The Glasgow Rangers legend was at Ibrox from the 1960s to the 1980s, a period of dominance for the Parkhead side.
Glasgow Rangers legend Derek Johnstone has claimed that the gap between the Ibrox side and bitter Old Firm rivals Celtic is probably worse than when he was a player at Rangers in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
The Hoops have not long celebrated winning their eighth consecutive Scottish Premiership title in a row, despite Rangers’ best efforts this season in the race for top spot amid a marked improvement under the stewardship of Steven Gerrard.
Johnstone had two stints at Rangers, first between 1968 to 1983, and again in 1985 to 1986, unfortunately for him coinciding with a period in which the Ibrox outfit largely played second fiddle to Celtic.
Between 1966 and 1974, the Bhoys won nine titles in a row, and although the Blues then did go on to win two consecutively in 1975 and 1976, adding another in 1978, they then would not win another one until 1987.
Writing in the Glasgow Evening Times ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm derby at Ibrox, Johnstone discussed the controversial subject of Rangers being asked to give their bitter rivals a guard of honour, which he rubbished as “absolute nonsense”.
“The Old Firm have drifted so far apart in recent years,” he wrote. “It is probably worse than when I played, so there was no chance of a guard of honour happening this weekend.”
Despite the claim, Johnstone feels things are very much on the up, adding: “More than 28,000 fans have already renewed their season tickets for next year and that shows you how excited the supporters are about where Steven Gerrard is taking the club.
“That is 25 percent up on this time 12 months ago and the only focus this weekend is giving those punters another derby victory.”
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