The First Old Firm Meeting
Rangers at Celtic, May 28, 1888
The First Old Firm Meeting
Out of curiosity, I did a search for news articles about the first Rangers - Celtic match. Even though it was technically a friendly match, I was surprised to find this:
My prose isn’t going to match this excellent description. As a result, here are a few brief notes:
This very well may have been the first ever Celtic match, based on the first sentence of this article. I haven’t done much more research on the subject. I will note, though, that I haven’t read any descriptions of Celtic FC matches before this one.
It wasn’t unusual in those days for teams of all sports to play friendly or exhibition matches in addition to competitive matches. The distinction between the two was blurred in all sports, including in American sports.
2,000 spectators for a random match in late May strikes me as an excellent crowd.
I love the mental image of the ball “hovering in front of Dolan” (the Celtic keeper) right when the whistle sounded.