Former Celtic defender Adam Matthews has spoken about the period after 2012 when Rangers were removed out of the top division. The Ibrox club went into financial trouble, many fans and pundits see this as the end of the old Rangers.

Since then, many believe the Old Firm derby, as it was once known, died. Matthews played for Celtic during that time. He said that none of his teammates wanted Rangers to disappear.

Even though the two clubs were huge rivals until 2012, Matthews believes Rangers’ fall wasn’t good for Celtic or the game in Scotland.

He said: (RecordSport), “I think if you ask anyone, honestly, no one wanted it. You might speak to some Celtic fans and, yes, they’d be buzzing that Rangers are struggling.

“But I don’t think it was good for the league or for Scottish football. And I think if you ask any Celtic player, even the most diehard Celtic fan, if they’re being honest, they’d rather Rangers in the league because it’s a massive game.

“It’s the one you look forward to the most in the calendar. So, yeah, it was a big miss for us. But at the end of the day, we just had to do our job, and we won that league comfortably. But I think the league’s better when Rangers and Celtic are in it.

“There are some other tough games in Scotland. But, like I said, Celtic vs Rangers is the main one. Even when it’s Rangers, we played them in the cup a couple of times, and just the atmosphere is what you want to play in front of.”

The old Rangers died in 2012. Their place in the top league was gone, and they had to start again from the bottom as a new club. It took them years to climb back up. By the time they returned to the top level in 2016, the landscape had changed.

Celtic kept winning titles while the club wearing the Rangers badge worked to rebuild. But for many, the Old Firm name belonged to the past. There was no longer the same history or rivalry. Matthews’ comments highlight how big a loss that period was, not just for fans, but for players too.

Rangers were sent to the Third Division in 2012 because the club went bust after years of poor financial management, including using a tax scheme (EBTs) that was later ruled by the UK Supreme Court to be illegal. The old company was shut down, and a new one had to start over from the bottom of Scottish football.

While some may still call it the Old Firm today, others, including many Celtic supporters, believe that what once was died in 2012. Matthews’ comments show how even those inside the game felt the shift.