When we were kings

Saint Anthony on how reduction in away fan numbers has diminished the Glasgow Derby

The Glasgow Derby. The Old Firm game. Celtic versus Rangers. Rainjurs ‘n Sellick. However you refer to it, there was once a time when these two teams came together, that such occasions could genuinely be regarded as one of the great fixtures in the world football calendar, if not the greatest. And it was not without good reason.

In April 1969, 132,000 fans turned out for the Scottish Cup final between Glasgow’s big two at Hampden Park. No two other clubs in the entire continent of Europe could attract that number of people to a football match. Wembley, for all its grandeur and pomp on cup final day, could only amass a 100,000 maximum capacity and it was only in Brazil, within the legendary Maracana stadium, could they eclipse the numbers that Celtic and Rangers could muster at Hampden.

Celtic and Rangers certainly made their mark in European football. Between 1964 and 1974, Celtic won a European Cup final, reached another final, and were involved in six European semi finals, two of which they won. Across the city at Ibrox, between 1960 and 1972, Rangers lifted the European Cup Winners Cup, reached two more finals in that competition, and reached five European semi finals. In the formative years of European competition, the Glasgow big two were at the forefront of the European game. When those two giants of the European game clashed in Glasgow, these games were renowned for the spectacle and noise which was created. In August 1967, an incredible crowd of 94,216, attended a League Cup tie at Ibrox and that was only those who paid in. ‘Skipping in’ to football matches being a common occurrence in Glasgow at that time. Over at Parkhead, Celtic’s capacity was 75,000 which was reached on many occasions as the two giants battled it out.

The Ibrox disaster, in January 1971, was a watershed in the Scottish game, when 66 souls perished in an accident whilst exiting the ground. In the aftermath of that tragic occurrence, Rangers announced that they would rebuild their stadium to improve safety for spectators and to ensure that such a dreadful event would never again take place. It’s noticeable that in the initial years after the disaster that attendances for big games did not dwindle. In the Celtic v Rangers Scottish Cup final of 1971, the game attracted 120,000, and the replay four days later attracted 103,000. For the 1973 final between the clubs, the crowd was 122,000, the last time the old Hampden Park ground held a six figure crowd. In 1978, Rangers unveiled the Copland Road stand, the first part of the modern renovation which would eventually lead to an all seater stadium. This drastically cut the capacity of Ibrox which had once held 118,000 in a game against Celtic in January 1939. From then on, Celtic Park, with its capacity of 67,000 (later reduced to 60,800) would be the bigger venue and remains so until this day.

Celtic and Rangers had traditionally respected each other’s supporters. What made their games so special as a spectacle was the fact that there was always a very large away support there to support their team. When Ibrox was fully finished in 1981, the ground was all seated with the exception of the 10,000 patrons who stood in the old enclosure below the main stand. Rangers were not doing so well in the early/mid 1980’s and for fixtures at Ibrox, with its now reduced 44,000 capacity, they were happy to present Celtic with approximately 15,000 tickets for the Broomloan stand, the enclosure, main stand, and even a small section of the huge Govan stand (now Sandy Jardine stand) when Rangers could not sell tickets for that area of the ground. For their part, Celtic reciprocated by giving 18,000 tickets to Rangers, mostly for standing on the huge East terracing. As stated previously, any Celtic versus Rangers affair always provided a great atmosphere and despite reduced capacities, those clashes were always a memorable experience. It must be acknowledged that there was always an undercurrent of undesirable religious/political hostility when the clubs met but, regardless, this game was an attraction which many came from far and wide to see.

Things began to change in late 1989. With the Souness revolution in Ibrox now in full swing, Rangers’ attendances had now increased considerably due to an influx of expensive signings from England. They declared that Celtic’s allocation for games at Ibrox would now be reduced to the 7,500 capacity of the Broomloan Road stand. This was not reciprocated by the Celtic board for the reason that Celtic’s ageing stadium could not provide sufficient segregation to safely separate both sets of fans. So, for a number of seasons, Rangers had the considerable advantage of having 18,000 fans at Parkhead whilst Celtic were only granted 7,500 tickets for games at Ibrox. Circumstances changed again when Fergus McCann took over at Celtic in 1994. By 1998, Fergus had built a magnificent new 60,000 stadium to take Celtic into the new century. Rangers now lost their huge allocation for Derby games, with Celtic setting their allocation at 7,500, which meant that both sides now had the same away allocations when the teams met.

The situation remained settled until 2018. As the new Rangers club rose from the ashes of the liquidation of 2012, the ‘Newco’ found their way back into Scottish football’s top tier for the beginning of the 2016-17 season. For the next two seasons at Ibrox, Celtic inflicted severe pain on Rangers and their fans. Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic side won all four derbies at Ibrox with an aggregate score of 12-4. The sight of Celtic players and fans celebrating so wildly inside Ibrox was too much for the powers that be at Ibrox, so they decided to slash Celtic’s allocation to a pathetic 800. This was seen as spiteful and vindictive by most impartial observers. No one should be in any doubt that had Rangers won those four derby games, then Celtic’s allocation would have remained at 7,500.

Celtic fans complained to the club that safety was now an issue. After the Covid season of 2020-21, Celtic announced that there would be no allocation for Rangers fans, to which Rangers responded similarly, and this lasted for a couple of seasons. Rumour has it that Sky TV were less than happy with this new arrangement. The Glasgow Derby remained one of their main attractions of the broadcaster’s live football coverage, and after discussions between the clubs, it was resolved that Rangers would have 2,700 for games at Celtic Park, and Celtic be awarded 2,500 for games at Ibrox. Most Celtic fans of my acquaintance were unhappy with this. They had become used to not having away fans in these games and were content with it. It seemed to cut down the tensions inside and outside the stadium. They were also annoyed at Celtic submitting to Rangers getting a larger allocation. It may only be 200 tickets but it was a point of principle. Many Celtic fans still believe that the club should have taken a tougher stance when the allocation was reduced to 800, and told Rangers that unless the original ticket numbers were restored then there would be no away fans. The moral high ground was there to be taken.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s I took English visitors to Celtic Park to watch what was then referred to as the Old Firm game. They were astounded at the noise and colour and stated that they had not witnessed anything on that scale within the English game. Admittedly, there was always a bit of amusement that they did not have a clue about some of the songs which were being sung – my Manchester based friend was most curious as to why Celtic fans were singing ‘Ooh-aah Paul McGrath’ – but despite the admittedly unsavoury elements of the fixture, it could not be denied that the Glasgow Derby was a unique pageant within the game of football with the green against the blue.

These days, the reputation of that once grand fixture lies in tatters. Small mindedness has resulted in a situation where very few opposition fans, Rangers or Celtic, will ever witness a Glasgow Derby again in their lifetime, the likelihood being that only corporate fans will now have access to tickets for the visiting team as the game moves even further away from its working class roots. It was the ordinary supporters who made this fixture what it was with their passion and fervour. It has now been reduced an ordinary event, with the same allocation given to Celtic for Ibrox as European teams receive.

Rangers have always prided themselves in being a great (size) club. One wonders what the likes of John Lawrence, Willie Waddell, and Jock Wallace, would think of the current custodians who have acted in such a spiteful fashion and shrunk this once mighty fixture to a fraction of what it once was. The so called greatest fixture in the world is no more.