Celtic v Rangers officially labelled UK’s ‘Dirtiest Derby’ - averaging most red cards per game

Scott Brown of Celtic fouls Ryan Kent of Rangers and earns a yellow card during a Scottish Cup tie in April 2021

As the clock continues to tick down towards Sunday’s Viaplay Cup final between Rangers and Celtic at Hampden Park, a new study has revealed the Old Firm is officially the ‘dirtiest derby’ in the UK.

Research carried out by BonusCodeBets on which derbies are the most competitive over the last 10 years has outlined the two Glasgow clubs comprise one of the fiercest rivalries in Europe.

The Old Firm averages the most red cards (0.33) per game in their 24 league meetings since 2013. Matches between Rangers and Celtic has also produced the fourth-most yellow cards in Europe. It has been proven that players are unable to keep their cool in Scotland, accumulating the second most double yellow cards leading to a red (4 second yellow cards) in Europe, which is the half of their total 8 red cards since 2013.

Simon Donnelly of Celtic fights for the ball with Alan McLaren of Rangers during an SPFL match in October 1994

However, if Scottish football wants to pride itself as having the dirtiest rivalry in Europe, they have some catching up to do with French giants PSG vs Marseille, which averages the highest red card per game ratio with 0.6 (at least one red card every two games)

The Derby Della Capitale contested by Lazio vs Roma is also renowned for it’s violent tension in and out of the Stadio Olimpico, while the El Clásico between Barcelona vs Real Madrid remains one of the fiercest games in history.

Former Celtic captain Scott Brown and Spanish legend Sergio Ramos share top spot for receiving most of the bookings in each fixture.

Here is the data in full:

Teams	Yellow Cards	Second Yellow Cards	Red Cards	Total Red Cards	Games	Yellow Cards per game	Red Cards per game
PSG vs Marseille	95	4	8	12	20	4.75	0.60
Lazio vs Roma	135	6	4	10	21	6.43	0.48
Barcelona vs Real Madrid	124	2	6	8	21	5.90	0.38
RANGERS vs CELTIC	115	4	4	8	24	4.79	0.33
Arsenal vs Tottenham	102	4	3	7	21	4.86	0.33
Cardiff vs Swansea	34	1	2	3	9	3.78	0.33
Arsenal vs Chelsea	84	1	5	6	21	4.00	0.29
Newcastle vs Sunderland	37	0	2	2	8	4.63	0.25
Sheff United vs Sheff Wednesday	10	1	0	1	4	2.50	0.25
Crystal Palace vs Brighton	48	0	3	3	13	3.69	0.23
Forest vs Leicester	18	0	1	1	5	3.60	0.20
AC Milan vs Inter Milan	116	1	3	4	21	5.52	0.19
Man United vs Liverpool	78	1	3	4	21	3.71	0.19
Aston Villa vs Birmingham City	27	1	0	1	6	4.50	0.17
Tottenham vs Chelsea	93	1	2	3	21	4.43	0.14
Bayern vs Dortmund	80	2	1	3	21	3.81	0.14
Fulham vs Chelsea	22	0	1	1	8	2.75	0.13
Everton vs Liverpool	89	0	2	2	21	4.24	0.10
Man City vs Man United	88	1	1	2	21	4.19	0.10
Brentford vs Fulham	34	1	0	1	11	3.09	0.09
West Brom vs Wolves	5	0	0	0	2	2.50	0.00

A spokesperson for BonusCodeBets said: “The Old Firm is the fiercest derby in the UK and one of the most competitive rivalries in Europe, and it will be as competitive as ever now there is a trophy on the line.”

Celtic v Rangers officially labelled UK’s ‘Dirtiest Derby’ in new study - averaging most red cards per game