Why do Celtic fans say there is no Old Firm derby with Rangers – only a Glasgow derby?
Glasgow Rangers #GlasgowRangers
The Old Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers is one of the most historic, and most heated, rivalries in world football.
With more than 100 Scottish league titles between them, the Glasgow giants are among the world’s most successful clubs and their rivalry reflects historic divides of identity, politics and religion in Scotland.
In recent years, the rivalry has taken on a new dimension. Many Celtic fans now claim there is no Old Firm match any more, and their games with Rangers are simply the ‘Glasgow derby’.
The practice even extends to the clubs’ official channels. For example, while Rangers’ Twitter account and most media outlets refer to their matches as Old Firm clashes, Celtic’s official Twitter handle has only ever used the phrase ‘Old Firm’ once, when relaying a direct quote from coach Neil Lennon in 2014. When the two teams meet, Celtic’s channels refer to the game as the Glasgow Derby.
Goal explains exactly why this is the case.
The explanation can be seen when some Celtic fans antagonise their rivals by referring to Rangers and their fans as ‘zombies’. Hoops fans are adamant that the club which plays at Ibrox now is not the same Rangers which was first formed in 1872 – and which they claim died in 2012.
In 2010-11, Rangers won their 54th Scottish title and drew with Manchester United and Valencia in the Champions League group stage, but the club was in dire financial straits.
Rangers regularly posted financial losses during the 2000s and by 2009, it was reported the club owed as much as £30 million ($49m) to the Lloyds Banking Group.
To compound Rangers’ troubles, they also entered a legal dispute with Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which hampered owner David Murray’s efforts to sell the club.
Murray eventually sold his 85.3 per cent controlling stake in Rangers to Craig Whyte in May 2011 for just £1.
In February 2012, Rangers went into administration and were docked 10 points after failing to pay around £9m ($14m) in VAT and PAYE tax. In May, it was estimated the club’s debts may have totalled more than £134m ($211m).
In June 2012, The Rangers Football Club plc was liquidated. The business and assets were sold to a company called Sevco Scotland Ltd, which was later renamed The Rangers Football Club Ltd. This is the root of the issue, with different interpretations of whether Rangers at this point were a new club, or the same club owned by a new company.
The new ownership was unable to secure the transfer of Rangers’ place in the Scottish Premier League and the club eventually began the 2012-13 season in the Third Division, the fourth tier of Scottish football. Manager Ally McCoist remained but most first-team players did not transfer their contracts to the new owners and became free agents.
Rangers rose through the divisions and returned to the Scottish Premiership for the 2016-17 season. Rangers were beaten 5-1 at Celtic Park and 2-1 at Ibrox by their rivals that season but eventually finished third, 39 points behind champions Celtic.
In 2015, some Celtic fans highlighted the issue when they paid for an advert in a newspaper asserting that the Rangers playing at Ibrox were a new club, and that the Old Firm derby would no longer be contested as a result.
Complaints were made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over claims from Rangers to being ‘Scotland’s most successful club’. In a boost for Rangers fans, the complaints were dismissed after consultation with UEFA and the European Club Association.
UEFA said its rules permitted the “sporting continuity” of a club’s on-field history. Rangers lost their membership to the European Club Association after their liquidation but, after reapplying, were granted associate membership on the basis they had been founding members of the Association.