Inside the Divide: One City, Two Teams - The Old Firm

by Richard Wilson

Since 1888, Rangers and Celtic football clubs have been locked into an intense and frequently explosive rivalry: Rangers the product of West Scotland's Protestant establishment, Celtic the team founded to raise money for the Catholic underclass of Glasgow. On 2 January 2010 the two teams met in the Old Firm's New Year Derby, a fixture that had been banned for ten years because of the trouble it brought with it. Richard Wilson puts that game at the centre of a book which delves into the history and widens out to the cultural resonance of the fixture within Scotland. Starting as the fans begin to arrive in Glasgow, and ending as the long night following the match stretches out ahead, Wilson talks to the fans, the players, the backroom staff, the referee, the ferry staff, the stewards and the paramedics to create a panoramic view of a cultural institution. It addresses the role football plays in working-class life, the social aspects of the game and why it is part of its surroundings in a way that no other sport is. Inside the Divide is more than just another football book. A rich mix of close-up observation and big-picture thinking, it has the insight, understanding and depth to make it a modern classic.

Genres: Soccer, Football

244 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2012

About the author

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Reviews

[Kyle Youngblood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting mix of historical and firsthand accounts of the Old Firm derby.

[Sensei Smilax · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such a great rivalry. Too bad it was covered by a crappy writer.

[Simon Yoong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable book about the Celtic and Rangers rivalry. There are chapters told from the perspective of fans, historians, police, stewards, referees and former players. Somehow I felt the book returned to the recurring teams without adding much insight.

[Ipswichblade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about Rangers and Celtic

[Mark Puckering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent