1920-10-23: Celtic 1-2 Rangers, League Division 1

Shaw, McNair, McStay Gilchrist Cringan, Pratt, McAtee, Gallacher , McInally, Cassidy, McLean.

Scorer: McInally.

RANGERS:

Robb, Manderson, McQueen, Bowie, Dixon, Walls, Archibald, Cunningham, Muirhead Cairns, Morton.

Scorers: Cairns, Morton.

Referee: H. Humphrey (Glasgow)

[…] A thrilling game was witnessed at Celtic Park, Glasgow, where the Rangers triumphed over Celtic by two goals to one. The game all through was vigorously contested, but most of the excitement was crowded into the last twenty minutes, when the Rangers got their two goals. It was a very even first half, and the Celts crossed over leading by a goal scored by Cassidy. Just after the resumption McInally was injured, and went to outside left, but he was of little use before Cairns equalised. Ten minutes from the finish McQueen, the Rangers’ left back, fell heavily on his shoulder, sustaining a fracture collar bone, and had to be assited to the pavilion. Immediately after Morton scored the winning goal for the Rangers with a terrific drive from thirty yards out. The feature of the game was the brilliant play of Archibald, who had most to do with the Celtic’s defeat. Attendance, 70,000.

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The Glasgow Herald, Oct 25, 1920
RANGERS’ TRIUMPH
Rangers to-day are the only unbeaten club in League football, which term is accepted as covering the competitions of the Scottish League and the three divisions of the League in England. Those four tournaments embrace altogether 88 clubs, and it is undoubtedly an achievement that Rangers occupy the position of honour amongst them. The Ibrox club appreciate the distinction, but only in a casual way, and principally because it implies that their greatest rivals, Celtic are one of the 87 clubs compelled to admit to Rangers’ lordship. Rangers entered upon their big task at Celtic Park on Saturday uninspired by any thought of the position of eminence that victory opened up to them, but animated solely by the determination to beat Celtic. How they ultimately succeeded in doing so will be the subject of fruitful discussion in days to come, but there will be something like unanimity of opinion that the game proved one of the greatest struggles in the long list of historical encounters in which the rivals have engaged.

The opening 30 minutes of the game gave no indication that it would resolve itself into one of the customary duels between two well-matched rivals, as during that period Rangers showed an ascendancy over their opponents that seemed certain to end in complete mastery. They failed, however, to get even one goal to put the seal upon their superiority, and after due allowance is made for a measure of ill luck we are faced again with the conviction that the real cause of Rangers’ failure to translate their pre-eminence into goals was the want of a fitting centre forward. The whole course of the game, and ultimately Rangers’ victory, confirm that view. Rangers’ early predominance was the outcome of superior combined play on the wings. There was at no time complete combined movement in attack, and after Celtic got their goal even wing play was discarded. It is almost an accepted theory that combined play will always defeat individual effort, but Saturday’s experience at Celtic Park provided the exception to the rule. It is possible that but for the loss of McInally, their centre, Celtic would have been able to maintain a combination that would have defeated their rivals, but accepting things as they were, that fact is that individualism won the day for Rangers. Celtic had no such brilliant units as Archibald, Cunningham, Cairns and Morton, and few of the 85,000 spectators present at Celtic Park will deny to the first and last named the chief credit of turning a forlorn hope into victory by almost unprecedented efforts.