Nine In A Row
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Scottish football Association football is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of ...
, the term nine in a row refers to winning the league championship in nine consecutive years. This has been accomplished twice by
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
and once by
Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
. It has become a commonly-used phrase, and a topic which has drawn much attention, as has the goal of winning ten in a row. Scottish football has been dominated by two clubs, Celtic and Rangers, both based in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
and collectively known as the
Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...
, since the introduction of a national
league system A league system is a hierarchy of sports league, leagues in a sport. They are often called pyramids, due to their tendency to split into an increasing number of regional divisions further down the system. League systems of some sort are used in ma ...
in 1890. While many league seasons have been closely fought between the pair, and have sometimes involved other clubs, there have been periods of dominance by one club, with three cases of nine championship wins in succession since the 1970s.Celtic & Rangers: Why does 10-in-a-row matter so much?
Martin Watt, BBC Sport, 25 July 2020.
Stein, Smith or Lennon: whose 9-in-a-row was best?
Alan Pattullo, The Scotsman, 19 May 2020.
The feat was first achieved by Celtic between the 1965–66 and 1973–74 seasons, during which they also became European champions in
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
. Their run was eventually stopped in 1975 by Rangers, who later received significant financial investment and matched the achievement between 1988–89 and 1996–97. Celtic won the next title in 1998 and prevented their record being broken. After the two clubs exchanged the trophy regularly for 14 seasons (the same period as had elapsed between the end of the first sequence and the start of the second), Celtic then went on another run of championships from 2011–12 to 2019–20, with Rangers out of the top division for four seasons of that period after their
liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...
in 2012. This was the only spell in the league's history that either club had not been in the top division. Rangers managed to strengthen sufficiently to 'stop the 10' in 2021 with an unbeaten season. Similar and longer winning runs have been recorded in other countries; however it is in Scotland that the specific term has become most commonplace, having been part of the nation's football landscape since the 1970s, remaining prominent due to the same mark being achieved twice more – but never bettered – in subsequent generations. Celtic is the only European club to win nine consecutive titles on two occasions, and in no other country has such a total been achieved more than twice (either by a single club or multiple clubs).


Background: 1890s to 1960s

From the formation of the
Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...
in 1890,
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
and
Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
based in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
were among the dominant clubs along with
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
-based Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian – amateurs Queen's Park, also based in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
who had dominated the
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...
for use as a neutral venue for cup finals (and the home of the Scottish national team). Rangers, founded in 1872, set the standard for SFL performance with a
perfect season A perfect season is a sports season, including any requisite playoff portion, in which a team remains and finishes undefeated and untied. The feat is extremely rare at the professional level of any team sport, but has occurred more commonly at th ...
in 1898–99,The first great Rangers team whose 'perfect season' remains unique in British football 122 years on
Matthew Lindsay, Glasgow Times, 7 January 2021.
winning all 18 league fixtures to eclipse the achievement of Celtic who had gone through the previous campaign unbeaten, but had drawn three matches. However, Rangers were weakened economically from 1902 when a new wooden stand collapsed at their
Ibrox Park Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers, Ibrox is the third-largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated ca ...
ground during a Scotland fixture, killing 25 spectators and injuring several hundred and necessitating more investment to rebuild the venue again. After another Glasgow team, Third Lanark, won the league in 1903–04, Celtic – backed by a large following among the Irish immigrant community in the West of Scotland from their formation in 1888 – took the initiative and won six successive championships between
1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...
and 1909–10, guided by 'secretary-manager'
Willie Maley William Patrick Maley (25 April 1868 – 2 April 1958) was an Irish-born Scottish international football player and manager. He was the first manager of Celtic Football Club, and one of the most successful managers in Scottish football histo ...
who remained in charge for 40 years. Rangers recovered to win the next three titles, then Celtic won four in succession during the atypical conditions of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, when the league took the decision to keep running. That period also saw the start of the Old Firm rivalry between the two clubs, initially on the basis of sporting popularity (the 1909 Scottish Cup Final replay between them at Hampden ended in a riot by supporters of both clubs who suspected the drawn result had been fixed to ensure another lucrative fixture) then along sectarian lines, with Rangers becoming identified as the Protestant and Unionist (both in a Scottish and Irish sense) antithesis of Celtic, whose supporters were largely Catholic and sympathisers of Irish nationalism (and the IRA in some cases), an issue which became more prominent and violent from the 1910s. At the same time a large contingent of Ulstermen, many of them
Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...
members, moved from the
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
shipyards to work in those of
Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...
where Rangers were based, attaching their cultural conditions to the club including the exclusion of Catholics from their workplace, a policy unofficially adopted by Rangers for decades to come and further entrenching the position of the two as polar opposites in Glaswegian society (separate schooling systems for the two communities, initially set up amidst an atmosphere of hostility towards the Irish-Catholic immigrant community, meant that the mindset of local children was typically set on which values should be followed, including football affiliation in a society already fixated on the sport, from a young age). With Rangers and Celtic each enjoying the support of effectively half of Glasgow and half of Northern Ireland, their financial strength ensured they stayed near the top of the Scottish League almost every year, although in the period between the wars, Rangers under
Bill Struth William Struth (16 June 1875 – 21 September 1956) was a Scottish football manager. He was the second manager of Rangers Football Club, leading the club for 34 years between 1920 and 1954, as well as being the holder of a number of other posit ...
were very much dominant in terms of league success:Blue and silver blend at Ibrox
FIFA.com, 23 September 2010.
The on-field history of Rangers Football Club 1873–2012
BBC News, 14 February 2012.
from 1917–18 to 1938–39 they won 16 of the 22 titles, with occasional challenges from Celtic as well as Airdrieonians (who finished second to Rangers four times) and
Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
, (also runners-up four times, the only title in their history in 1931–32 broke a run of five by Rangers, who then claimed three more). The ''Gers'' continued to dominate in the unofficial competitions during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, winning all seven of the league titles and numerous cups. As they had won the last official championship before the war and also won the first after it, some supporters retrospectively claimed this sequence to be the first run of 'nine in a row'. Celtic won nothing during the period as their business model foundered. When the war ended, it was the Edinburgh clubs who challenged during the 1950s, with first Hibs (3 titles, 3 times runners-up with their Famous Five forward line) then Hearts (2 titles, 3 runners-up) giving chase to Rangers (7 titles including the country's first treble incorporating the new
Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
, 4 runners-up) and markedly stronger than Celtic (1 title, 1 runner-up) while
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
took a league flag in 1954–55 and the likes of
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
and East Fife also finished ahead of the ''Hoops'' more than once in what was a strong period for Scottish football in general but not for Celtic. That pattern continued into the early 1960s, with Rangers the most consistently strong team, with their achievements including a second treble in 1962–63 and a
European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...
final appearance in
1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
, with Celtic providing less of a challenge than other smaller clubs: in this period
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
– champions in 1961–62 – and particularly
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...
who were second four times before taking the title ahead of Hearts and
Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...
in 1964–65, the only occasion when neither of the Old Firm clubs finished in the top three.


The first Nine: Celtic, 1965 to 1974

Amidst this backdrop of long-term underachievement by Celtic,
Jock Stein John Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He was the first manager of a club from a Northern European country to win the European Champio ...
was appointed the club's manager in March 1965, replacing
Jimmy McGrory James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward. He later managed Kilmarnock and Celtic. McGrory is also the all-time leading goalscorer in top-flight Bri ...
and having previously been reserve team coach from 1957 to 1960. He had then moulded Dunfermline into the strong team they were at that time, and then enjoyed a brief but impressive period at Hibs. Celtic had several promising young players in their squad, as was their policy of the time, but they had not had sufficiently talented older teammates or a sophisticated tactical plan to lead them on to greater success; however, this group, including
Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...
,
Bobby Murdoch Robert White Murdoch (17 August 1944 – 15 May 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played as a midfielder for Celtic, Middlesbrough and Scotland. Murdoch was one of the Lisbon Lions, the Celtic team who won the European Cup in 19 ...
,
Tommy Gemmell Thomas Gemmell (16 October 1943 – 2 March 2017) was a Scottish football player and manager. Although right-footed, he excelled as a left-sided fullback and had powerful shooting ability. Gemmell is best known as one of the Celtic side who w ...
, Bobby Lennox,
Jimmy Johnstone James Connolly Johnstone (30 September 1944 – 13 March 2006) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. Known as "Jinky" for his elusive dribbling style, Johnstone played for Celtic for 13 years and was one of the Lisbon Lions, ...
and
John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...
plus the older
Stevie Chalmers Thomas Stephen Chalmers (26 December 1935 – 29 April 2019) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre-forward and spent the majority of his career with Celtic. He is the club's fifth-highest goalscorer with 236 goals and is cons ...
and John Clark did have several years of first team experience behind them. With an attacking playing system and strong man-management, Stein's impact was immediate, as Celtic reached the 1965 Scottish Cup Final and won it by beating Dunfermline, the club's first major honour since the 1957 Scottish League Cup Final (a 7–1 win over Rangers which was very much against the trend of success in that period) and a first medal for the players, who had lost in Old Firm finals of that season's League Cup and the 1962–63 Scottish Cup, plus a previous final to Stein's Dunfermline in the 1960–61 Scottish Cup. By then
Bertie Auld Robert Auld (23 March 1938 – 14 November 2021) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was a member of Celtic's Lisbon Lions, who won the 1967 European Cup Final. As a player, he made more than 200 appearances in the Scottish League ...
had returned to the club, and Stein quickly augmented his squad with goalscorer Joe McBride while promoting Jim Craig and retaining veteran goalkeeper
Ronnie Simpson Ronald Campbell Simpson (11 October 1930 – 19 April 2004) was a Scottish football player and coach. He is mainly remembered for his time with Celtic, where he was the goalkeeper in the ''Lisbon Lions'' team that won the European Cup in 1967. ...
whom he had previously allowed to leave Hibs). This squad nucleus won the 1965–66 Scottish Division One title and the 1965–66 Scottish League Cup with a win over Rangers, though they lost to the same opponents in the 1966 Scottish Cup Final after a replay and were narrowly eliminated from the
Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...
at the semi-final stage. The battle for the league was a tight affair with Rangers, as it would also be for the next two seasons,Nine In A Row The First Time Round
David Potter, Celtic Fanzine, 18 April 2020.
with Celtic's higher scoring rate prior to the last game of the season (105 goals to their rivals' 87, with five or more scored on 10 occasions including a 5–1 victory in the pivotal New Year Old Firm match) ensuring they would be champions on goal average in any case; they still won the last fixture away to Motherwell to claim a first title in 12 seasons
James M. Ross and Karel Stokkermans,
RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...
, 25 March 2021.
and overcome the psychological blows of losing the cup final and the European semi-final in the preceding weeks. Older hands like John Divers, and Jim Kennedy were allowed to move on, while Ian Young remained in the squad but played no active role in the following campaign.Ian Young dead: Former Celtic defender dies aged 76 after illness
Adam Hamdani, The Independent, 11 December 2019.
In 1966–67, Celtic famously won every competition they entered, Stein compensating for an injury to McBride by signing the experienced Willie Wallace. The league race was particularly close, with Rangers in with a chance of taking the title with a win when the teams met at Ibrox on the last scheduled matchday; however Celtic (who also still had a game in hand) secured a 2–2 draw which meant they could not be caught, and as in the previous campaign, a win in the re-arranged fixture put an additional points difference on the completed league table. The campaign climaxed with the 1967 European Cup Final in which Celtic recovered from losing an early goal to dominate the favourites
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
2–1 and win the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
, with the players immortalised as the '
Lisbon Lions The Lisbon Lions is the nickname given to the Celtic F.C., Celtic team that won the UEFA Champions League, European Cup at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal on 25 May 1967 European Cup Final, 1967, defeating Inter Milan 2–1. Name The ...
'. In a demonstration of Scottish football's strength at the time, Rangers also reached the
1967 European Cup Winners' Cup Final The 1967 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match contested between Bayern Munich of West Germany and Rangers of Scotland. The match took place at the Städtisches Stadion in Nuremberg, West Germany on 31 May 1967 in front of a cro ...
, though lost to
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
. 1967 would prove to be the pinnacle of Celtic's achievements, but they were arguably stronger domestically in later seasons. In 1967–68 their winning margin was only two points over Rangers, who still had a strong team of their own – they beat Celtic in the early Old Firm derby and neither team lost another match for the rest of the season; however while the second derby was drawn, Celtic won all their remaining matches and again scored more goals than Rangers (104 to 91), who drew twice to negate their early points advantage. The Govan club had also decided to part company with long-serving manager
Scot Symon James Scotland Symon (9 May 1911 – 30 April 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He also played cricket for Scotland. Footballer Symon started his professional career at Dundee in 1930. He then spent three years with English team ...
mid-season despite leading the table at that point. Rangers' sole loss to Aberdeen in the closing minutes of a rearranged fixture at the end of the campaign not only ended the Ibrox men's hopes of the title but also prevented the unusual achievement of an unbeaten campaign without winning the title.I was there when Rangers’ unbeaten season crumbled on the final day
Robin McKie, The Guardian, 14 May 2021.
Celtic's final-day trip to Dunfermline which once more put distance between the Glasgow teams at the conclusion of a very close contest, saw
East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of side, Dunfermline Athle ...
being packed beyond capacity to see the champions play the Scottish Cup holders, with crush barriers giving way and the game halted several times as a tragedy was only narrowly avoided. In 1968–69 the Celtic winning margin was up to six points as another treble was secured, featuring a 4–0 win over Rangers in the 1969 Scottish Cup Final. In 1969–70 the gap was a huge 13 points and thus their loss to Aberdeen in the 1970 Scottish Cup Final was something of a shock. A second European Cup final was reached that season, with Celtic as favourites against
Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
, but this time were on the wrong end of the 2–1 scoreline after extra time. Stein gradually began to introduce more youngsters from the reserve team, known as the Quality Street Kids due to their high standards. Including
David Hay David Hay (born 29 January 1948) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He broke into the Celtic team in the late 1960s, as one of a generation of players who continued a highly successful era for the club. A contract dispute betwee ...
,
Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenn ...
,
George Connelly George Connelly (born 1 March 1949) is a Scottish former international footballer who played professionally with Celtic and Falkirk. Connelly is from Valleyfield in Fife. Career Born in Fife, Connelly was a technically accomplished footballer, ...
,
Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...
and later
Danny McGrain Daniel Fergus McGrain (born 1 May 1950) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played for Celtic, Hamilton Academical and the Scotland national team as a right back. McGrain is regarded as one of Scotland's greatest players and th ...
and Paul Wilson, this group became increasingly regular over the next few seasons alongside the remaining 'Lions', and signings such as
Tommy Callaghan Tommy Callaghan (6 December 1944 – 25 October 2024) was a Scottish professional Association football, footballer who played for Celtic F.C., Celtic, Dunfermline Athletic and Clydebank F.C. (1965), Clydebank. He was a left-sided midfielder fa ...
, Harry Hood,
Dixie Deans John Kelly "Dixie" Deans (born 30 July 1946) is a Scottish retired footballer. He played as a centre forward in the 1960s and 1970s, primarily for Motherwell and Celtic, and was a prolific goal-scorer. Deans played in two international match ...
and latterly Andy Lynch, plus long term squad members like
Pat McCluskey Patrick McCluskey (13 April 1952 – 24 August 2020) was a Scottish footballer. He spent most of his career in the Scottish League, except for part of one season in Ireland and one season in the United States. Career In 1970, McCluskey began hi ...
and Jim Brogan. After Ronnie Simpson and his deputy John Fallon left the club, Evan Williams, Ally Hunter and
Denis Connaghan Denis Connaghan (9 January 1945 – 14 January 2024) was a Scottish football goalkeeper, who played for Celtic, St Mirren, Morton and Clyde. Connaghan began his career at Celtic, but was released in 1963. After a spell in junior football w ...
all had spells as goalkeeper. Aberdeen got within two points of Celtic in 1970–71, with Rangers 15 behind in fourth. Aberdeen had an opportunity to take the title when they and Celtic met at Pittodrie in April 1971 but Celtic came away with a 1–1 draw, and although they dropped another point in the next fixture (coinciding with Aberdeen's last), they had two postponed matches to play and won them both to retain the championship. In 1971–72 the gap was 10 points, again ahead of Aberdeen (Rangers 16 off Celtic's total), as the ''Hoops'' also reached another European Cup semi-final, losing to Inter on a penalty shootout. The early 1970s had been a turbulent period for Rangers, as they not only had to contend with a powerful Celtic but also with the traumatic events of another disaster at Ibrox in January 1971 when 66 supporters died in a crush on a stairway at the end of an Old Firm fixture. This led the club to overhaul the ground into an all-seater stadium over the next decade, overseen by manager Willie Waddell (a 1950s Rangers hero as a player and the boss who led Kilmarnock to the 1965 title), though the financial impact of this undertaking was not obviously felt in the short term. On the field, the struggle to overcome Celtic's domestic run was offset by a victory in the
1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final The 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match between Scottish team Rangers and Soviet team Dynamo Moscow. It took place at the Camp Nou in Barcelona on 24 May 1972 in front of a crowd of 35,000. It was the final of the 1971–7 ...
, confirming that Scottish teams still maintained high standards comparable to others across the continent despite the domestic dominance of one team alone.The forgotten story of … Rangers’ 1972 European Cup Winners’ Cup win
Daniel Harris, The Guardian, 4 September 2014.
The winning margin closed back to a single point in
1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...
as Rangers grew stronger under new manager
Jock Wallace John Martin Bokas Wallace (6 September 1935 – 24 July 1996) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Wallace played as a goalkeeper, and has the unique distinction of being the only player ever to play in the English, Welsh and Sco ...
. The Ibrox men had to recover from an early deficit (three defeats in the first five matches including the Old Firm derby) and later went on a run of 16 victories including the return derby fixture, but it was not enough as Celtic won seven in a row to close their campaign while Rangers stumbled with a draw at Aberdeen, and the league flag was again on its way to the East End of the city. Rangers gained some revenge and a psychological boost with a 3–2 victory in the 1973 Scottish Cup Final between the pair. Celtic won the 1973–74 title by four points over Hibs and five over Rangers, equalling the post-World War II European record of nine consecutive championships. They also won the Scottish Cup and reached the European Cup semi-finals for what would be the last time, going out to
Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...
following an extremely violent first leg in Glasgow.


