10 Players Who Played For Both Celtic And Rangers
Old Firm is one of the biggest football rivalries in the world, very few derbies can match its intensity. The hatred between both sets of supporters for each other is outrageous. It’s impossible to think that a player would switch sides between these two. However, there are certain players who made the switch and played for both Celtic and Rangers. In this article, we will have a look at some of those players.
Here are the top ten players who played for both Celtic and Rangers.
10. Mark Brown
Brown was a Rangers youth product who was called up for the senior team in 1999, but he rarely got any game time and was sold to Motherwell in 2001, after just playing five matches for the club. After spending time with Motherwell and Inverness CT, he returned to Glasgow with Celtic in 2007 to serve as a back-up goalkeeper for Artur Boruc.
As was the case at Rangers, Brown was unable to establish himself between the posts at Celtic making just 13 league appearances, though still picked up two Scottish Premier League titles and a Scottish League Cup before signing for Hibs in 2010.
9. Steven Pressley
Steven Pressley was a product of the Rangers youth system but struggled to establish himself as a first-team regular – though he did win two Scottish Premier League titles and a Scottish Cup – the centre-back left in 1994 to Coventry City.
Pressley then went to Dundee United and Hearts – winning the Scottish Cup – where he became a mainstay in the team. After becoming a free agent, the then 33-year-old Pressley was signed by Celtic. In 2007, he was part of the Celtic side that won the Scottish Cup and became the first player to have won the trophy with three different clubs.
8. David McLean
McLean joined Celtic in 1907 and stayed there for two seasons. He played a great part in Celtic’s famous fortnight in April 1909 when they played eight games in twelve days to win the Scottish League.
He left the club in 1909 to join Preston North End and two years later joined Sheffield Wednesday, where he became a legend.
McLean later joined Rangers in 1918. He top-scored in the Scottish league in 1918/19 with 29 goals. He thus became the first player to be the outright top scorer in the top divisions in both England and Scotland.
7. George Livingstone
George Livingstone holds the unique record of being the only player to play for both sides of the Old Firm and Manchester derby. He spent one season with Celtic scoring 4 goals in 17 league appearances. He then played in the English League in 1902.
Livingstone returned to Scotland in 1906, to play for the Rangers. He played a total of 47 league games scoring 20 times before leaving for Manchester United in 1909.
6. Alfie Conn
Winger Alfie Conn was the first post-WW2 player to play for both Old Firm sides. His playing career started with Rangers in 1968. Conn made his senior debut for Rangers against Dundalk in the Fairs Cup tournament in November of the same year.
Conn was part of the team that won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972 and also played in Rangers’ 3-2 Scottish Cup victory over Celtic in 1973, in which he scored his team’s second goal.
Conn’s performances attracted the interest of Tottenham, who paid a then large fee of £140,000 in 1974 to sign him. His time with Spurs lasted three years before Celtic came calling. Conn’s desire to play for Jock Stein saw him make the move to Parkhead..
He would spend two years with Celtic and won another Scottish Cup with the club, who naturally defeated Rangers 1-0 in the final. However, Conn’s switch didn’t bring a grudge from Rangers, and he was inducted into their hall of fame in 2007.
You missed out Ian Young
only one i hated signing for rangers was johnston
you missed out gordon marshall
Mp Johnston’s connection with Catholicism was remote – He certainly was not a “devout Catholic”
i for one never said m johnson was a devout catholic
i just did not like him signing for the glasgow rangers