A far from complete list of Old Firm sins over the years
Brake clubs the original organised football firms.
In the late 1800's Celtic fans organised travelling support for their team on “brakes” essentially horse drawn buses. Traipsing around the Glasgow, blowing bugles, singing songs about nationalist Ireland, displaying Irish flags. In the political atmosphere of
the time of course that was an invitation to violence, with often hundreds of arrest over a weekend. There were 13 of them, Rangers ever the imitators formed their own Brakieists, to do the same thing on behalf of the LOL and Lord Carson. Fight after fight at their provocative behaviour. Organised football violence invented Scotland 1890, the world must be so grateful to us.
By 1896 the first signs of acrimony arose Scottish Sport warned that “Bad Blood had crept in”. Two years later the new years match had to be abandoned 1-1 in response to brawling between supporters. The Scottish Sport refereed to the crowd as “The scum of the city, drunken and brutal in their behaviour and language.
The Usual crooks
The translation of the term The Old Firm, from the slang of the late 19th century. Set on Celtic and Rangers because of their reputation for fixing matches. Indeed the worst crowd trouble at a Scottish game ever was the 1909 cup final. When Rangers and Celtic fans rioted together
Rangers and Celtic had set up another Old Firm final showdown, which went to a replay after the sides drew 2-2 in a thrilling first game. But rumours began sweeping the city that the SFA had been fixing Cup ties in a bid to ensure maximum income from replays, sparking suspicion and mistrust among both sets of supporters.
That sense of paranoia peaked after the replay on April 17, which finished in a 1-1 draw; as the players left the field an announcement revealed there would be no extra-time and the thinning patience of 60,000 supporters finally ran out. Fans from both sides united to invade the pitch for more than 2½ hours, tearing up the goalposts and setting fire to the wooden barricades. Mounted police were fended off with stones and even the goalposts, while the fire brigade was also repelled by missiles and had its hoses cut. Around 50 policemen were injured as the riot eventually left the stadium and moved towards the city centre
Celtic took an overnight train to New York for a match with the American League’s Hakoah All-Stars the next day. Hakoah, a team laced with Hungarian ex-internationals, held them to a 1-1 draw, but the crowd of 20,000 witnessed probably the most ill-tempered contest of the tour. “The game was rough throughout, two players of each team being ordered off the field in the second half,” one report noted.
“Trouble broke out soon after the half. Guttman and Napier came to blows and were ejected and [Rudi] Nickolsberger and Scarff got their marching orders for fouling. Before going to the dressing
room Napier had equalized with a long shot from twenty yards out, which sailed into the net far out of [Lajos] Fischer’s reach.”
In the same year Rangers toured flying Union flags to the distaste of Americans and Irish Americans particularly. The Old Firm have been humiliating Scotland for a long time.
Third Lanark's tour
In contrast a decade earlier Third Lanark had toured North and South America under a Scottish flag led on by a piper to acclaim at their skills and modern technique. They were actually a highly augmented team more a Scottish XI indeed refereed to as often just the Scottish team. Lauded and enjoyed wherever they went, mainly protestant Canada and USA or catholic Argentina or Uruguay. Rather than fighting with people on the run from the Nazis, or annoying the Americans by representing Rule Britannia to what was then their traditional enemy.
During the war years Celtic park is closed for a month following disorder, bottle throwing and incidents that may have included pro-Nazi chanting.
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Rangers, the Orange Lodge and Orangism
Founded in 1872 exactly the time the LOL were starting to rise in large numbers in Scotland, through Protestant Irish migration. At first there is no real association but by the 90's with the recent founding of Celtic they attract a strong Orange protestant Irish following as Celtic's main rivals. So began a long association with Orange Bigotry in Scotland providing one of the main focal points for Orangism and it's hate crimes.
In the early 1920's Rangers stop playing any Catholics.
The fight with Hakoah All stars
Reflecting the politics of religion, the infamous fight in 1931 between Celtic and Hakoah All Stars a Jewish team on an American tour. Anti-Semitism has always been a feature of Catholicism and Irish politics of the period tainted by Blue shirt Fascism.
Liverpool in 1966 after they were put out of the European Cup Winners. Celtic fans riot after the final whistle and a hail of missiles rained down on the pitch. Over 100 people were injured and Neilly Mochan and Bob Rooney had to appeal to the Celtic fans to stop the missile throwing.
Ibrox and Hampden park the subject of arson attacks in 1968
1969 Rangers’ fans riot in night of violence: over 100 injured Newcastle Same year 50 arrested for fighting at the cup final with Celtic fans.
1972 rangers fans riot in Barcelona
1975 the first Old Firm game of the new Premier League, in 1975, trouble returned with battles among supporters
1978 Celtic fans riot in Burnley
1980 Hampden riot, leads to the introduction of the “Drink Laws”.
2008 Rangers fans riot in Manchester
2009 Rangers fans riot in Bucharest
The EUFA sanctions
UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body have punished Rangers for incidents during European ties, most notably Villareal CF in 2006, Osasuna in 2007, and PSV Eindhoven in 2011.
Celtic landed with 12 UEFA fine in the space of six years with the total bill up to about £170,000. 2011-17 including October 2017: Celtic are fined £8,900 after 21-year-old supporter John Hatton raced on to the Parkhead pitch and aimed a kick at Paris St Germain striker Kylian Mbappe Just about the only way the sort of defence at Celtic park gonna' stop that man -you got to give them marks for trying huh.? 2022 Rangers hit with 8 sanctions in a single season by EUFA.
I think you get the picture, it is normal for the Old Firm to be sanctioned by EUFA multiple times in a season.
March 2011 Strathclyde Police said they had arrested 187 people throughout Wednesday - including 34 at the game itself - and another 40 for domestic abuse offences. 11 days previously, after a Scottish Premier League game won by Celtic, there were 280 arrests following widespread trouble across Glasgow. Police cells filled so quickly people had to be ferried 50 miles to other stations.
Mark Walters a black player signed for Rangers under Souness abused by monkey chants and throwing bananas on the pitch by Celtic fans -so much for liberal Celtic the team of the left?
A commercial flight diverted by the pilot and RAF fighters scrambled to escort the plane down, due to rioting Celtic fans. (My particular favourite)
The Killings
Just to reiterate at least 25 people have been murdered over the past few decades. Celtic and Rangers fans kill people. They attack even women and children as young as 12. The most recent killings are just before Covid struck. The above image is of a Rangers fan kicked till he suffered brain trauma. When presented with this image a person in a left wing political meeting said "How do they tell the difference"? He simply did not understand the irony of what he had just said. There are more forms of brain damage than those sustained from a kick.
