Over the last four years, only two Scottish players have managed to hit the back of the net in the Celtic vs Rangers, Old Firm derby.
When ‘The Gers’ returned to the SPL in 2016/17, homegrown stars played a significant role in the rivalry, scoring six of the 15 goals they shared between them that year.
Read: Didier Drogba: Top five goals of the Chelsea legend’s career (sporf.com)
This figure was the highest of any other nationality, equalling a whopping 40% of the total tally. However, as time has passed, the impact of Scottish players in the eagerly-anticipated fixture has evaporated into near nothingness.
Research into the Celtic vs Rangers, Old Firm derby reveals interesting results
After conducting extensive research, Lord Ping discovered that in the last four campaigns, Scottish players have only scored two of the 32 goals, with an underwhelming strike rate of just 6%.
Subsequently, fans have grown concerned over the lack of local players making it to the pinnacle of the league, with many considering the Old Firm derby an ‘international affair’.
Scottish players aren’t performing in the Old Firm derby
While David Turnbull bagged for Celtic in September, you have to go all the way back to 2018/19 to find the last time a Scotsman put his name in lights for Rangers. On this particular occasion, Scott Arnfield scored in a 2-0 victory for his side.
Perhaps more frustratingly for natives, it’s actually the English who’ve been the most prolific over the last four seasons, recording five goals.
And if that wasn’t enough, they’ve managed to hit the back of the net in every season during this period with the exemption of the 2021/22 campaign.
However, things were just as bad for the Scots throughout that campaign as they didn’t bag any goals either. During this period, players from Australia, Israel, Portugal, Japan, Zambia, USA, Sweden and Wales all scored one goal each.
Full tables for Celtic vs Rangers, Old Firm derby between 2016/17 – 2020/21
| Season | Result | Goalscorers | Nationality |
| 2016/17 | Celtic 5-1 Rangers | Celtic: Moussa Dembele (3), Scott Sinclair and Stuart Armstrong Rangers: Joe Garner | Moussa Dembele: French Scott Sinclair: English Stuart Armstrong:Scottish Joe Garner:English |
| 2016/17 | Rangers 1-2 Celtic | Rangers: Kenny Miller Celtic:Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair | Kenny Miller: Scottish Celtic: Moussa Dembele: French Scott Sinclair: English |
| 2016/17 | Celtic 1-1 Rangers | Celtic: Stuart Armstrong Rangers:Clint Hill | Stuart Armstrong:Scottish Clint Hill:English |
| 2016/17 | Rangers 1-5 Celtic | Rangers: Kenny Miller Celtic: Scott Sinclair, Leigh Griffiths, Callum McGregor, Dedryck Boyata, Mikael Lustig | Kenny Miller: Scottish Scott Sinclair: English Leigh Griffiths:Scottish Callum McGregor:Scottish Dedryck Boyata:Belgian Mikael Lustig:Swedish |
| 2017/18 | Rangers 0-2 Celtic | Celtic: Tom Rogic and Leigh Griffiths | Tom Rogic:Australian Leigh Griffiths:Scottish |
| 2017/18 | Rangers 2-3 Celtic | Rangers: Josh Windass and Daniel CandeiasCeltic: Tom Rogic, Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Eduoard | Josh Windass:English Daniel Candeias:Portuguese Tom Rogic:Australian Moussa Dembele: French Odsonne Eduoard:French |
| 2017/18 | Celtic 5-0 Rangers | Celtic: Odsonne Eduoard (2), Tom Rogic, Callum McGregor, James Forrest, | Odsonne Eduoard: French Tom Rogic:Australian Callum McGregor:Scottish James Forrest:Scottish |
| 2018/19 | Celtic 1-0 Rangers | Celtic: Olivier Ntcham | Olivier Ntcham: Cameroon |
| 2018/19 | Rangers 1-0 Celtic | Rangers: Ryan King | Ryan King: Scottish |
| 2018/19 | Celtic 2-1 Rangers | Celtic: Odsonne Eduoard and James Forrest Rangers:Ryan Kent | Odsonne Eduoard: French James Forrest:Scottish Ryan Kent:English |
| 2018/19 | Rangers 2-0 Celtic | Rangers: James Tavernier and Scott Arfield | James Tavernier:English Scott Arfield:Canada/Scottish |
| 2019/20 | Rangers 0-2 Celtic | Celtic: Odsonne Eduoard and Johnny Hayes | Odsonne Eduoard:French Johnny Hayes;Irish |
| 2019/20 | Celtic 1-2 Rangers | Celtic: Odsonne Eduoard Rangers: Ryan Kent and Nikola Katic | Odsonne Eduoard:French Ryan Kent:English Nikola Katic:Croatia |
| 2020/21 | Celtic 0-2 Rangers | Rangers: Connor Goldson | Connor Goldson:English |
| 2020/21 | Rangers 1-0 Celtic | Rangers:Callum Mcgregor (OG) | Callum McGregor:Scottish |
| 2020/21 | Celtic 1-1 Rangers | Celtic:Mohamed ElyounoussiRangers: Alfredo Morelos | Mohamed Elyounoussi:Norwegian Alfredo Morelos:Colombian |
| 2020/21 | Rangers 4-1 Celtic | Rangers:Kemar Roofe (2), Alfredo Morelos, and Jermaine Defoe | Kemar Roofe:Jamaican Alfredo Morelos:Colombian Jermaine Defoe:English |
Full tables for Celtic vs Rangers, Old Firm derby between 2021/22 – 2022/23
| 2021/22 | Rangers 1-0 Celtic | Rangers:Filip Helander | Filip Helander:Swedish |
| 2021/22 | Celtic 3-0 Rangers | Celtic: Reo Hatate (2) and Liel Abada | Reo Hatate:JapaneseLiel Abada:Israeli |
| 2021/22 | Rangers 1-2 Celtic | Rangers: Aaron RamseyCeltic:Tom Rogic and Cameron Carter-Vickers | Aaron Ramsey:Welsh Tom Rogic:Australian Cameron Carter-Vickers:American |
| 2021/22 | Celtic 1-1 Rangers | Celtic: JotaRangers: Fashion Zakala | Jota:PortugueseFashion Zakala:Zambian |
| 2022/23 | Celtic 4-0 Rangers | Celtic: Liel Abada, Jota, David Turnbull | Liel Abada:IsraeliJota:Portuguese David Turnbull:Scottish |
| 2022/23 | Rangers 2-2 Celtic | Rangers: Ryan Kent, James TavernierCeltic: Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi | Ryan Kent: English James Tavernier: English Daizen Maeda:Japanese Kyogo Furuhashi: Japanese |
| 2022/23 | Celtic 3-2 Rangers | Rangers: James Tavernier Celtic: Kyogo Furuhashi, Jota | James Tavernier: English, Kyogo Furuhashi: Japanese, Jota |
Which nations have scored the most in the Old Firm derby since 2016/17?
| Season/Tally of Goals scored | ||||||||
| Nationality of Goalscorers | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | Total |
| French | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| English | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 15 |
| Scottish | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Australian | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Irish | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Israeli | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Portuguese | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Japanese | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Norwegian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Colombian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Croatian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Canada | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Zambian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| American | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Belgian | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Swedish | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Welsh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Jamaican | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 15 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 65 |
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