What is the record Old Firm attendance? Rangers v Celtic crowd figures and stadium capacities

Celtic and Rangers supporters will be looking forward to a feisty first Old Firm derby meeting of the season this weekend but ongoing drama over ticket allocations continue to put a dampener on the infamous derby.

There will be no Bhoys fans at the Ibrox on Sunday after Celtic rejected their rival's measly 708 ticket allocation. The fallout continues from last season when the last two Old Firm matches of the season were played at Celtic Park and Ibrox without any away supporters.

Despite Celtic's refusal to accept the allocation, it is reported that Rangers will expect the same offer for the return fixture during the festive period.

The Green Brigade at Celtic have taken issue with the situation and unfurled a banner during last weekend's draw with St Johnstone which read: "They killed their club. Now they are killing the derby. Bring back the old allocations."

How Ibrox pulled in a 118,000 strong record Old Firm attendance

Once upon a time, the fixture would pull in crowds of over 100,000 people with one of the biggest gates in the whole of Europe.

The record attendance for an Old Firm derby was set in January 1939 when Rangers won 2-1 at Ibrox Park in front of a record-breaking crowd of 118,567 balmy football fans.

That crowd remains British football's third highest ever recorded attendance too, only beaten by the 126,047 at the first match at the Old Wembley Stadium for West Ham's FA Cup meeting with Bolton Wanderers in 1923 and the Home International Championship meeting between Scotland and England at Hampden Park in 1937, which recorded an all-time high of 149,415.

Yesteryear, stadiums were of course allowed to have large areas of standing tickets with the important health and safety regulations in the sport today not yet introduced.

The capacity of the Ibrox Stadium is now 50,817 with Celtic Park able to hold a sell-out crowd of 60,411.

The evolution of Ibrox

The Rangers ground was originally called Ibrox Park and initially comprised an oval track around the pitch with a pavilion and one stand along the side. The club went on to construct large terracing around the ground, designed by Archibald Leitch, to boost capacity to 75,000.

These structures famously collapsed in 1902 in a tragedy that saw 25 people killed and 517 people injured in a crush.

Despite the disaster, Leitch was hired by the club again and designed a new expansion for Ibrox using slopes made of earth to make a 63,000 capacity ground.

By 1928, Rangers had installed a new Main Stand and banked terracing continued to increase in the 1930s. Eventually, that Old Firm record crowd of 118,567 was set in 1939.

The biggest Old Firm attendance at Celtic Park came in 1938 when 92,000 people rolled up to watch the two sides in action.

In more modern times, record crowds recorded came in 1999 at Celtic Park in a fixture which the visitors won 3-0 with 59,918 fans in attendance according to Transfermarkt.