Three Players Who Played For Both Celtic And Rangers

Celtic vs Rangers is well renowned as one of the most intense rivalries in world football. The hatred between these two Glasgow sides stems much deeper than on the pitch, with a religious divide splitting the Scottish city.

Despite the loathing between Rangers and Celtic’s large fanbases, which also span the Irish Sea, several players have dared to make the switch from Ibrox to Celtic Park and vice versa—infuriating thousands of loyal supporters in the process.

With their second league meeting of the season set to take place at Ibrox on January 2, in which Celtic are likely to assert their dominance once again in the Scottish Premiership odds, now is a good time to take a look back at three players who have pulled on their famous jerseys of both sides.

Kenny Miller

The most recent player to represent both Glasgow giants, Kenny Miller, joined Rangers from Hibernian in 2000 but moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers after just one season at Ibrox.

Following five years in the West Midlands, the forward returned to his homeland—signing for Celtic, and even scoring his first goal in green and white against his former side in the Old Firm.

Miller spent just one season at Celtic Park before heading south of the border to Derby County and returning to Rangers for £2 million just 12 months later.

Upon his Ibrox comeback, Miller became just the second player in history to cross the Old Firm divide twice.

Miller enjoyed three separate spells with the Gers, winning three league titles, the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup, while he won the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup in his sole season with Celtic.

Mo Johnson

Mo Johnson caused turmoil in Glasgow in the 1980s, with his move to Rangers at the end of the decade exasperating both sets of fans.

After swapping Patrick Thistle for Watford in 1983, the Scottish forward signed for Celtic the following year and netted 52 times in 99 games for the Hoops before joining Nantes in 1987.

Things didn’t exactly work out for Johnson in France and despite Celtic leading the way for his return, Gers boss Graeme Souness convinced him to move to Ibrox instead.

Due to his religious beliefs, Rangers fans were angered by his arrival. However, he won them over by making the Gers more favourable in football betting and guiding them to back-to-back league titles before moving to Everton.

Alfie Conn

Kicking off his career with Rangers in 1968, Alfie Conn quickly became a fan favourite at Ibrox—making 93 league appearances and scoring 23 times in six years.

In that time, the midfielder also won the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the Scottish Cup—scoring in the final against Celtic at Hampden Park—before moving to Tottenham Hotspur in 1974.

Following three years at Spurs, Conn returned to Glasgow when signing for Celtic. He won another Scottish Cup with the Hoops, this time beating Rangers in the final.  

Gers fans have split views on Conn to this day, but he was nonetheless inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame in 2007.