Falling at the tenth, 1974–75

The 1974–75 season could not be described as a complete disappointment for Celtic as they still won the Scottish Cup and League Cup, but their league streak came to an end as they finished 11 points behind Rangers and four behind Hibs, their poor form including three league defeats in a row which had never occurred in the past decade. With Macari and Murdoch having left in 1973, followed by Connelly and Hay in 1974, Jimmy Johnstone moved on and Billy McNeill retired in the summer of 1975; most other serving players stayed and Jock Stein remained in charge, though he was seriously injured in a car crash that summer.The immortal Jock Stein and the A74 highway crash
Fergus Dowd, The Football Faithful, 28 April 2020.
Jock Stein: 30 years on from his death, we reflect on an unsung season
Richard Purden, The Irish Post, 10 September 2015.


Seasonal statistics: Celtic 1965 to 1974


Key player statistics: Celtic 1965 to 1974


New Firm era: 1975 to 1988

Attendances had been falling across Scotland, including at Celtic where the success had become commonplace to supporters, and in the summer of 1975 the format was changed to a smaller division with the clubs playing each other more often. Rangers also won the first season of the new Premier Division in 1975–76 as part of a treble, again by a comfortable margin (six points) while Celtic struggled in the absence of Jock Stein who missed the season recovering from his car crash injuries. His Celtic side fought back to win the 1976–77 title by nine points (after which Kenny Dalglish moved on to
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
), only for Rangers to respond with another treble in 1977–78, challenged by Aberdeen but with Celtic 19 points behind the champions back in fifth place. Jock Stein departed from Celtic that summer, Billy McNeill taking over. More surprisingly, Jock Wallace also resigned from his Rangers position, reportedly after disputes with Willie Waddell over the club's economic plans, halting what appeared to be a power shift towards the Ibrox men. Towards the end of the 1970s the financial burden of stadium redevelopment started to impact the ability of Rangers, now managed by their long-serving captain
John Greig John Greig (born 11 September 1942) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He spent his entire career with Rangers F.C., Rangers, as a player, manager and d ...
, to maintain a strong team, and while Celtic remained a force, albeit no longer at the level of a decade earlier,
Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...
's Aberdeen and
Jim McLean James Yuille McLean (2 August 1937 – 26 December 2020) was a Scottish football player, manager and director. He managed Dundee United between 1971 and 1993, becoming the longest-serving and most successful manager in the club's history, winni ...
's
Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
took advantage of the comparative weaknesses in Glasgow to win four championships, four Scottish Cups and three League Cups between them during the period from 1979 to 1987. They also succeeded internationally: Aberdeen won the
1983 European Cup Winners' Cup Final The 1983 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match contested between Aberdeen of Scotland and Real Madrid of Spain. It was the final match of the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup tournament and the 23rd European Cup Winners' Cup fin ...
and Dundee United reached the 1987 UEFA Cup Final. The other titles in that period went to Celtic, who switched manager from McNeill to David Hay in 1983, while Hearts came within a few minutes of a rare title in 1985–86. After an unsuccessful return for Jock Wallace, Rangers' revival began in the summer of 1986, when chairman David Holmes appointed
Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...
as player-manager, with several prominent English players soon following him to Ibrox with their clubs banned from European competitions following the 1985
Heysel disaster The Heysel Stadium disaster ( ; ; ) was a crowd disaster on 29 May 1985, when Juventus fans were escaping from an attack by Liverpool fans while they were pressed against a wall in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, before the start of ...
.Graeme Souness and the Rangers Revolution
Matthew Evans, These Football Times, 7 January 2019.
A first title in nine years came Rangers' way in 1986–87, although Celtic won a double in their centenary season, 1987–88, again led by Billy McNeill.


