Old Firm Derby Celtic Park 1968

This publication by Kenny Gordon documents Glasgow Rangers fans celebrating their historic 55th league title at the end of the 2020-21 season under the stewardship of Steven Gerrard

Old Firm Derby Celtic Park 1968 is a series of photographs by Gerry Cranham that focuses on the fans and match day atmosphere of Celtic v Rangers on January 2nd 1968.

The match would finish Celtic 2-2 Rangers, Celtic going on the be crowned League Champions.

The limited edition A5 zine contains 25 black and white photographs across 36 pages.

Champions of Europe the year before, Jock Stein had assembled a Celtic team that were dominating Scotland, although, in Rangers, the old foe, they were to come up against a team that this time refused to be beaten.

This particular early New Year showdown began with Celtic trailing Rangers by two points at the top of the table.

Renowned sports photographer Cranham squeezed in among the 73,480 crowd crammed into Celtic Park to see Rangers claw their way back into a game Celtic thought they had in the bag.

For Cranham, it was all about recording not just another epic battle on the pitch, but everything surrounding it.

His pictures reflect all the pride and passion that Old Firm derbies generate. Faces in the crowd willing their teams to victory, scarves and team colours now more obvious as fashions changed throughout the 60s.

Cranham recalls the odd bottle raining down from the terraces, packed to overflowing with fans vying for elevated vantage spots at the back.

A pioneer of sports photography, Cranham was already well established as one of the world’s leading sports photographers, much in demand by the likes of Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine.