THE institution that is the Wee Red Book is 81 years young. For generations of Scots football fans it has been the pocket almanac of every fact and figure the true fan needs about their teams opponents.
In celebration REBECCA GRAY looks at 81 fascinating facts from Scottish football and beyond ahead of the 2009-2010 Wee Red Book's launch on Monday . . .
1 The Wee Red Book was first published in 1928.
2 In 1928, Rangers beat Celtic 4-0 in the Scottish Cup Final.
3 The biggest defeat in the history of the national team was a 7-0 loss to defending World Cup champions Uruguay during the 1954 World Cup finals.
4 Celtic legend, Jimmy McGrory celebrated his 24th birthday in the same year that the Wee Red Book was launched.
5 In 1928, the manager of Rangers was Bill Struth and he lead the club for 34 years.
6 The largest crowd Scotland have played in front of outside of Glasgow was 130,000 in the Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, vs Brazil. Scotland lost 1-0 to an 80th minute goal by Jairzinho.
7 Although famed for dark blue shirts, Scotland played in the primrose and pink racing colours of Archibald Philip Primrose, or Lord Rosebery, at least nine times between 1881 and 1951.
8 The first ever Scotland team was made up entirely of players from Queen's Park.
9 After winning the 2008-09 Scottish Cup Final, Rangers have achieved their 33rd Scottish Cup victory, putting them just one behind Celtic's record of 34.
10 Between 1872 and 1929 Scotland only played against the Home Nations' of England, Wales and Ireland and lost just two of the first 43 internationals played.
11 The 2008-09 Scottish Cup Final was the 17th Scottish Cup tie between Rangers and Falkirk, with Rangers winning 12, drawing three and only losing one of the previous 16.
12 The biggest win in the history of the Scotland national team was an 11-0 victory over Ireland in 1901.
13 The latest edition of the Wee Red Book has 240 pages.
14 The most recent Old Firm derby game between Rangers and Celtic was the 292nd League meeting between the two sides - the most played game in Scottish football, and the only game to be played in every season in Scottish league history.
15 Kenny Dalglish and Denis Law are joint top scorers for Scotland with 30 goals each, but Hughie Gallagher is the most prolific goal scorer in Scotland's history, scoring 23 goals in 20 games, an average of 1.15 goals a game.
16 In 1928, the manager of Celtic was Willie Maley and in his time at the club he lead them to 16 Scottish League titles.
17 Celtic won all four Old Firm league games in the 2003-04 season, the same as Rangers did back in 1996-97.
18 In the 292 Old Firm games to date, there has been 803 goals between the two sides.
19 The 1890-91 league went to a play-off for the title - but since Dumbarton and Rangers drew 2-2 in the play-off, it was decided that the league should be shared.
20 Scotland have played at eight World Cup finals but have actually qualified for nine. The team qualified for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil but as Scotland were not the British Champions, the SFA opted not to take part.
21 Scotland beat England 5-1 at Wembley on March 31, 1928. Alec Jackson scored three goals and Alex James grabbed a double. At the time, James said: "We could have had 10!"
22 The attendance record for a game at Hampden was set at 149,415 during a clash between Scotland and England in 1937, still a European record to this day.
23 In season 1928-29, Rangers won the Scottish League Divison One with 67 points and Celtic came second with 51 points.
24 Evening Times sports reporter Ronnie Cully has undertaken the role of editor of the Wee Red Book.
25 Based at Scotland's National Stadium, Hampden Park, Queen's Park are the oldest club in Scotland, formed in 1867. They won the Scottish Cup 10 times between 1874 and 1893.
26 The very first international football match in the world took place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow. The game finished in a 0-0 draw.
27 The Wee Red Book is currently Scotland's biggest-selling football publication.
28 Celtic legend, Tosh McKinlay said: "If football is your religion then the Wee Red Book is the bible. It's a must read."
29 The Wee Red Book was originally called The Evening Times Football Annual.
30 Scotland qualified for the 1954 World Cup, held in Switzerland, by virtue of finishing runners-up to England in the 1953-54 British championship. Their two matches at the Finals saw them lose 1-0 to Austria, and that 7-0 hammering by the Uruguyans.
31 The Wee Red Book measures just 14cm by 8.5cm.
32 Scotland's biggest win over England was in 1878 when they won 7-2 at Hampden Park.
33 Jock Stein was in charge in 1967 as Celtic famously beat Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon to win the European Cup.
34 Jimmy McGrory is Celtic's top scorer with 472 goals between 1922 and 1937.
35 Rangers won their only European trophy, the European Cup-Winners' Cup, in 1972 after beating Moscow Dynamo 3-2.
36 Partick Thistle striker Alex Hair holds the club record for the most goals scored in one season - 41 goals in 1926-27.
