal stokes some flames under both that makes this new era a short one, and allows either team to become more than a pushover in Europe into the next decade.