Things Can Only Get Better

Does the current landscape in Scottish football resemble the 1990s? Kind of, but as always, there is nuance and context.

I commented on the latest Extra Time podcast speculating whether the recent defeat in the derby was akin to some of the Celtic wins in the 1990s – well remembered but usually immaterial.

Is The Rangers’ experience since the new club was formed akin to that of Celtic’s 1990s? It is now 10 years since the new club first played Celtic in the 2014-15 season’s League Cup semi-final.

The Das amongst us remember the 1990s all too well and there are plenty of books on the subject.

In short, Celtic was close to collapse before being rescued by Fergus McCann and the rebels by the middle of the decade. McCann then began the long, slow march to the club's current commercial and footballing dominance over Scottish football.

Meanwhile, we had to endure Rangers’ nine league titles in a row, and ten out of 11 in the period 1989-90 to 1999-2000. Celtic had the solitary 1997-98 triumph and were runners-up a mere twice in that period. In addition, the Scottish Cup count was 5-1 to the Blues and the League Cup tally 5-2.

In total, David Murray’s Rangers, fuelled by mates-rates banking largesse not available to other clubs, and Murray’s creative shuffling of debts around his larger Murray International Group, oversaw a 20-3 trophy advantage over Celtic.

The last 11 seasons, whereby Celtic has continued to organically grow off its own back, whilst the new club has relied upon the largesse of shareholders providing endless loans, Celtic has a 10-1 advantage in league titles, an 8-1 advantage in league Cups and a 6-1 lead in Scottish Cups. A total of 24-3 in trophies.

Let’s take the 11 seasons that bookmark the respective decades – i.e. 1989-90 season to 1999-2000 compared to 2014-15 to the current season and break it down a little.