Hail! Hail!: Classic Celtic Old Firm Clashes

Martin Hannan

Jul 2012 · Random House

About this ebook

Some football derbies around the world might have bigger crowds and feature more fanatical fans, but no fixture has as long and passionate a history as the Old Firm derby. For more than 120 years, Glasgow has been divided between the green of Celtic and the blue of Rangers. The first official match ever played by Celtic was a 5-2 win over Rangers in 1888. Since then, the Old Firm derby has grown in stature to be acknowledged as one of the great clashes of football.

Concentrating on the twenty greatest Old Firm matches from the perspective of Celtic Football Club, renowned sportswriter Martin Hannan puts these games in context, showing how the two clubs became such massive rivals and why the Old Firm derby became and remains by far the biggest match in Scottish club football.

With exclusive reflections from a number of Celtic managers and players past and present, Hail! Hail! covers all of the magical matches, such as the titanic, league-winning 4-2 match in 1979, the amazing 6-2 win in 2000 and, of course, the famous 7-1 victory in the 1957 League Cup final, which remains the Parkhead club's biggest win over Rangers.

Highly entertaining and informative, Hail! Hail! is a must-read for supporters of Celtic, football fans in general and anyone who wonders what all the fuss over the Old Firm is about.

About the author

Martin Hannan is an award-winning journalist and writes for Scotland on Sunday on racing, boxing, rugby, football and a host of other sports. He worked closely with Eddie Turnbull on the Hibs legend's autobiography and is also the author of Rock of Gibraltar, about the racehorse owned by Sir Alex Ferguson.