Six games that shook the Old Firm: triumph of people power at Parkhead that will chime across city today

The dark place in which Rangers find themselves as we settle into 2015 displays so many parallels with the sense of rebellion and discontentment that permeated every corner of an old and crumbling Celtic Park at the beginning of 1994.

The 'Celts For Change' movement, a supporters' group set up to overthrow the board controlled over generations by the White and Kelly families and now honoured with a plaque outside the stadium, had rumbled into life earlier that season and was, quite evidently, gathering momentum.

Of course, it would not be until March, following organised boycotts and the club being threatened with receivership within 24 hours by the Bank of Scotland, that Fergus McCann would seize control of 'The Biscuit Tin' with a former director called Brian Dempsey informing a large crowd from the front steps of the stadium that "the rebels have won".

If that was the jubilant arrival at the end point of the struggle, though, the anger born from five years without a trophy under directors patently lacking any kind of direction would show itself in the purest form during the derby match on New Year's Day.

Rangers, as it turns out, were halfway towards their sixth consecutive championship, but they were not exactly playing well. Amid the off-field tumult, the Celtic manager, Lou Macari, was just about holding things together with his side having lost only one of 13 games ahead of the Old Firm derby following early slip-ups against Aberdeen, Hearts and St Johnstone.

Within three minutes of the kick-off, though, Celtic were two-down to goals from Mark Hateley and Alexei Mikhailitchenko. When Mikhailitchenko took advantage of some truly shambolic defending to make it 3-0 on 28 minutes, the wheels came off the bogey.

A handful of fans invaded the park, one of whom attempted to attack the Rangers goalkeeper, Ally Maxwell, before becoming embroiled in a wrestling match with John Brown. Missiles including Mars Bars would be thrown at the Directors' Box in a quite iconic sign of less-than-peaceful protest.

Rangers went on to win 4-2 with Oleg Kuznetsov scoring from distance between two strikes from John Collins and Charlie Nicholas. Celtic's campaign then unravelled dramatically with consecutive defeats at the hands of Partick Thistle and Motherwell leaving them trailing in fifth place in the table and serving as the prelude to a Scottish Cup exit at the hands of the Fir Park club later in the month.

Gary Gillespie was part of the side that fell apart against Rangers. He sees the fury that spilled over during the 90 minutes as a real catalyst for the drive that put McCann in power.

Naturally, he cannot help but consider the build-up to this Sunday's League Cup semi-final between Celtic, seeking their fourth straight Premiership title, and a deeply-troubled Rangers and wonder what might happen should Kenny McDowall's team suffer a similarly humbling defeat.

"When something iconic happens, it is difficult to pinpoint one specific moment that brought the change," said Gillespie.

"The team had not been doing badly until that match, but the defeat might not have mattered quite so much had we been challenging hard. It probably did change the thinking of some Celtic supporters. You could say it was an iconic moment in the history of Celtic because anger came to a head and that eventually paved the way for the entire face of the club changing.

"I think that the movement demanding change within the fanbase, which had already been building, just got stronger and stronger from that point onwards.

"The team was struggling and there was no real investment. Celtic supporters had been patient for four or five years and the sense of dissatisfaction had just built up.

"If you looked at the same scenario in modern-day football, it would have reached a head within 18 months or so, but it had been going on for some time at Celtic. The same feeling existed even within the playing staff.

"Players are generally selfish. They focus on themselves and tend to block everything else out, but there were some voices of dissent within the dressing-room.

"Charlie Nicholas, I believe, was quite close to Brian Dempsey. He was clear about the fact he felt it was time for change at the club.

"It is funny that it seems to have gone full circle now. It is absolutely impossible to avoid what has been going at Rangers and it hasn't done anyone any good. It certainly hasn't done Scottish football any good.

"When you look back to those days, you do wonder how much of what was going on then is related to what has happened recently.

"Everyone can remember the kind of money that was being spent by Rangers and, of course, we are entering this upcoming match with their supporters now expressing their anger through protests and looking for their own boardroom to be cleared out."

Gillespie would never excuse the disorder - not quite as widespread as some retrospective reports would have you believe - that broke out around the ground that afternoon. However, he admits he could understand the emotions of the support.

"I don't know what triggered the actual confrontation when the supporter got on and ran towards Ally Maxwell, but I think questions would have to be asked about the response of the stewards and police," he said.

"There was a running track round the pitch. It wasn't as if you just had to hop over an advertising hoarding and you were on the field of play.

"It has been well-documented that things were being thrown into the Directors' Box as well.

"Of course, you cannot condone that, but you could understand the frustrations of the supporters.

"From memory, there was already a lot of speculation about a potential takeover. Everything going off the field was certainly filtering its way down to the players. You try to blank that out and focus on your game, but a situation like that becomes impossible to ignore.

"Even from the time I joined in 1991, Celtic were always playing catch-up, really. Rangers had a redeveloped stadium and they could buy pretty much the players they wanted.

"Celtic Park clearly needed work done to it and the money was not available for that. I think, by the beginning of 1994, it had all come to a head."

Gillespie had been signed from Liverpool, a club at which he had contributed to three league championship successes and sat on the bench during a European Cup final win over AS Roma. The reputations of both clubs were similar, but he quickly realised that Celtic were not operating at the same level behind the scenes.

"I know it was a different game back then, but the pitch wasn't the best, there was a big running track round it and the stadium just felt antiquated," he recalled. "We were also training up at Barrowfield and a club such as Celtic should have had higher standards than that.

"You are talking about the first British team to win the European Cup, after all. The infrastructure was all wrong and it needed someone to come in and set it off in the right direction.

"It was probably the wrong time to be there, but I don't regret joining. It was a privilege and an honour to play for two clubs such as Celtic and Liverpool.

"I was swayed a little by the fact I was a Celtic supporter growing up in the 1960s with the Lisbon Lions, Bobby Lennox, Tommy Gemmell, Willie Wallace. Just having the chance to go to Parkhead was such a big thing for me.

"When I got to the club in 1991, though, I could already see how depressed things were and how far the club was behind Rangers. It was only when you got there that you started to understand it.

"Look, I know myself that I didn't play my part thanks to being in and out through injury and I accept my performance level was not what it should have been.

"I can hardly sit here and pontificate about the failings of others, but Celtic are a great club and I am just pleased they got themselves back on the right track."