Old Firm

The name Old Firm is a collective term for the Glaswegian football clubs, Rangers and Celtic. Its modern usage is generally as a neutral shorthand for the two clubs, for example when describing their derby matches. Its origin, however, is as a pejorative term to imply that the two clubs are running the scene, together, against the wishes of the other clubs in Scotland. The term is derived from the lucrative nature of contests between the two, and the suspicion that the clubs have colluded to ensure their profitability, at the expense of other teams.

Related Topics:
Glaswegian - Football - Rangers - Celtic - Derby - Scotland

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The two clubs are easily the most successful in Scotland, having won between them 63 Scottish Cups and 90 League championships (as of 2005). Interruptions to their ascendancy have occurred infrequently, most recently with the challenge of the New Firm of Aberdeen and Dundee United in the first half of the 1980s. As at 2005, the last season during which either Old Firm club finished outside the top two in the Scottish Premier League was in 1994-95. Some have argued that the combination of the clubs' large supports - which far outweigh those of other Scottish clubs - and the revenue they derive from regular European football means that the Scottish Premier League has become more unbalanced, and less competitive, than ever before.

Related Topics:
Scottish Cups - As of 2005 - Aberdeen - Dundee United - Scottish Premier League - 1994-95

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The result of the combination of the two clubs' dominance of Scottish football, and their significance in social, cultural and political terms, is that both Celtic and Rangers are prominent institutions in Scottish life to a degree beyond what would be expected for large football clubs elsewhere in Britain.

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