Even in dark days of early 1990s Celtic could beat Rangers

The Celtic Star

·20. März 2025

Even in dark days of early 1990s Celtic could beat Rangers

A memorable Old Firm win in 1993 that was a role reversal of the present day situation in Scottish football…

Celtic 2 Rangers 1, 20 March 1993. The Celtic players celebrate a 2-1 victory over Rangers. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Celtic, 32 years ago today, took on Rangers FC at Celtic Park in the last Old Firm clash of the season and it proved to be a memorable occasion.

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First half of the 1990s was a poor era for Celtic

In what was a poor era for Celtic, we had nothing much to really shout about. Ironically you could say it’s a role reversal to the present day situation, in relation to what the supporters of the latest Rangers are currently experiencing. Far behind their great rivals and taking any form of victory against them as a small crumb of comfort whilst being a great distance behind on and off the park.

Celtic 2 Rangers 1, 20 March 1993. The Celtic players celebrate a 2-1 victory over Rangers. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Rangers arrived at Celtic Park with a 45 match unbeaten run in domestic football

Rangers started the match on a long unbeaten run of 45 domestic games, and were on course for a clean sweep of honours whilst still competing in European football’s premier competition.

Celtic meanwhile were lagging far behind, and on course for yet another campaign without silverware. We were battling Aberdeen for second place, although third place was more realistic.

Celtic hadn’t beaten Rangers in the last three Derby encounters of the season, and we were aiming to rectify that with our last chance to do so in front of our very own supporters.

Celtic 2 Rangers 1, 20 March 1993 Celtic’s Stuart Slater (left) controls the ball as Paul McStay and Stuart McCall close in on the ball. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Celtic started the game brightly and where much the better side and got our just rewards when John Collins fired us into the lead in the 37th minute with a perfectly executed shot from outside the box that gave Goram in the Rangers goal no chance. It was a superb goal from a superb player.

Referee Douglas Hope waved away two strong penalty claims for Celtic

Andy Payton further increased our lead in the 52nd minute and we looked good for the win. In fact if wasn’t for a combination Goram in the Rangers goal and some shocking calls from referee Douglas Hope who denied the home side two ‘debatable’ penalty claims, it could have been a win by a much bigger margin.

Celtic 2 Rangers 1, 20 March 1993. The Celtic players celebrate a 2-1 victory over Rangers. Photo The Celtic Wiki

The official also enraged the Celtic supporters, management and players alike when he allowed Rangers to kick off following a Celtic goal whilst the players were still in front of the jungle celebrating. Yet further examples of the favouritism shown towards the Ibrox club by the Scottish refereeing fraternity.

Despite being the dominant side it didn’t go that smoothly with Rangers pulling a goal back through Mark Hateley with six minutes of normal time remaining making it a rather tense and nervy end to the game.

Celtic 2 Rangers 1, 20 March 1993. The Celtic players celebrate a 2-1 victory over Rangers. Photo The Celtic Wiki

In the end Celtic prevailed and won the game and the bragging right that go with it as we celebrated wildly in the stands and long into the night. In the end we would finish third and a massive 13 points behind Rangers in the days of two points per win, but we could at least consolidate ourselves with the small crumb of comfort we experienced by deservedly earning a Derby victory in mid-March.

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