As a London-based social psychologist who grew up in Islington’s mixed neighborhoods, I’ve watched these derbies not as sports events—but as emotional rituals. The SPFL’s 2025/26 schedule isn’t just fixtures; it’s a calendar of collective longing. Celtic’s opener on August 3rd, the Old Firm on the 31st—each match a silent symphony of hope and absence. I don’t care about trophies. I care about why we still show up.