Rangers vs Celtic: Which Shirt Do Fans Reject More?
In the data, there is a clear Old Firm winner — and it is not the one either side would want to win. When football fans order a mystery shirt from us, they can name the clubs they would rather not receive. Across almost 30,000 orders in the past year, Rangers were named as a shirt to avoid far more often than Celtic.
The numbers: Rangers were named in 851 exclusion requests, Celtic in 605 — Rangers rejected roughly 40% more often than their rivals. Both clubs sit inside the top eight most-rejected shirts in Britain, which you can see in full in our study of the football shirts fans most refuse to open.
Why Rangers edge it
Two things likely drive the gap. First, reach: a rejection list is a national picture, not a Glasgow one, and across Britain as a whole Rangers appear to collect more “not that one” reactions than Celtic. Second, it is a reminder of how deep the divide runs — for a sizeable group of buyers, the single most important instruction on the order is simply that the shirt must not be the other lot’s colours.
It is worth being clear about what this measures. It is not a popularity contest and it is not about quality. It records how often fans, at the point of paying, asked us not to send a particular club’s shirt. For two clubs whose rivalry defines Scottish football, that is exactly the kind of instruction you would expect — and the data delivers it.
The wider Scottish picture
| Club | Times named as “a shirt to avoid” |
|---|---|
| Rangers | 851 |
| Celtic | 605 |
| Hearts | 61 |
| Hibernian | 39 |
| Aberdeen | 10 |
The drop after the Old Firm is steep. Between them, Rangers and Celtic account for the overwhelming majority of all Scottish-club rejections — a neat illustration of how the two Glasgow giants dominate the emotional map of Scottish football, for better and for worse.
What fans ask for instead
Rejection is only half the story. The same orders tell us which shirts fans actively hope to unwrap — and Scottish buyers are as likely as anyone to ask for an international shirt or a classic European kit. We cover that side of the data in the shirts fans most want to open.
How it works
Every mystery football shirt is a surprise, but you stay in control of the big things: name up to three nations or leagues to avoid, and tell us any specific clubs you would rather not receive. So a Celtic fan will never open a Rangers shirt, and vice versa.
Methodology
Based on 29,035 orders placed on mysteryshirtinabox.com between July 2025 and July 2026. Club-level rejections were taken from the free-text “teams to avoid” field completed at checkout and grouped to canonical club names. Figures reflect the number of separate requests naming each club, not the number of shirts sold. Data is aggregated and anonymised.
Frequently asked questions
Which Old Firm club is rejected more, Rangers or Celtic?
Rangers. Across 29,035 orders, Rangers were named in 851 “shirt to avoid” requests compared with 605 for Celtic — roughly 40% more often.
Does this mean Rangers are more disliked than Celtic?
It means fans buying a mystery shirt asked to avoid receiving a Rangers shirt more often than a Celtic one. It is a measure of purchase behaviour, not a popularity poll, and it reflects buyers across all of Britain rather than Glasgow alone.
Can I make sure I never receive an Old Firm rival’s shirt?
Yes. At checkout you can name specific clubs to avoid, so a Celtic supporter will never be sent a Rangers shirt and vice versa.