Here, we list the biggest Old Firm attendances of all-time between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox, Parkhead and Hampden Park.
The Old Firm derby between Rangers and Celtic is one of the most fervent football matches in the world and has been for well over a century. League title battles, cup finals, even the so-called dead rubbers – no Rangers or Celtic fan looks forward to anything more in their football supporting lives.
Millions will tune in to the clash on TV whenever it rolls around in the Scottish football calendar. But it is the spectators in the Ibrox, Parkhead or Hampden stands who really define the passion-fuelled fixture.
Across the decades, the Old Firm has attracted monumental attendances and that is certainly one way to measure how much it means thousands upon thousands of Rangers and Celtic supporters.
So what are the largest Old Firm attendances of all-time? Rangers News has delved into the archives to tell you, including the highest-ever attended Old Firm derbies at Ibrox, Parkhead and of all-time.
Old Firm all-time record attendances
Biggest Old Firm attendance at Ibrox
Rangers 2-1 Celtic
- Scottish League Division One
- January 2, 1939
- Attendance: 118,567
Almost 120,000 supporters jam-packed themselves into Ibrox for the last Old Firm derby before the outbreak of World War II.
Led by legendary manager Bill Struth, Rangers sent their record home crowd home in jubilant mood after recording a slender 2-1 victory over the Hoops.
David Kinnear opened the scoring after 17 minutes, with one of the top all-time scorers in Old Firm history Alex Venters notching the second for Gers.
Rangers can proudly proclaim that this particular fixture still holds the record for the highest-attended league game in British football history.
And it could have been more as incredibly, The Scotsman’s original report stated that a whopping 32,000 fans were turned away at the gates.
Moreover, those who did get inside Ibrox were reportedly so tightly packed together that they couldn’t get their hands into their pockets, hence a “disappointingly low” half-time charity collection.
Biggest Old Firm attendance at Celtic Park
Celtic 3-0 Rangers
- Scottish League Division One
- January 1, 1938
- Attendance: Between 83,500 and 92,975
Before we get into the match itself, the crowd figure for Celtic’s 3-0 win over Rangers on New Year’s Day 1938 is disputed.
Fitbastats indicate that the attendance was 83,500, as do a number of other reports. But The Scotsman state the overall total was almost 93,000 spectators. Either or, this Scottish top-flight encounter is the most attended Old Firm game played out at Celtic Park.
Unfortunately, Celtic’s young attack was hailed on the day against an inferior Rangers side. Two goals from John Divers and another from Malcolm MacDonald gave the Hoops maximum points.
Biggest Old Firm attendance of all-time
Celtic 4-0 Rangers
- Scottish Cup Final
- April 26, 1969
- Attendance: 132,870
Jock Stein’s Celtic were a dominant outfit in the 1960s and that showed when Rangers played them in the 1969 Scottish Cup Final at Hampden Park.
The eye-watering 132,870 punters packed into the national stadium helped make the occasion the highest-attended Old Firm derby in history.
It’s one of the most attended football matches of all-time and the fourth-most attended game ever played at Hampden Park.
Only a 1970 European Cup semi-final second leg (136,505), a 1937 Home International Championship match between Scotland and England (149,547) and the 1937 Scottish Cup Final (147,365) have held more inside the Scottish national stadium.
