Scottish football has historically been a duopoly, where two teams have dominated the domestic league and cup
competitions. Celtic and Rangers, the Old Firm, have been crowned league champions 99 times combined. The rest of the Scottish teams have won the league titles just 19 times.
This situation is also reflected in the betting odds. Visit any licensed betting platforms featuring outright markets, whether they are Revolut betting sites or bookies focused on another payment system, and you will see that Celtic and Rangers are always the favourites to win the Scottish Premiership.
It is not uncommon for European leagues to be dominated by a small number of teams. However, what makes the situation in the Scottish Premiership unique is that both teams come from the same city, Glasgow, and this article will attempt to offer a historical explanation of how it has been possible.
Old Firm Dominance in Numbers
Before diving into the reasons why Celtic and Rangers have been so successful, it is useful to illustrate their dominance in numbers. The Hoops have won the Scottish Premiership 54 times, and the Gers 55 times. Celtic have excelled in the last two decades and could catch up with their eternal rivals at the end of 2024/25.
As for the rest, Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibernian have four league titles each. Dumbarton has two. And one title each for Motherwell, Kilmarnock, Dundee FC and Dundee United.
The last time that the title was claimed by a team outside the Old Firm was in 1984/85, when Sir Alex Ferguson led Aberdeen to their last league triumph to date.
Popularity of Rugby in Edinburgh
Football is undoubtedly the most popular sport in Scotland nowadays, but it has not always been the case historically speaking. In the early days, when football and rugby were only forming as separate sports with their own standardised set of rules, the situation differed from city to city and from college to college.
Thus, in the late 19th century, rugby was in vogue in Edinburgh. And although the capital city of Scotland had a team in the inaugural Scottish Premier league season, Hearts, their best athletes still gravitated towards rugby.
In Glasgow, however, football was the talk of the town. The game attracted the best athletes and the largest crowds. Rangers and Celtic, together with two other Glasgow-based teams, were founding members of the Scottish Premiership. The Gers even finished the debut 1890/91 season as joint-champions together with
Dumbarton.
Disparity Between Glasgow and Smaller Towns
Even today it is difficult to set up a successful football team outside the big cities. In 2021, Villarreal won the UEFA Europa League and became the team from the smallest town (pop. around 50,000) to achieve this feat. But they are not a giant in Spanish football and have zero domestic trophies.
With Edinburgh on the football fringes in the formative years of Scottish football, no other towns could really compete with Glasgow. The Glaswegian sides had bigger crowds and thus bigger ticket revenues. They could choose from a wider pool of players thanks to the big population, and it was also easier to attract players from
other teams given the prospect of playing in the biggest city in Scotland.
All this contributed to the fact that the Glasgow teams got a significant head start. Due to the early success, Celtic and Rangers were able to concentrate wealth and influence which allowed them to build strong academies, attract players and coaches from abroad, and build resilient institutional practices.
Teams from smaller towns like Dundee, Aberdeen and others could not benefit from the same socio-economic factors. And foreign investment in football was almost non-existent in the 20th century.
So, even when teams from outside Glasgow had some success, it was short-lived and inconsistent because it lacked the base on which steady development could be built.
Rivalry that Pushed Both Teams Higher
While Celtic and Rangers did not face too much competition from outside Glasgow, the rivalry between the two has benefited them significantly.
The Old Firm derby is one of the most renowned rivalries in the world. The matches between the two attract a huge audience domestically and abroad, which serves as a source of income.
Nevertheless, the crucial aspect is that Celtic and Rangers have always tried to one-up each other. Who has the better players, coaches, stadium, academy, fanbase and so forth – these disputes have always motivated the two Glasgow teams to do better.