At Celtic Park, it is estimated that up to 60,000 spectators will come, to support their team in the hunt for a new European trophy. Because even though the domestic league is the Celtics’ bread and butter, there is absolutely no doubt that the green and white teams are also prioritizing the European scene. It’s the league titles that provide this opportunity, as they describe at least for themselves.

This week we released a special issue of the 4-3-3 podcast where we spoke to two Celtic supporters who could tell us more about the club and its history.

Scottish superpower

When we think of Scottish football, we don’t think of the big stars in the big clubs or the national team that swept across Europe. No, it’s Celtic and Rangers. Two great Scottish clubs who have shared every league championship since the 80s. Only two claim. The two giants.

The fight between the two giants is also world famous for its brutal patriotism. This derby is popularly called “The Old Firm” and is one of the most famous debuts in world football. The great thing about derbies is that more than just football matches are at stake. We can’t promise the whole story, but we will tell you a bit about the derby background.

Celtic was founded in 1888 by Irish Catholics who immigrated to Scotland. In the same city, Rangers FC was also founded by Protestant supporters who were friendly with England. Thursday’s opponent Glimt was set up as part of a fundraising campaign to raise enough money to feed the city’s poor, and the club’s first football game was a friendly against Rangers.

If you want to learn about The Old Firm, we recommend these episodes of the NRK series, The Football War:

Celtic won 5-2, and since then there has been a strong rivalry between the two clubs. The religious and national backgrounds of both supporters were also important contributors to the development of the derby to what it is today. The sporting success of the two clubs is also very important. Over the past 100 years, both clubs have dominated Scottish football, with only a few exceptions.

Just to say something about how dominant the two clubs are, we can take a look at Celtic’s medal cabinet. Can we?

Since its first league championship in 1893, Celtic have won the Scottish elite league 51 times. They have been crowned cup champions 40 times and league cup champions 20 times. Apart from that, they have also won one European tournament. In 1967, Celtic won the Series Winners’ Cup, now renamed the Europa League.

With a team made up of only local players (all born less than 50 km from Celtic Park) they beat Inter in the final in Lisbon and thus became the first club in Europe to secure a “treble”, i.e. gold in the domestic league and cup in addition to a single trophy. Europe in the same season.

Travel guide to Glasgow

We’re happy to admit that first and foremost, you’re not in the right place if you’re looking for restaurants and sightseeing tips in Glasgow, but if you want to learn more about the city Glimt will play in the first mandatory match of the year in Glasgow, you’ve come a long way. .