Old Firm, new friends - the day that Celtic and Rangers played as one

Inverness Caledonian and an Old Firm Select XI enactment up for a combined squad photograph earlier their lucifer connected 11 March 1959. Celtic's Jim Conway and Paddy Crerand are beforehand row, 2nd from close and acold near respectively

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"An idea," helium started.

He went connected to picture a imaginativeness which helium hoped mightiness cement enactment for the Good Friday Agreement, earlier the ground-breaking bid woody was enactment to a referendum successful Northern Ireland.

It was surely retired of near field.

Campbell's missive imagined a lucifer betwixt Celtic and Rangers - 2 teams divided by history, rivalry and religion - successful Belfast.

"We could adhd to it by getting Celtic players to deterioration Rangers strips and Rangers players to deterioration Celtic strips", helium added, admitting that immoderate players "may person trouble with this".

He sent the thought to Prime Minister Tony Blair, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Mo Mowlam and Scotland Secretary of State Donald Dewar.

None seemed enthused. There is nary grounds of anyone responding.

Campbell has since admitted it was "perhaps not 1 of my amended ideas".

But, possibly it wasn't the worst either.

Because astir 40 years before, the 2 Glasgow rivals had so travel unneurotic successful an bonzer combined XI for a bully cause.

The information wasn't bid though. Instead, the hunt for the Loch Ness monster was down the match.

In March 1933, Inverness Caledonian hosted the archetypal shot lucifer successful Scotland nether modern floodlights, astatine their Telford Street Park ground.

"Inverness had fixed the pb to Scotland successful regards to floodlit football," reported The Press & Journal paper astatine the time.

The installation of lights brought Scottish shot into a new, modern epoch and was revolutionary successful 1933.

Floodlit shot was uncommon - it had been tried galore times successful England, but it had been banned by the Football Association successful August 1930 and would stay so, southbound of the border, until December 1950.

In Inverness, wherever the prima sets soon aft 16:00 GMT successful the depths of winter, the floodlights were a large success. But they were short-lived too. They stayed successful spot for lone a fewer weeks.

Because Caledonian had abruptly been supplanted arsenic the biggest gully successful town.

On 2 May 1933, the Inverness Courier published a communicative of a section businessman who was driving on the northbound enactment of Loch Ness, erstwhile his woman fto retired a scream.

She had seen "a tremendous upheaval connected the loch, which, previously, had been arsenic calm arsenic the proverbial mill-pond".

The study continued describing an chartless creature, "rolling and plunging for afloat a minute, its assemblage resembling that of a whale, and the h2o cascading and churning similar a simmering cauldron."

And truthful the Loch Ness Monster improvement began.

Hundreds of radical flocked to the Loch successful the anticipation of glimpsing the monster. A circus impresario - Bertram Mills - enactment up a prize of £20,000 - equivalent of £1.24m today - for the idiosyncratic who caught it.

Mills added immoderate stipulations to the contention - the carnal had to beryllium astatine slightest 20ft long, measurement much than 1,000lbs (454kg) and person antecedently been believed to beryllium extinct.

Tales of a monster successful the depths of Loch Ness drew hundreds of visitors to its banks successful the 1930s

No-one was enactment disconnected by the tiny print. Crowds continued to turn connected the enactment and radical camped retired to effort to spot the beast.

To assistance with the hunt for Nessie, Caley's pioneering shot floodlights were dismantled and moved a fewer miles down the roadworthy to airy up immoderate of the 22 quadrate miles of water.

No-one ever caught Nessie.

But much than 25 years aboriginal 2 brothers, William and Hugh MacDonald, paid for floodlighting to beryllium installed for a 2nd clip astatine the Telford Street ground.

To observe the occasion, an Old Firm Select XI was invited up to Inverness to inaugurate the caller acceptable of lights.

It wasn't wholly without precedent. A Celtic and Rangers combined squad had played successful a testimonial lucifer for Billy Meredith - 1 of football's archetypal stars - successful 1925. But the conception had not been revived since and the rivalry betwixt the 2 clubs seemed to marque a repetition unlikely.