The second Nine: Rangers, 1988 to 1997

Rangers received further investment in November 1988 when David Murray took over as chairman. They already had a strong spine to their team, including the likes of
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
goalkeeper
Chris Woods Christopher Charles Eric Woods (born 14 November 1959) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is goalkeeping coach for the Scotland national team. As a player, he was a goalkeeper (association football), goalke ...
, defenders
Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that feature ...
,
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
and
Richard Gough Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Gough played in the successful Dundee United team of the early 1980s, winning the Scottish league title in 1982–83 and reach ...
, home-grown midfielder
Ian Durrant Ian Durrant (born 29 October 1966) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who was last a first team coach at Kilwinning Rangers until the end of the 23-24 season. During his playing career, Durrant played as a midfielder fo ...
, winger
Mark Walters Mark Everton Walters (born 2 June 1964) is an English former professional footballer who made 600 league appearances between 1981 and 2002. A midfielder, Walters played top-flight football for Aston Villa, Liverpool and Southampton in England ...
and striker
Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former association football, footballer who has since worked as a Manager (association football), manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Jo ...
. The 1988–89 title went to Ibrox, with Aberdeen in second place and Celtic ten points off the pace. Their rivalry with Aberdeen, which had been brewing since the ''Dons'' became contenders in the late 1970s, intensified that season when Durrant suffered a career-threatening injury from a violent challenge by
Neil Simpson Neil Alexander Simpson (born 15 November 1961) is a Scottish former footballer, who played for Aberdeen, Newcastle United, Motherwell and Scotland. Simpson, nicknamed "Simmy", was born in London to Scottish parents who soon moved back to Newma ...
. In July 1989, Rangers signed
Mo Johnston Maurice John Giblin Johnston (born 13 April 1963) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Johnston, who played as a forward, started his senior football career with Partick Thistle in 1981. He moved to Watford in 1983, where he scored ...
, who previously played for Celtic and had informally agreed to rejoin them. Not only was this 'steal' of a coveted player a psychological coup for Rangers over their rivals, it also marked a change in their 'no Catholics' policy which Souness had publicly criticised as being an impediment to Rangers achieving success due to its non-sporting limitations as to who could play for the club. Not all supporters agreed with this change, though Johnston had some success at the club (by contrast, Celtic had brought in former Rangers star Alfie Conn in 1977 with little protest against his arrival, though his personal involvement was limited by injury). With additional important contributions from
Nigel Spackman Nigel James Spackman (born 2 December 1960) is a former professional footballer and English Manager (association football), football manager, and is a sports television pundit. As a player he was as a midfielder from 1980 to 1998, notably for Li ...
, Gary Stevens and
Trevor Steven Trevor McGregor Steven (born 21 September 1963) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right-sided midfielder. He progressed through the ranks at Burnley, making his debut in 1981 regularly scoring over the next two seasons ...
, all of whom had experience of winning the English championship, the 1989–90 was a similar story to the previous edition, with Rangers comfortably holding off
Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football for the Utah Utes, earning first-team All-American ho ...
's Aberdeen (who beat both Glasgow teams in the season's cup finals) and Celtic down in fifth place. In 1990–91 there was a huge gap of 14 points between the Old Firm clubs, with Rangers also winning the 1990 Scottish League Cup Final between them for good measure. Despite the upheaval of Souness leaving at short notice to take over at
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
in April, his assistant
Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing career consiste ...
(who had the same role with Jim McLean at Dundee United) proved to be both a steadying influence and a skilled manager in his own right. Although Aberdeen came close to taking the 1991 championship, Rangers won 2–0 on the last day at Ibrox through a brace from another Englishman,
Mark Hateley Mark Wayne Hateley (born 7 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker. He started his career with Coventry City F.C., Coventry City in the Football L ...
, when a draw would have taken the trophy to Pittodrie. 30 years later, this was the closest a team outwith the pair from Glasgow had come to winning the title. Clubs were now required to invest in the safety of their stadia following the 1989
Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the tw ...
in England, but Rangers required only minimal work to comply with the new regulations (though they had a considerable outlay adding another tier to their main stand to increase capacity), strengthening their financial position in comparison to the other clubs, with Celtic now struggling after years of poor financial management and playing in an outdated stadium. With new key players such as
Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for ...
,
Stuart McCall Andrew Stuart Murray McCall (born 10 June 1964) is a professional football coach and former player. He is currently assistant manager of Preston North End. McCall played in a total of 763 league games and in 40 full international matche ...
and David Robertson, Rangers secured the 1991–92 title by a nine-point margin over Hearts as part of a double, then the 1992–93 title by the same distance over Aberdeen, beating them in both cup finals for a treble. Celtic were a distant third in both campaigns. Rangers also made an impact in Europe, finishing unbeaten, one point behind
Olympique Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Founded in 1899, OM has ...
in the 1992–93 UEFA Champions League group stage – at that time the round directly prior to the final. Marseille's subsequent win in that final was soon tarnished by a match-fixing scandal. Overall they lost only four matches over the season, all in the league, two coming after the title was confirmed. Between the two other defeats was a sequence of 45 unbeaten matches in all competitions, ended by an Old Firm loss at Celtic Park three days after a European win over
Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...
. On paper the 1993–94 season was close, but the gap between Rangers and Aberdeen closed when the ''Gers'' took just two points from the last five matches, having already clinched the championship – although across the season they only won half of their fixtures and lost eight times, unusually low ratios for a title-winning team. Another League Cup was claimed, and only an unexpected defeat to Dundee United in the 1994 Scottish Cup Final thwarted an unprecedented 'double treble'. Celtic were a distant fourth again, with no obvious signs of their situation improving. Their fans organised boycotts and protests against the family-controlled, change-resistant board of directors and by March 1994 the club was hours from being declared bankrupt before a takeover led by Scottish-Canadian businessman
Fergus McCann Fergus John McCann (born 26 February 1941) is a Scottish–Canadian businessman and entrepreneur. Biography McCann's wealth stemmed initially from a golf vacation company, based in Montreal and Phoenix. He is best known for his involvement in ...
, whose ambitious plan of personal investment and supporter shareholding was to provide funds to rebuild the stadium and modernise the club's commercial arm within five years.Fergus McCann: Man of logic, reluctant saviour of Celtic
Richard Wilson, BBC Sport, 28 August 2016.
As foreign signings became more common across the world, high-profile arrivals at Ibrox in the mid-1990s who proved to be capable of match-winning performances on a regular basis included
Brian Laudrup Brian Laudrup (, born 22 February 1969) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a winger, forward or as a midfielder, and was regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation. He currently works for the various T ...
,
Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Regarded as one of the best playmakers of his generation and one of the best English footballers of ...
When Paul Gascoigne joined Rangers….
Allan Valente, Sky Sports, 2020.
and later
Jörg Albertz Jörg Albertz (; born 29 January 1971) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Between 1996 and 1998, he played three international games for the Germany national team. Career As both a youth player and apprentice ...
, though others such as
Basile Boli Basile Boli (born 2 January 1967) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender, and currently television sports presenter. He spent the majority of his career in the 1980s and 1990s with Auxerre and Marseille, and toward ...
,
Peter van Vossen Peter Jacobus van Vossen (; born 21 April 1968) is a Dutch former professional football player and manager. Club career Van Vossen was born in Zierikzee. As a footballer, he played as a forward for Beveren, Anderlecht, Ajax, Istanbulspor, Rang ...
and
Oleg Salenko Oleg Anatolyevich Salenko (, ; born 25 October 1969) is a Russian-Ukrainian former footballer who played as a forward. He scored a record five goals in a group-stage match in the 1994 World Cup, helping him earn the Golden Boot as joint-top t ...
had less impact. In Laudrup's first season, 1994–95, the club had little trouble seeing off Motherwell by a 15-point difference'Nine in a Row' – Looking Back at the Great Rangers Side That Dominated Scotland & Was Briefly Among Europe's Best
Jamie Spencer, 90min, 8 May 2020.
(under the newly-introduced 3 points for a win calculation – under the old system, this would have reduced to nine points, whereas the previous season's margin would have increased to eight points using the new system). Celtic again had no impact on the league but did reach the two cup finals under new manager and ex-captain, Tommy Burns, winning the 1994–95 Scottish Cup for a first trophy in six years. Many Celtic supporters, however, were unimpressed by the lack of short term improvement as on the field, Rangers' outlays continued to be larger and their success continued. Another double was won in 1995–96, although this had a genuine title race: Burns' ''Hoops'' team, back at a half-finished all-seater Celtic Park after a year lodging at Hampden, lost only one match all season – but it was at home to Rangers, and their failure to recover those points in the other Old Firm fixtures, all of which were drawn, proved crucial as the Ibrox side won an eighth successive championship by four points. 1996–97 was also close between the Glasgow clubs (the others nowhere near the same level) but Smith's men proved themselves in the frantic, pivotal derby matches again, winning all four and conceding only once. Laudrup was the scorer in two 1-0 wins at Celtic Park, and despite the squad being depleted by injuries, it was the Dane who also found the net to confirm the title with the same scoreline away to Dundee United, sparking huge celebrations as the 'nine in a row' record was equalled.


