Celtic celebrate heated win over Rangers in final of revived Tennent’s Sixes

The intensity of the football rivalry in Glasgow was evident on Sunday night as Celtic turned the tables on Rangers to win the Tennent’s Sixes. Celtic beat their rivals 5-4 in the final at Braehead Arena after being on the end of a 7-1 defeat by Rangers in the group stage on Saturday.

The tournament was for retired players from all 12 Premiership teams as the SPFL revived a tournament that took place between first teams from 1984 to 1993. But the reactions were similar to any major trophy final.

Celtic’s Charlie Mulgrew admitted he got carried away in his celebrations after he ignored handshake attempts from the Rangers captain, Andy Halliday, in order to salute the crowd, and exchanged words with the Rangers manager, Barry Ferguson.

There was a heated post-match analysis in the Rangers dressing room. In a video leaked on social media, Kirk Broadfoot appears to be heavily criticising the goalkeeper Lee Robinson.

Mulgrew had calmed only slightly when he spoke to Premier Sports. “A lot of adrenaline was flowing, a few nasty tackles,” the 40-year-old said. “I mean, I know it was the Tennent’s Sixes, but you get caught up in the moment.

“You don’t like to get beat from Rangers, our closest rivals, 7-1, so that hurt. We had a few beers, a wee chat, a wee night out, so we managed to turn it around. We got a few things ironed out, although I was a wee bit rough in the morning.

“It feels like I’ve won an actual, real cup. It’s mental. I got a bit carried away at the end there but it builds up. There was a lot of emotion in that. Sometimes that’s what happens, it spills over.

“Football’s like that. I got nutmegged a couple of times by [Martyn] Waghorn, and exchanged words with him, then that was me, I was just fired up and fired into a few tackles. In the end, because we had that spirit, we won.”

Celtic’s manager, Tom Boyd, said he was “pretty angry” with his players on Saturday night and that it “feels like winning the league”.

His assistant, Simon Donnelly, admitted they were all “embarrassed” by Saturday’s heavy defeat and told Celtic Player after the final: “It’s against Rangers, so it’s as if it’s a Scottish Cup final there. That’s the feeling. You could play Rangers at tiddlywinks and you’d still want to win.”