The Old Firm

Finally, European football leagues have officially started: English Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Calcio Seria A. In this article I would like to digress a little from the league to another pressing issue(even though the big matches between Arsenal and Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are waiting for us this weekend).

There is another big match which may well be out of football fans' sight. Yes, I'm talking about the derby of Glasgow which is widely known as 'The Old Firm'!

While English Premier League has become one of the most popular leagues in the world, for a long time, Scottish Premiership hasn't been able to achieve the same level as their neighbouring country has.

Competition in English Premier League is high and it seems to be increasing every year, but when we look at Scottish Premiership, we need to accept whole-heartedly that this is totally different league.

Rangers and Celtic have possessed the glory of being champions for many decades, while other teams can hardly compete with them.

Now, you can guess how fiercely these two teams hate each other. Both are the finest teams in the league, and they are located in the same city, Glasgow. Whenever they face each other, they always contain a large amount of emotion and it means a lot to both sides to win.

Anyway, if you think their rivalry is the same as the other teams(who are in the same area), you misunderstand. Their hatred with race and religion still occurs today and it still runs deep within them.

I would like to introduce you to the historical background between Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The conflict between these two countries has occurred since medieval times. The geographical location of both countries made them invade each other's land and try to colonise the land across the sea. This conflict had stood for many centuries until the junction of the 1910's and 1920's when the Irish War of Independence took place. The IRA (Irish Republican Army) who tried to free Northern Ireland from the UK, was founded in that period too.

Why does the conflict between these two countries accumulate so much hatred of the football fans in Glasgow?

The event from the 19th century is the answer.

In that age, the Great Famine spread through the whole country of Ireland. This forced Irish people to emigrate overseas. Glasgow, which was one of the most civilised cities in the UK (and may well still be) became one of Irish refugees' destinations.

Irish immigrants caused a lot of trouble for the UK, because their refugees were uneducated and most of them worked as laborers. For this reason, anti-Irish sentiment had begun.

However , when Irish people had gathered overseas and the Irish community had founded, then Celtic F.C. (which uses a Shamrock, the national flower of Ireland), the club's sigil was founded.

We can say that Celtic is truly the football club for Irish people.

Meanwhile, the Ulster-Scots (the people who migrated from the lowlands of Scotland to Ulster in Glasglow), founded Rangers F.C. They had supporters who were local people in Glasgow.

You now know the origin of the conflict. There still is something that makes the hatred go even far beyond this-

Religion!

Even though Christianity is the main religion of both countries, the difference of sectarianism was enough to make the hatred go to an even higher level.

While the people in the UK are Christian, Irish people are Catholic. This difference launched anti-Catholic sentiment at the same time when anti-Irish sentiment had occurred.

Anti-Catholic sentiment had run deep into the Rangers club tradition. They wouldn't sign contracts with Catholic players nor staff neither! This remained in place until their unwritten rule was broken by Graeme Souness in 1986.

The final topic that maximizes the hatred for each other is politics.

I've written about The IRA who were trying to free Northern Ireland from the UK. The IRA's terrorisation had heavily damaged the entire of the UK for several decades, and the hatred between 'The Gers' and 'The Hoops' wouldn't be maximized. This would only happen if the Celtic's supporters would obviously show their support the IRA by chants or even raising the picture of the IRA's members alongside William Wallace. William Wallace was a Scottish Knight who tried to release Scotland from the rule of England in Middle-Ages.

When the circumstances got to that level, Rangers supporters were unhesitant in raising up the Union Jack to show their love and loyalty to the motherland. This is the same as the Celtic:s supporters who raised up the Irish flag to show off their club's origin.

Right, let's go back to football!

Even though these two clubs are the fiercest rivals in the Scottish Premiership, because of their financial situation (which made them fall to the Scottish Third Divison), Rangers have disappered from the Scottish Premiership in the last decade.

However, the coming of Steven Gerrard in 2018 has raised 'The Light Blue' shaking Celtic's throne once again. Before that 'Stevie G' had dyed the whole city of Glasgow blue by winning the league title last season.

Without a doubt, Celtic want to take back the title, which had belonged to them for so many years, back in this year.

By signing a contract with Joe Hart, the veteran goalkeeper, with other key players, like Odsonne Edouard (who was the top goal scorer last season), the team captain Callum McGregor, David Turnbull and Ryan Christie (who were Scotland's national team's squad in Euro 2020), this makes Celtic still good enough to regain the league trophy from their fierce rival. If Celtic can take three valuable points from Rangers home ground, Ibrox Stadium, their confidence and morale will absolutely increase.

On Rangers side, even though their players' fame and quality might not be of the same level as Celtic, the improvement from Gerrard, the assistant Gary McAlister and the whole crew of staff prove their quality and that they're ready for becoming the No.1 team in Scotland once again.

This is the same as the Celtic side but with the advantage of being a home team, in the first leg, of The Old Firm, this season. If they can beat their rival, their confidence and morale shall undoubtedly boost.

Who will be the winner? We shall see on Sunday.