Falling at the tenth, 1997–98

Rangers spent some £14 million in the summer of 1997, mostly on Italian players,Fallen Giants: Remembering Rangers' glorious era under Smith & Advocaat
Steven Chicken, Planet Football, 16 February 2021.
to boost their squad for the 1997–98 season, but defender Lorenzo Amoruso barely played due to injury leading Smith to recall the veteran Richard Gough (who had been allowed to leave for
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
), and forward Marco Negri was injured mid-season after a prolific initial spell of 27 goals in the first 18 matches. Their Old Firm head-to-head record was again slightly superior (and also included a Scottish Cup semi-final victory), but this time it was Celtic, who had spent far less but made the significant signing of
Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional association football, football coach and former player who played many times for the Sweden men's national football team, Swedish national team. A Striker (association f ...
and later added Paul Lambert to their midfield, that lost fewer points to other teams and, after initially failing to clinch the win at Dunfermline almost exactly 30 years after doing so in 1968, took the flag on the final day with a 2–0 home win over St Johnstone, Larsson opening the scoring, to signal huge celebrations of relief among their supporters at having halted their rivals' run and maintained the legacy of one of the Lisbon Lions' enduring achievements (the other being the European Cup win which may never be matched). A deflated Rangers then lost the 1998 Scottish Cup Final to Hearts at Celtic Park, marking a disappointing end to a glorious era for many of their squad including McCall, McCoist, Goram, Durrant and Laudrup (Gascoigne having already been sold on a few months earlier after becoming more of a distracting presence rather than a positive influence around the club). Walter Smith also moved on to be replaced by a first foreign manager, Dutchman
Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former association football, football player and coach. He is currently the manager of the Curaçao national football team. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a ...
, while at Celtic his compatriot
Wim Jansen Wilhelmus Marinus Antonius "Wim" Jansen (; 28 October 1946 – 25 January 2022) was a Dutch professional association football, football player and manager. As a midfielder or defender (association football), defender, he spent most of his caree ...
, only brought in as head coach a year earlier to follow Tommy Burns, quickly departed despite having delivered the success the fans desperately sought, due to disputes over operations with Fergus McCann and general manager Jock Brown.