Celtic midfielder Paddy Crerand, raised successful the Gorbals country of Glasgow by Irish migrant parents, admitted being asked to play successful the prime squad was "very strange" astatine first.

"Where I was from, Rangers weren't a precise fashionable club," helium told BBC Sport. "But we were each footballers and we were affable with a batch of the Rangers players successful those days anyway.

"There wasn't the animosity amongst the Celtic and Rangers players that radical whitethorn person thought.

"But I'm amazed Caledonian were capable to organise a Celtic and Rangers prime due to the fact that the clubs were miles isolated successful those days.

"They couldn't link with each different unless they played with each other. It was a wholly antithetic world. There was truthful overmuch anti-Catholicism about, it was ridiculous."

Crerand near Celtic for Manchester United successful 1963, playing successful United's 1968 European Cup winning side

But, somehow, the thought was approved. And Crerand was 1 of 5 Celtic players who would beryllium included successful the Celtic and Rangers combined XI.

Scottish League regulations astatine the clip required each competing players to beryllium signed to a azygous subordinate club. The 5 Celtic players would person to motion for Rangers for the time connected the spot that they would re-join Celtic the pursuing day.

This would person been unheard of for supporters of some clubs.

A 19-year-old Jim Conway was 1 of the Celtic players who crossed the divide.

"For me, it was different shot lucifer and a large accidental to play successful this unsocial team," helium told BBC Sport. "Looking back, possibly it was much of an important infinitesimal of unity."

At the time, Rangers had an unwritten regularisation successful spot stating that arsenic a club, they would not motion oregon employment a Roman Catholic.

When Mo Johnston signed for Rangers successful 1989, immoderate of the club's fans laid a wreath extracurricular Ibrox decrying the extremity of much than 100 years of past signalled by the signing of a Catholic.

But, albeit precise briefly, Jim Conway, Paddy Crerand, Jim Kennedy and Charlie Tully had been portion of breaking down that obstruction 40 years before.

Conway recalls gathering up with the Rangers players astatine Glasgow Central presumption a fewer days earlier the game.

"Initially the Celtic and Rangers players were successful 2 abstracted bid carriages connected the mode up to the game," Conway said.

"But past arsenic clip went on, I retrieve Dick Beattie who was the Celtic goalkeeper saying, 'I've had capable of this' and helium got retired a battalion of cards and went to inquire the Rangers players if they wanted to play.

"Soon, each of the players were each mixing and we were having a truly bully clip and getting connected well. Religion aside, household opinions aside, teams aside, supporters aside, we were conscionable footballers doing our job."

The prime squad was coached by the Rangers manager Scot Symon, described by Crerand arsenic a 'nice man' and the squad wore the Rangers' distant kit.

Conway remembers determination being a large assemblage successful Inverness to ticker the game.

"It was a immense infinitesimal and you tin spot wherefore tons of radical wanted to travel retired and ticker america play," Conway said.

Crerand said: "We were not utilized to playing nether floodlights. It was a precise caller happening truthful it was large to bash that. We got a large reception from the people. There wasn't bigotry successful Inverness those days, truthful they welcomed us."

Conway, present 82, astatine a caller Celtic game

The lucifer ended with Caley suffering a 4-2 decision by the Old Firm prime team.

Sammy Baird got a hat-trick and Conway scored the different extremity for the visitors, portion Rodwill Clyne and Jimmy Ingram replied for Caley.

"It was superb to people successful that game. I felt truly proud," said Conway.

This crippled had longer-term effects for the players themselves.

"I got to cognize the Rangers players overmuch amended than I'd ever known them earlier due to the fact that of that match," Conway said.

"Certainly for me, it broke down barriers. I felt precise comfy speaking to the Rangers players and some, similar Bobby King, became my large friends and subsequently our next-door neighbours erstwhile we some played unneurotic astatine Southend United, 4 years later."

It was the past time, contempt Campbell's little attempt, that Celtic and Rangers stars played successful the aforesaid team.

But possibly if it were a show much regularly seen, past this game, similar the Loch Ness monster, would suffer its mystique and unsocial spot successful Scottish history.