Recently a marketing email fell into my inbox advertising Glasgows "Orginal Derby" Rangers v Queens Park which is scheduled for next week at Ibrox
But is this actually the case ?
Claim to be Glasgow's original derby could be made by West and Accies as it was this derby match that first took place in 1868 some four years before Rangers were formed by the Gallant Pioneers
The match was between West of Scotland FC and Glasgow Academicals FC
Their titles demonstrate that codifying football was still in its infancy and still evolving with football being played under various forms of rules such as the Sheffield Rules the Cambridge Rules and of course the Rugby Rules the latter permitting more handling
However the early rules adopted by Queens Park also permitted a degree of handling to the extent that some four years before the formation of Rangers Queens had hoped to meet Glasgow Accies on the field of play to the extent they had embraced the rugby rules in their early constitution
This match never took place because despite considerable correspondence the clubs could not come to agreement over the rules for the challenge match
This confusion in interpretation and rules is underscored by the fact that when the SRU was formed at the Glasgow Academy in 1873 it was named the Scottish Football Union
So maybe it is the West v Accies match of 1868 that could lay claim to really be Glasgow's original football derby

This article was originally posted on 10-Oct-2012, 09:41 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 10-Oct-2012, 21:29.