A derby with a difference: From Ibrox gates, all eyes are on east
After joining The Herald team for the final Old Firm derby of the league season, Henry Winter, Britain’s top football writer, walked the streets of Glasgow in the heat to take the temperature of a rivalry that punches above its weight in world football de
IT was the replica European Cup casually placed on a fridge full of lagers and soft drinks in a Celtic pub that immediately caught the eye. It was also the couple from Colorado trying on replica shirts in the vast, two-tiered Rangers shop that commanded attention. Saturday’s Old Firm meeting is more than a game. It’s a way of life.
That reality pervaded the queue forming outside the Rangers Museum before opening time on Friday morning. They brought stout shoes to stride around this magnificently curated shrine to their beloved club’s history. That passion was also captured by the family in green and white panting their way up a forest road in the rare heat of mid-day to reach Celtic’s training ground, hoping to catch a glimpse of the players. They brought fold-up chairs and waited by the side of the road.
Up inside Lennoxtown, Celtic’s calm captain, Callum McGregor, knows full well it is more than a game. “All you have to do is drive into the city centre and from Monday that’s all everyone is talking about,” McGregor said. “Any time you meet someone in the street, in the supermarket, coffee shops, all they’re talking about is, ‘You’d better win on Saturday’ – and they’re not joking. It’s a serious thing and when the players understand that it gives you a sense of how important your role is within the club.” McGregor added that “it means everything to both sides of the city.”
There’s a zeal to supporting Rangers and Celtic. Which is why, to an outsider, it feels so wrong that no away fans have been allowed in to Old Firm games recently, both clubs claiming safety reasons. At least next season sanity prevails and five-percent away allocations return. Broadcasters pay handsomely for atmosphere, and travelling supports help generate that.
Also, to an outsider, the sectarian chants heard at Old Firm occasions are a stain on the game and on a great, progressive city. Two forwardlooking clubs don’t need such backward-looking behaviour by some fans. To the counter-argument that it adds edge, well, you can have fierce
rivalry without poisonous thoughts and words.
It’s one of a few reasons why Premier League clubs would resist any request from the Old Firm to join them. Along with the concerns of the police, the English elite would also not want to invite in potential challengers. Informal discussions, nothing more than exploratory chats, have been held with the (English) Women’s Super League about the possibility of Rangers Women’s Football Club joining in.
Rangers are ambitious. Well-run by experienced executives like James Bisgrove, Rangers target funds for squad enhancement and to increase Ibrox’s capacity from 51,000 to 60,000 by 2030. They have 46,000 season ticket holders and 20,000 on the waiting list.
Moving home is not a consideration. Rangers take great pride in celebrating 125 years at Ibrox this year. They looked at digging down but immediate issues with the water table and moving out for a season precluded that. They looked at how Liverpool and Fulham played on while new stands were built or rebuilt. That looks their preferred solution.
A walk in the sunshine behind the Broomloan Road and Copland Road stands on Friday gave an indication, even to the untrained eye, of sufficient space to allow new structures. Following Tuesday’s final home game of the season, against Dundee, a construction team moves in to install 1000 more seats and create more bays for wheelchairs. Ready? Rangers are.
A few blue gateways nearby were adorned with stickers declaring support from English clubs like Chelsea, Sheffield United and Charlton Athletic. The Old Firm garner backing from all over. Celtic have 800 supporters’ organisations in 60 countries.
The English, inevitably absorbed by the Premier League and EFL, sometimes have no inkling of the sheer size of these two institutions to