Programme from notorious Old Firm cup tie sells for record £4,500

It was one of the most notorious Old Firm games ever played and saw a player carried off, two sent off, a pitch invasion and five arrests.

Now a rare football programme from the Victory Cup tie, ironically held to mark the outbreak of peace at the end of the Second World War, has sold for a record £4,500. It is thought to be the highest paid for a programme for a Scottish football match.

The programme, sold online a fortnight ago, is for the cup semi-final replay, on June 5, 1946, at Hampden Park between Celtic and Rangers, and fetched the huge sum despite being just a single sheet of A4 paper folded in half.

The replay entered football folklore as one of the most controversial Old Firm games of all time. Rangers took the lead via an early goal from Willie Waddell but after the Ibrox side were awarded a penalty, the game erupted. Celtic players obstructed the spot-kick and George Paterson and Jimmy Mallan were sent off. Celtic were already down to nine men after two players were injured. It was reported that, down to seven and angered at the penalty decision, Celtic made to walk off before captain Bobby Hogg persuaded his teammates to play on.

The penalty was scored by George Young but a fan ran onto the pitch and lobbed a bottle at the referee. The lout was apprehended by police before other supporters invaded the pitch and fighting broke out on the terraces. Five arrests were made.

Rangers held on for the 2-0 win and defeated Hibs 3-1 in the final. The programme for the semi-final replay is believed to be an unofficial edition. Sold by a vendor in London to an unnamed buyer, it smashed a previous high of £1,610 for a programme from the 1936 Scottish Cup final between Rangers and Third Lanark.

Peter Rundo, a leading programmes expert, said: “I cannot personally recall a sum as high as £4,500 being paid for a Scottish programme. There is a school of thought that this was not an official programme as such, and was in effect a pirate issue, but nonetheless it is the only programme for the match and is very rare..”

Richard McBrearty, curator of the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden, said: “This is the highest sum I have heard paid for a Scottish football programme but it’s a piece which is as rare as hen’s teeth.”