Seasonal statistics: Rangers 1988 to 1997


Key player statistics: Rangers 1988 to 1997


SPL duopoly era: 1998 to 2011

If Rangers had spent big in 1997, their next outlay was unprecedented in Scottish football as David Murray sought to regain their ascendancy. Advocaat spent approximately £27 million on new players in the summer of 1998, while £9 million more was spent over the course of the season (£7 million was recouped in sales). The investment had the desired impact as the club won the treble in 1998–99, the title (the first of the rebranded
Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
) clinched in an Old Firm match – made notorious by the drunken, chaotic scenes in the stands as Celtic fans' frustration turned to anger and violence – and crowned by a Scottish Cup final win over the same opposition. The following year the spending was more balanced at Ibrox but the dominance was even greater with a 21-point margin of victory. Rangers also acquitted themselves well in the Champions League, though they narrowly failed to qualify from a high-quality group featuring
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
and
Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
. With the pragmatist McCann having left Celtic with his plan completed and a return on his investment in his pocket, the club were now more able to compete financially with Rangers but were seeing the team again fall behind. In the summer of 2000 they brought in
Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...
as manager and sanctioned a net spend of £10-million worth of player acquisitions (
Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He currently manages Scottish Championship club Dunfermline Athletic. During his playing career he represe ...
,
Chris Sutton Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English former professional football player and manager. He later became a pundit, commentator and presenter of football coverage on television and radio. Sutton played from 1991 to 2007 for No ...
and Alan Thompson in,
Mark Viduka Mark Antony Viduka ( ; born 9 October 1975) is an Australian former Association football, football player who played as a centre forward. Viduka captained the Australia men's national soccer team, Australia national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup ...
out). Rangers countered with a £14 million net spend, mostly on Dutch players including
Ronald de Boer Ronaldus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a right or attacking midfielder or right winger. He played for the Netherlands national team as well as a host of professional clubs in Europe. He i ...
, then spent a national record £12 million on
Tore André Flo Tore André Flo (born 15 June 1973) is a Norwegian professional football coach and a former striker who previously was the manager of 1. divisjon club Sogndal. He was capped 76 times, scoring 23 goals for Norway, and represented his country ...
. However it was Celtic who won the treble in 2000–01; Larsson, who missed the previous campaign with a broken leg, scored 53 times in all competitions. Celtic again won the title in 2001–02 collecting 103 points. Rangers were 28 points behind, but themselves 27 ahead of Livingston in third, a gap that would not be unusual in the period as the Old Firm's spending and income levels placed them far out of the reach of the other league members. Needing to compete with Celtic (whose finances were relatively stable with long-term backing from leading shareholder
Dermot Desmond Dermot Desmond (born 14 August 1950) is an Irish businessman and financier. He is estimated to be worth €2.04 billion and is ranked by the '' Sunday Independent'' as the ninth-richest person in Ireland. Early life and education Desmond was ...
) but unable to afford the transfer outlays of the past, Murray began to explore other financial options for Rangers, including an
Employee Benefit Trust An employee trust is a trust for the benefit of employees. The employees that an employee trust benefits are usually defined by reference to employment by a particular company (or group of companies). In addition to employees, the beneficiaries m ...
scheme to supplement wages, something which kept top players at the club in the short term but would have dire consequences further on. With
Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps f ...
now in charge of Rangers, the ending to the
2002–03 Scottish Premier League The 2002–03 Scottish Premier League (known as the 2002–03 Bank of Scotland Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Scottish Premier League (SPL), the top level of football in Scotland. It began on 3 August 2002 and ...
was almost impossibly dramatic as his side won the title by a margin of one goal (both had 97 points), their 6–1 win on the final day outscoring Celtic who had a 4–0 victory. The Ibrox club won another treble, while Celtic reached the 2003 UEFA Cup final. It was Celtic's turn for a big win and a double in 2003–04, then the following season produced another nail-biting conclusion in Rangers' favour, Motherwell beating Celtic with two late goals while Rangers defeated Hibs on 'Helicopter Sunday' to take the 2004–05 flag by one point. Martin O'Neill left Celtic for family reasons. With the backing of controversial businessman
Vladimir Romanov Vladimir Nikolayevich Romanov ( rus, Владимир Николаевич Романов, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ rɐˈmanəf; ; born 15 June 1947)
, Hearts had developed a good squad and they challenged for the
2005–06 Scottish Premier League The 2005–06 Scottish Premier League was won by Celtic, with a 17-point margin over their nearest challengers Hearts in the first season under the management of Gordon Strachan. Rangers, who finished third, failed to finish a Scottish top flight ...
title, ultimately falling some way short of
Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player who is currently Technical Director of Dundee. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Sc ...
's Celtic but finishing above Rangers, something which had seemed unlikely in the SPL era and leading to McLeish's departure from Ibrox as it became more widely known that the club's finances were in a poor state following the lavish spending of the past decade. Hearts did claim the Scottish Cup, but in 2006–07 that trophy went to Celtic along with the league title, some way ahead of Rangers who invited Walter Smith to return to the club from his role as national team boss after a chaotic spell for French manager
Paul Le Guen Paul Joseph Marie Le Guen (, ; born 1 March 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of French club Le Havre. During his playing career, Le Guen played as a midfielder, and enjoyed a suc ...
. In 2007–08 it was the turn of Rangers to enjoy an impressive European run, but like Celtic they found it tough to compete on two fronts, missing out on the league on the last day and ultimately losing the
2008 UEFA Cup final The 2008 UEFA Cup final was a football match that took place on 14 May 2008 at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England. It was the 37th annual final of the UEFA Cup, UEFA's second tier club football tournament. The match, which was ...
, though they did claim both domestic cups. Smith's Rangers proved themselves superior to Strachan's Celtic in 2008–09, despite the economic situation at the club worsening after David Murray's business interests collapsed in the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
and the banks that were owed millions escalated moves to recoup their funds via direct involvement at boardroom level to oversee spending. It became known that the EBT scheme was being investigated by
HMRC His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the UK government responsible for the tax collectio ...
as a possible
tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdictions that facilitate reduced taxe ...
issue with a potential liability exceeding the sums owed to the bank, making Rangers an unattractive investment to buyers. Matters on the field were still positive, and in 2009–10 Smith claimed a second win in his return spell, Strachan's successor
Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...
failing to last the season before Neil Lennon took the reins. Smith then announced plans to retire; his last season was another triumph as Rangers won the Old Firm 2011 Scottish League Cup Final then prevailed by a point on the last day of the
2010–11 Scottish Premier League The 2010–11 Scottish Premier League was the thirteenth season of the Scottish Premier League, the highest division of Scottish football. It commenced on 14 August 2010 and ended on 15 May 2011. The defending champions were Rangers who retaine ...
season, with a 5–1 win over Kilmarnock (featuring three goals in the opening five minutes) negating Celtic's 4–0 victory against Motherwell. At the same time, David Murray sold his controlling interest in Rangers for a nominal £1 to
Craig Whyte Craig Thomas Whyte (born 18 January 1971) is a Scottish businessman best known for his controversial spell as owner of Scottish football club Rangers. Whyte first entered business in a plant hire company, after which he moved into security, ...
, who cleared the bank debt – revealed later to be funded from a mortgage taken out on future season ticket sales.