37 Scotland's most capped player is Kenny Dalglish with 102 caps.
38 Celtic were formed in 1888, while the first meeting to form Rangers took place in 1872.
39 Denis Law is the only Scot to be named European Footballer of the year in 1964 while playing for Manchester United.
40 The Scottish FA broke with tradition in 2001 when they appointed a non-Scot as national team coach. Berti Vogts was a member of West Germany's 1974 World Cup-winning team, and managed the unified Germany to victory at Euro 96. His spell in charge of Scotland was an unmitigated disaster, a 2-2 draw with the Faroe Islands being the low point.
41 Scotland have only played Japan once - a 0-0 draw in 1995 at Hiroshima.
42 Brazil hold the record for World Cup wins, with five championships under their belt.
43 Italy are second with four World Cup Championships.
44 There was no Wee Red Book between 1940-45, but as soon as the football resumed after the Second World War, it was back on sale.
45 The 2008-2009 Wee Red Book was the first time that the Scottish Women's Premier League table had been included.
46 Arbroath recorded the biggest win of any Scottish team with a 36-0 victory over Bon Accord in 1885.
47 After going a world record 1275 minutes without conceding a goal in a single season, Athletico Madrid's Abel Resno was finally beaten by Enrique of Sporting Gijon on March 19, 1991.
48 Alex Ferguson was in charge at Pittodrie from 1978 until 1986. During this period they won three Championships, four Scottish FA Cups, one Scottish League Cup, and, most notably, the European Cup-Winners Cup of 1983. They defeated Real Madrid 2-1 in the final in Gothenburg.
49 Aberdeen were the first team in Britain to have a dug out.
50 Up until 1992 Clyde had been relegated more than 10 times, a record in Scottish football.
51 Dundee and Dundee United are the closest football grounds in Britain, only 200 yards apart.
52 Rangers have won a total of 105 major trophies, compared to Celtic's 86.
53 Glasgow is by far Scotland's most successful footballing city with Rangers, Celtic, Clyde, Partick Thistle, Queen's Park and Third Lanark all having been based in the city at one time.
54 In season 1928-29, Scotland made a clean sweep in the Home Internationals. Hughie Gallacher scored a record five goals in their 7-3 victory over Ireland in Belfast.
55 Season 1964-65 saw the legendary Jock Stein become manager at Celtic in February.
56 Rangers' overall top goal scorer is Ally McCoist, scoring 355 goals at his time with the club.
57 In season 1938-39, the game between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox attracted a crowd of 118,567 spectators, a record for a league match.
58 In 1938, a staggering 92,000 people turned up at Celtic Park to watch Celtic take on Rangers.
59 The top scorer in the Premier League in season 2007-08 was Celtic's Scott McDonald after he notched up 25 goals that season.
60 This year's Wee Red Book was edited by Fraser Gibson and Stuart Sandler.
61 Rangers' record defeat came in 1886, when Airdie beat the team 10-2 at Ibrox.
62 Celtic's record defeat came in 1937, when they were beat 8-0 by Motherwell at Celtic Park.
63 One of Scotland's most famous (and unexpected) wins came in 2007, when the Bravehearts beat France 1-0 in Paris in the Euro 2008 Qualifiers. James McFadden scored the winner in the 64th minute.
64 42,000 people were in attendance in Paris that night to watch the historic victory.
65 In season 1973-74, Celtic won the League title for the ninth year running.
66 Albion Rovers earned their biggest ever victory in 1887 with a 12-0 win over Airdriehill.
67 On the same day as Arbroath's huge 36-0 win over Bon Accord, Dundee Harp beat Aberdeen Rovers 35-0.
68 In Scotland's last eight meetings with the Dutch since 1986, they have only scored twice in one win, three goalless draws and four defeats.
69 Currently Scotland are 28th in the FIFA World rankings.
70 Ex-Celtic gaffer Gordon Strachan faced Rangers 10 times with a record of four wins, two draws and four defeats.
71 Prior to their 2-0 win at Ibrox in May 2008, Rangers had scored only two goals in the previous seven Old Firm games - Brahim Hemdani's in the 1-1 draw in December 2006 and Ugo Ehiogu's winner at Parkhead in March 2007.
72 The last player to score a hat-trick in any Old Firm game was Ally McCoist in the 1983-84 League Cup Final.
73 The most recent Old Firm game to end goalless at Ibrox was in September, 1998.
74 Celtic legend McGarvey played 245 times during his five years at the club, scoring a total of 113 goals.
75 Rangers have won 52 domestic league titles, more than any other team in the world.
76 The record attendance for Rangers was for a clash with Celtic in 1939 when 118,567 packed into Ibrox Stadium.
77 Celtic's most capped current player is Artur Boruc, with 41 caps.
78 When the Wee Red Book was first released the cover was actually blue.
79 Billy McNeill holds the record for most number of apperances for Celtic with 790 from 1957-1975.
80 The fastest hat-trick in European Club Football was Mark Burchill in Celtic's game against Jeunesse Esch in 2000; three minutes - between 12th minute and 15th minute.
81 In 1981, The Scottish Player of the Year Award was given to Alan Rough of Partick Thistle. He made a total of 409 appearances for the club and he was a member of the Partick Thistle team that defeated Celtic 4-1 in the Scottish League Cup Final of 1971.
