Nine in a row

From the formation of the Scottish Football League in 1890, Celtic and Rangers based in Glasgow were among the dominant clubs along with Edinburgh-based Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian – amateurs Queen's Park, also based in Glasgow who had dominated the Scottish Cup up to that point, declined to enter the new league in its first decade and were never to be a significant force in the future, with their most significant role being to provide their large ground Hampden Park 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 in 1898–99, 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 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 and 1909–10, guided by 'secretary-manager' Willie Maley 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, 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 members, moved from the Belfast shipyards to work in those of Govan 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). 's portrait in the trophy room at Ibrox, hanging beside some of the league championship flags his teams won, including 11 out of 13 between 1922 and 1935. 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 were very much dominant in terms of league success: 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, (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, 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, 4 runners-up) and markedly stronger than Celtic (1 title, 1 runner-up) while Aberdeen took a league flag in 1954–55 and the likes of Partick Thistle 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 final appearance in 1961, with Celtic providing less of a challenge than other smaller clubs: in this period Dundee – champions in 1961–62 – and particularly Kilmarnock who were second four times before taking the title ahead of Hearts and Dunfermline Athletic 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 ==

's impact at Celtic was huge, transforming them from underachievers to European champions and setting the record of nine consecutive titles Amidst this backdrop of long-term underachievement by Celtic, Jock Stein was appointed the club's manager in March 1965, replacing Jimmy McGrory 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, Bobby Murdoch, Tommy Gemmell, Bobby Lennox, Jimmy Johnstone and John Hughes plus the older Stevie Chalmers 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 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 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 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, 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 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. 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 2–1 and win the European Cup, with the players immortalised as the 'Lisbon Lions'. In a demonstration of Scottish football's strength at the time, Rangers also reached the 1967 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, though lost to Bayern Munich. was Celtic captain throughout their first run of nine titles, and later managed the club during Rangers' run 1967 would prove to be the pinnacle of Celtic's achievements, but they were arguably stronger domestically in later seasons. The Govan club had also decided to part company with long-serving manager Scot Symon mid-season despite leading the table at that point. 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 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, but this time were on the wrong end of the 2–1 scoreline after extra time. emerged as one of Celtic's most important players of the 1970s 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, Lou Macari, George Connelly, Kenny Dalglish and later Danny McGrain and Paul Wilson, this group became increasingly regular over the next few seasons alongside the remaining 'Lions', and signings such as Tommy Callaghan, Harry Hood, Dixie Deans and latterly Andy Lynch, plus long term squad members like Pat McCluskey and Jim Brogan. After Ronnie Simpson and his deputy John Fallon left the club, Evan Williams, Ally Hunter and Denis Connaghan 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, 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), The winning margin closed back to a single point in 1972–73 as Rangers grew stronger under new manager Jock Wallace. 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 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, 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. Seasonal statistics: Celtic 1965 to 1974 Key player statistics: Celtic 1965 to 1974 == New Firm era: 1975 to 1988 ==

's spell at Aberdeen was the only sustained interruption to the Glasgow duopoly after the 1960s. 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), 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, to maintain a strong team, and while Celtic remained a force, albeit no longer at the level of a decade earlier, Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen and Jim McLean's Dundee United 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 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. 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 ==

was Rangers manager for the first two of their run of nine titles, leaving suddenly in the third season – Walter Smith took over played in all of Rangers' run of nine titles, and later managed the club during Celtic's second run 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 goalkeeper Chris Woods, defenders Terry Butcher, John Brown and Richard Gough, home-grown midfielder Ian Durrant, winger Mark Walters and striker Ally McCoist. In July 1989, Rangers signed Mo Johnston, 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. 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 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, Stuart McCall 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 in the 1992–93 UEFA Champions League group stage – at that time the round directly prior to the final. 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. 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, 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. was one of the major big-money Rangers signings to maintain their success, and he played a major role in the last two of their run of wins in 1997 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, Paul Gascoigne and later Jörg Albertz, though others such as Basile Boli, Peter van Vossen and Oleg Salenko had less impact. In Laudrup's first season, 1994–95, the club had little trouble seeing off Motherwell by a 15-point difference (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, 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, 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), 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 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, while at Celtic his compatriot Wim Jansen, only brought in as head coach a year earlier to follow Tommy Burns, Seasonal statistics: Rangers 1988 to 1997 Key player statistics: Rangers 1988 to 1997