The third Nine: Celtic, 2011 to 2020

The third sequence of nine titles had a markedly different context to those from prior decades. As the extent of Rangers' financial issues became more widely publicised, their on-field performance suffered, with an early lead in the
2011–12 Scottish Premier League The 2011–12 Scottish Premier League was the fourteenth season of the Scottish Premier League, the highest division of Scottish football, since its inception in 1998. The season started on 23 July 2011 and ended on 13 May 2012. A total of twe ...
table wiped out and reversed by Celtic over the campaign. After Craig Whyte failed to keep up with
VAT A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...
repayments, Rangers entered administration in February 2012 and were docked ten points under league rules, all but confirming Celtic as champions – they were already four ahead, while Rangers had sold their leading scorer
Nikica Jelavić Nikica Jelavić (; born 27 August 1985) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Jelavić began his career with Croatian side Hajduk Split of the Prva HNL in 2002, before moving to Belgian Pro League club Zulte Wa ...
two months earlier to raise funds – and the Ibrox club's only resistance being a home win to prevent their rivals mathematically clinching the title on their patch. That summer, Rangers failed to reach agreement with their creditors and entered liquidation, with a new holding company formed; the reformed entity was permitted entry only to the lowest tier of Scottish football, leaving Celtic with an opportunity to build up a period of dominance. As in the length of time between the end of Celtic's run in the 1970s and the start of Rangers' run in the 1980s, 14 seasons had passed between the end that run and what proved to be the beginning of another for Celtic. Four more titles racked up for Celtic in subsequent seasons under former captain Neil Lennon then Norwegian Ronny Deila, with point margins of victory in the double-digits over
Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
and
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
on each occasion; however, they won only two of the eight domestic cups played for in that period. Despite gaining entry to the top European competition each year, they failed to build on their performance in the
2012–13 UEFA Champions League The 2012–13 UEFA Champions League was the 58th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 21st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was p ...
(when they beat
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and finished above Benfica to reach the last 16), with outcomes steadily worsening year on year, the qualification path becoming harder as the national coefficient rankings dropped without input from Rangers – typically at least one of the Glasgow teams would have a credible run each year – and income contracted as the lucrative group stages and beyond were seldom reached. As broadcasting and advertising revenues coming into Scottish football diminished in the absence of one half of its biggest rivalry, Celtic attempted to keep a strong squad capable of making progress in Europe, without overspending on player wages while domestic dominance could be sustained with little difficulty; they became known as a club who sought to use their recruitment network to bring in young players from diverse origins at low cost who would later be sold on to richer English clubs at a profit such as
Fraser Forster Fraser Gerard Forster (born 17 March 1988) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur. He will becom ...
,
Victor Wanyama Victor Mugubi Wanyama (; born 25 June 1991) is a Kenyan professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Dunfermline Athletic. He also plays for the Kenya national team. Wanyama became the first ever Kenyan player to sc ...
and
Virgil van Dijk Virgil van Dijk (; born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation and ...
who all joined
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
for large fees – although publicly the management denied that the status they had acquired as a 'stepping stone' was intentional. Those who stayed at the club longer included Kris Commons,
Emilio Izaguirre Emilio Arturo Izaguirre Girón (; born 10 May 1986) is a Honduran former professional association football, footballer who played as a left-back. He is currently the sporting director of F.C. Motagua, Motagua. Izaguirre started his career at Mo ...
,
Efe Ambrose Efe Eric Ambrose (born 18 October 1988) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Workington. Ambrose has previously played for Kaduna United, Bayelsa United, Israeli club Ashdod, Scottish clubs Celtic, Hibernia ...
,
Mikael Lustig Carl Mikael Lustig (; born 13 December 1986) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a right-back or centre-back. Beginning his career with Umeå FC in 2004, he went on to represent GIF Sundsvall, Rosenborg BK, Celtic, and ...
,
Leigh Griffiths Leigh Griffiths (born 20 August 1990) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Australian club Mandurah City, as well as being part of the coaching staff. Griffiths started his career at Livingston where he made his d ...
and the constant presence of
Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State *Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, born ...
.Celtic land five in a row but how far away are they from breaking the world record?
David Dinas-Fisher, Daily Record, 9 May 2016.
Meanwhile, it took Rangers four years to climb back up to the top division, with their progress stalled by the unexpected presence in the
Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...
(second level) of both Hibernian and Hearts (themselves enduring a
financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with Bank run#Systemic banki ...
) in 2014–15. After finishing behind both Edinburgh clubs that season, the ''Gers'' gained promotion a year later under manager
Mark Warburton Mark Warburton (born 6 September 1962) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who is currently the Sporting Director and Head of Soccer for Sporting Club Jacksonville ...
and also enjoyed a morale-boosting win over Celtic in the 2015–16 Scottish Cup semi-final which contributed to Deila's departure, though then lost to Hibs in the final. Both clubs now back in the Premiership for 2016–17, and as season ticket sales rose in anticipation of their renewed meetings,
Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed until h ...
became Celtic manager. He quickly made an impact on his players, with noticeable improvements in the likes of academy products James Forrest,
Kieran Tierney Kieran Tierney (born 5 June 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Scotland national team. Tierney came through the Celtic youth system and made his first-team debut in ...
and
Callum McGregor Callum William McGregor (born 14 June 1993) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for and Captain (association football), captains Scottish Premiership club Celtic F.C., Celtic. A Celtic academy graduate, McGregor ha ...
and strong performances from new signings Moussa Dembélé and Scott Sinclair, although his first competitive fixture was a defeat to Gibraltarian amateurs Lincoln Red Imps in Champions League qualification. Still operating from a far smaller budget, Rangers had no answer to Celtic's upturn in quality and suffered a 5–1 defeat in the first Old Firm derby which featured a Dembélé hat-trick, the first from a Celtic player in the fixture since 1973. Celtic eliminated Rangers from both cups at the semi-final stage and won 5–1 again, this time at Ibrox, in April 2017, by which time Warburton had been replaced by Pedro Caixinha. Celtic finished the league campaign undefeated with a record points total of 106 and won both cups to be dubbed 'the invincibles' and also returned to the Champions League groups, although there Rodgers' playing style was exposed by Barcelona; Rangers were third behind Aberdeen. The pattern barely altered in 2017–18 as Celtic won all three trophies in an unprecedented 'double treble'; overall their stats were slightly poorer than the season prior and Rangers' slightly better, but Aberdeen still finished ahead of the Govan men. Caixinha – who never seemed likely to recover from a loss to part-time opponents Progrès Niederkorn in the
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
's opening round – failed to last to the end of the calendar year, and his short-term replacement
Graeme Murty Graeme Stuart Murty (born 13 November 1974) is an English-born Scottish professional football coach and former player. He made 437 appearances in the Football League and Premier League, playing for York City, Reading, Charlton Athletic and Sou ...
oversaw two heavy defeats to Celtic in April 2018 before himself being dismissed. With former
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
captain
Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,2018–19 season in his maiden role in charge of a senior team and his first experience of Scottish football, his side showed improvement on previous years but developed a habit of dropping points by conceding late goals; at the start of 2019 they were level with Celtic in the Premiership table after winning an Old Firm derby for the first time since 2016, inflicting Rodgers' first defeat in the fixture. Celtic's form again was slightly poorer, with elimination from the Champions League qualifying stages having sold on Dembélé (partly replaced by the permanent signing of his on-loan understudy Odsonne Édouard). The lack of investment in the squad clearly irritated Rodgers, and despite his team maintaining winning form while Rangers lost theirs to open up an eight-point gap, he decided to accept a position at
Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
at the end of February 2019. The familiar figure of Neil Lennon was brought in to minimise the disruption, and he successfully steered Celtic to an eighth title (9 points ahead of Rangers, who themselves were 11 ahead of
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...
in third, signalling a return to the previous 'two-horse race' dynamic) and a third consecutive treble, Édouard scoring the winner over Hearts in the 2019 Scottish Cup Final. Lennon was then appointed manager on a permanent basis. Rangers showed further improvement in 2019–20 with another December victory over Celtic, although they were on the back foot from the start after losing the early-season meeting at Ibrox. At Celtic, the owners' desire to remain financially secure and maintain the wage structure via outgoing player sales, which had been a factor in Brendan Rodgers's departure, was again demonstrated when Kieran Tierney moved to
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
with little of the record fee used directly for incoming transfers to improve the team, despite Neil Lennon's stated hopes in this regard, after another failure to reach the lucrative Champions League group stage. Both Glasgow clubs performed strongly in the
2019–20 UEFA Europa League The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League was the 49th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Sevilla FC, Sevill ...
, and Celtic won the League Cup with a 1–0 win over Rangers, who created far more chances, failed to score a penalty and had a numerical advantage for the last half-hour. Following the winter break, Rangers again produced some poor results whereas Celtic won all their matches, and the ''Gers'' were 13 points behind their rivals (with a game in hand) by the time of the next Old Firm fixture – however it was never played, being cancelled at a day's notice due to the developing
COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland The COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland is part of the COVID-19 pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease-2019, caused by the virus Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Scotland on 1 M ...
. With no prospect of the league season resuming before the new one was due to start, in May 2020 Celtic were declared champions to equal the nine in a row record. As not all fixtures had been completed, some observers (mostly connected to Rangers) suggested this title was not fully merited despite the strong lead Celtic had at the point of stopping. The ''Hoops'' now had a chance to claim the historic titles record for themselves, as well as extend their unprecedented streak of trebles.


