OLD Firm fans can now pore over an interactive history of their clubs' foreign stars thanks to a datamap created by the Evening Times.

The online map highlights the countries of origin of a host of footballers who have played in the green and white hoops of Celtic or the blue of Rangers down the years.

View the online map here

Football fans love a homegrown hero, but nothing gets the terraces quite as excited as a classy foreigner strutting his stuff.

The interactive map ­features icons coloured blue or green to signify which team the player represented, and which are pinned to the map on the player's home country.

Using the map tools, fans can take a global view, or zoom in on a specific region.

And users can hover their cursor over each pin to see the player's details.

Evening Times sports ­editor Jonathan Jobson said: "The map is a great tool for Old Firm fans.

"It's interesting to see the blue and green pins and how they are spread about the planet.

"There are so many players from all kinds of backgrounds who have spent part of their careers in Glasgow.

"There are names you will recognise immediately of course, such as Celtic great Henrik Larsson and Rangers hero Jorg Albertz.

"But there are also players whose names will has slipped your mind and will bring back memories of their time at your club."

Few will forget the skills of Celtic stars Paulo Di Canio and Shunsuke Nakamura, or Rangers greats Alexei Mikhailichenko and Rino Gattuso.

But the likes of Rangers' Senegalese midfielder Makhtar N'Diaye or Celtic's Dutch player Edson Braafheid might not ring an immediate bell.

The Evening Times worked with colleagues from Glasgow's Mitchell Library to compile the unique breakdown of Celtic and Rangers players from abroad since 1899.

Kevan Smith and Catherine Queen used resources from the Mitchell's special ­collections department, which include complete ­editions of the Celtic View and Rangers News, along with the extensive range of club histories and biographies.

stef.lach@ heraldandtimes.co.uk