Gerrard has had plenty of bouts with before...
WITH Scottish football’s showpiece fixture looming on the horizon, SportTimes readers were curious about whether the new man in the Rangers dugout has any experience of squaring up to their old rivals...
Jan Jarvie (Springboig) asks: Pending Steven Gerrard’s first involvement in an Old Firm match, what is his record as a player against Celtic?
A: Steven Gerrard played his first game against Celtic in a friendly match on 16th May 2000, coming on as a substitute in Liverpool legend Ronnie Moran’s testimonial. The Liverpool team won the game 4-1 in front of 33,000 at Anfield.
In 2003, Gerrard met Celtic in the quarter final of Celtic’s UEFA Cup campaign which took them all the way to the final. The firstleg at Celtic Park ended 1-1, and Celtic eventually won the tie with a 2-0 victory at Anfield. Alan Thompson and John Hartson provided the goals which set-up a semi final tie against Portuguese side Boavista.
Gerrard met Celtic a year later in July 2004, competing against GET the lowdown on Scottish football’s fascinating history with a visit to the National Stadium. There’s fun among all the exhibits for every family member. Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sunday 11am-5pm. Adults £6, U16/concs £3, U5 free. Tel: 0141 616 6139 or visit www. scottishfootball museum.org.uk Celtic in the Champions World Soccer Series in the USA. Liverpool comfortably won the game 5-1 with Gerrard making a second-half appearance in front of 24,471 at Rentschler Field, home of the University of Connecticut Huskies.
The last time Gerrard played Celtic was in 2013 in a pre-season friendly coined the ‘Dublin Decider’. Celtic won the game 1-0 courtesy of an Amido Balde goal. Interestingly, Brendan Rodgers was manager of Liverpool at the time.
Bobby Caron (Cowie) asks: In the early fifties my Dad took me to see Stirling Albion play Rangers at Annfield, I believe the Albion won the game. Do you have any details of this match?
A: You are correct, Stirling Albion did defeat Rangers at Annfield on 26th September 1953. The Division One match was watched by 19,500 supporters.
Tom Fergusson, known to many as ‘Mr Stirling Albion’, was manager at the time while Bill Struth, commonly known as ‘The Boss’, was in charge of Rangers. Willie Woodburn scored an own goal and was later sent off for retaliating after being punched, while Dick Whitehead netted the second for Stirling.
The Albion’s only other win against the Light Blues was on 6th October 2012 in a Third Division match. Captain Brian Allison’s eighth-minute goal was enough to earn his club a famous victory.