Falling at the tenth, 2020–21

Initial signs were that the
2020–21 Scottish Premiership The 2020–21 Scottish Premiership was the eighth season of the Scottish Premiership, the 124th edition of the highest division of Scottish football. The fixtures were published on 6 July 2020, with the season beginning on 1 August, following ...
(played almost entirely in empty stadiums due to the pandemic) would be closely fought between the sides,Celtic begin 10-in-a-row quest with immortality and beating Rangers to the punch on their mind
Dickie Felton,
I (newspaper) ''The i Paper'', known as ''i'' until December 2024, is a British national newspaper published in London by Daily Mail and General Trust and distributed across the United Kingdom. It is aimed at "readers and lapsed readers" of all ages and c ...
, 31 July 2020.
with both sets of players under immense pressure and scrutiny to either achieve or prevent the tenth title. They both were unbeaten going into the first Old Firm fixture at Celtic Park, which ended in a convincing 2–0 Rangers win. It was the start of a very poor sequence for Celtic, with three draws in the next four league fixtures leaving them 13 points behind Rangers by early December, with their record-breaking hopes in jeopardy. Their cup-winning sequence was ended with another weak performance against Ross County, leading to a protest by hundreds of supporters outside their stadium despite a ban on groups congregating under Covid regulations. Already eliminated from the Champions League, they quickly lost all prospect of qualifying from their Europa League group, while the more consistent Rangers finished at the top of theirs to progress. The one consolation for Celtic was in the delayed
2019–20 Scottish Cup The 2019–20 Scottish Cup was the 135th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament was sponsored by bookmaker William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill in what was the final season of a nine-year partnership ...
, in which they overcame Aberdeen then Hearts in a penalty shootout at Hampden Park to claim the 'quadruple treble'.Celtic win fourth straight Scottish Cup as Hazard's shootout saves break Hearts
, Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 20 December 2020.
Celtic had performed strongly in the previous Januarys while Rangers faltered, but the opposite occurred going into 2021: the second Old Firm match again went the way of the Ibrox side, albeit in a tight contest settled by an own goal. With the standard winter break cancelled, Celtic still decided to take a short trip to
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
only for most of the squad to be forced to self-isolate on returning to Scotland under Covid regulations, and their makeshift team only took three points from four matches while Rangers kept winning to build up a huge 23-point lead by the end of the month. Lennon resigned from Celtic in February, and the title (the 55th in their history and the first since 2011) was secured for Gerrard's Rangers by early March, even before the often-pivotal third Old Firm fixture was played. With Rangers supporters unable to watch on from the stands or from pubs as normal, preventing their rivals from achieving the titles record, and the return to prominence for their own club amidst the uniquely challenging circumstances of the previous decade, there were outpourings of emotion; while the players celebrated inside the dressing room, fans gathered outside Ibrox and came together in their thousands (many with alcohol and
pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating fireworks, but also includes safety matches, oxygen candles, Pyrotechnic fastener, explosive bolts (and other fasteners), parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, q ...
) at
George Square George Square () is the principal Town square, civic square in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of six squares in the city centre, the others being Cathedral Square, Glasgow, Cathedral Square, St Andrew's Square, Glasgow, St Andrew's ...
in central Glasgow and elsewhere, despite bans on public gatherings still being in place. The police were unable to disperse the exuberant crowd due to its numbers and some street furniture was damaged, resulting in tense exchanges between the club and the
Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...
. The Old Firm clubs were then drawn together in the
2020–21 Scottish Cup The 2020–21 Scottish Cup was the 136th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament did not have a sponsor, after William Hill's nine-year partnership with the Scottish FA came to an end following the 2019 ...
Round of 16, with the outcome reflecting their respective seasons as a whole: Celtic had several chances but failed to score (an Edouard penalty was saved by
Allan McGregor Allan James McGregor (born 31 January 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer and current goalkeeping coach at Rangers. McGregor has previously played for Rangers, St Johnstone, Dunfermline Athletic, Turkish team Beşiktaş, Engli ...
, a returning veteran from their last title win along with
Steven Davis Steven Davis (born 1 January 1985) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made his full international debut in 2005 and made 140 appearances at senior level, scoring 13 goals, to become the most cappe ...
), while Rangers attacked effectively, found the net twice and kept a clean sheet to claim the victory and end their rivals' hopes of a trophy. The result also reinforced the view that the balance of power had firmly shifted to the men from Govan, in contrast to both the long period of Celtic dominance, and also the recent seasons when their strength was fairly even but the ''Hoops'' had the edge over the course of a campaign. Rangers were eliminated from the Scottish Cup by
St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...
but defeated Celtic again in the league (4–1 at Ibrox), and completed an unbeaten campaign with a 4–0 win over Aberdeen to finish 25 points ahead of their rivals,Rangers 4-0 Aberdeen: Champions seal unbeaten Scottish Premiership season
Sky Sports, 16 May 2021.
with their total of 102 falling short of that of Brendan Rodgers' Celtic in 2016–17. Rangers fans again gathered outside the stadium in their thousands and marched to central Glasgow, where celebrations in George Square once more descended into disorder, to condemnation from the authorities.'Many more arrests' to follow Rangers crowd trouble
BBC News, 16 May 2021.
The season had an unexpected conclusion as St Johnstone went on to win the Scottish Cup; the
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
side had already claimed the League Cup a few months earlier, so became the first time a non-Old Firm club to win two trophies in a season since Aberdeen in 1989–90.


Seasonal statistics: Celtic 2011 to 2020


Key player statistics: Celtic 2011 to 2020


Since 2021

Celtic's next manager
Ange Postecoglou Angelos "Ange" Postecoglou ( ; ; born 27 August 1965) is a soccer manager and former player who was most recently manager of club Tottenham Hotspur. Born in Greece, Postecoglou grew up in Melbourne from the age of five. As a player, he spen ...
quickly imposed his playing style on Celtic and re-established them as the leading team, winning five out of the six domestic trophies between 2021 and 2023 before moving on to
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
, with Brendan Rodgers returning to replace him. At Rangers, Steven Gerrard was also enticed to England by
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...
, and his successor
Giovanni van Bronckhorst Giovanni Christiaan "Gio" van Bronckhorst (born 5 February 1975) is a Dutch Association football, football manager and former player who last managed Süper Lig club Beşiktaş J.K., Beşiktaş. Originally a midfielder, he moved to left-back lat ...
, a successful player at Ibrox 20 years earlier, lasted little more than a year due to falling behind Celtic in the league, despite leading the club to the 2022 UEFA Europa League final and winning the 2022 Scottish Cup final (beating Hearts, now on the losing side in 3 out of 4 finals), their first major cup silverware in 11 years. Gerrard's former assistant Michael Beale was brought in, but lost an Old Firm League Cup final and title race in his first campaignThe time to judge Michael Beale at Rangers is now with Celtic in control
Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 4 August 2023
and was sacked at the start of the next, with a loss to Celtic at Ibrox among the contributory factors.


Women: Glasgow City monopoly

Women's football in Scotland, which became more organised in the 1990s, had a separate tale of dominance, with Glasgow City (unconnected to either Old Firm club) winning 14 consecutive
Scottish Women's Premier League The Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) is the highest level of league competition in women's football in Scotland. Its two divisions are SWPL (previously styled as ''SWPL 1'') and SWPL 2. The league was formed when the Premier Division of th ...
titles between 2007 and 2021. As the sport became more prominent, both
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
and
Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
offered professional contracts to women's players from 2019 and grew stronger on the field; Rangers ended the Glasgow City sequence in 2021–22.Rangers end 14 years of Glasgow City dominance with historic SWPL title win
Rangers News, 8 May 2022.


See also

*
Dynasty (sports) In sports, a dynasty is a team or individual that dominates their sport or league for an extended length of time. Some leagues usually maintain official lists of dynasties, often as part of a hall of fame, but in many cases, whether a team or indi ...
*
European association football club records and statistics This article details men's professional football club records and statistics (individual and collective) in Europe. The records and stats look across all European clubs competing in the highest divisions and levels of European professional footbal ...
* List of Celtic F.C. seasons * List of Rangers F.C. seasons *
List of Scottish football champions A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...


References

{{Rangers F.C. History of football in Scotland Celtic F.C. Rangers F.C.