WITH Celtic playing their Glasgow rivals Rangers at Ibrox for the first time this season in the Ladbrokes Premiership on Sunday, comedy writer and Only an Excuse creator Phil Differ looks back on his first ever Old Firm game.

"The first Old Firm game I attended was at Ibrox on September 11, 1971 – and I wasn’t supposed to be there.

"I defied my parents and went to the match against their wishes and without their knowledge. They had told me: ‘You’re not going and that’s it’. But I decided to go anyway.

"I was sure something terrible was going to happen because of that. Not my team getting beaten. Something far worse. Like the heavens opening up or me getting swallowed whole by a whale. I was just 15 at the time.

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"I was from Kilsyth. Going into Glasgow usually meant a trip to Dundas Street or Sauchiehall Street. Crossing the River Clyde to the South Side at that age felt like entering, I don’t know, Mordor or something. It was really scary.

"But I was glad that I went in the end. Celtic won 3-2 and Jimmy Johnstone scored the winner with a looping header in the very last minute. Jinky somehow outjumped the entire Rangers defence and got on the end of a Kenny Dalglish cross.

"I can remember there being a kind of pause when the ball went in the net. It was almost as if nobody could believe what had happened. Then everyone went absolutely mental.

"I can actually remember quite a lot about it. Maybe I’m not as old as I think. Lou Macari opened the scoring for Celtic in the first-half. Then Willie Johnston equalised. Colin Stein put Rangers 2-1 up before half-time. Stein then had a goal disallowed for putting a boot on Evan Williams in the second-half. Dalglish levelled after that to set up the dramatic finale.

"I don’t think I ever owned up to my parents about being there afterwards. That was quite common back then, going to games and not letting on. You would come in the house stinking of fag smoke. Your mum and dad would say: ‘Where’ve you been?’ You’d reply: ‘Nowhere!’

"That is one of the things I remember about going to watch football games in the 1970s – being in a corrugated iron shed surrounded by cigarette smoke and feeling quite ill. The Jungle at Parkhead was always like that.

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"I loved the football, but I hated the smell, the smoke, guys p****** in cans, that sort of thing. Corporate hospitality was a cheese roll. The good old days.

"I don’t remember fights or it being as violent as people make out it was now. I can actually recall an Old Firm game when the Rangers players applauded their Celtic counterparts onto the park. I personally always respected the abilities of guys like wee Willie Johnston and Dave Smith. They were cracking players. I felt anybody who was playing professional football was worthy of my admiration.

"I was wracked with guilt about going to my first Old Firm game without telling my parents. I was probably traumatised by the whole experience. But now my secret is out – 48 years later."