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With recent reports of Celtic and Rangers expressing their desire to exit the SPL, should the ‘Old Firm’ be allowed to join the Premier League?
I agree that we owe Scottish football nothing, and that if it wasn’t for the lure of cash elsewhere, Celtic and Rangers would not even consider leaving the SPL, and certainly would not stoop so low as to approach the English with their begging bowls, but I would welcome them in.
And here’s why…..
Their fanbases and travelling support are huge, and their very presence in the Premier League would attract an increase in media coverage – and not merely from the Scottish press, and most probably, additional TV and sponsorship money.
The SPL would be reduced to something akin to the Conference, and most of the cash invested in it would be redirected to the Premier League.
Attendances would go up at grounds they visited (the away ends would certainly be full, and for the first season at least, the novelty value would increase the home support at most grounds).
The best players produced in Scotland would want to move down south as quickly as possible, and would benefit from better training facilities and techniques. There may be the chance of producing another Dalglish, Souness or Law, which is something they’ve not managed since the late seventies or early eighties.
In a nutshell, every team playing in Premier League at the time of their induction would benefit financially.
The underlying problem however, would be on how you’d incorporate them into the present structure?
The only solution I could come up with is:
The Premiership could be increased from 20 to 22 teams, and the additional four games could be covered by starting the season a week earlier, finishing a week later, and having Premier League teams enter the cup competitions a stage later than at present.
The Old Firm should be involved in a play-off with the seventh and eighth placed teams in the Championship. By doing this, they would have to earn their right to play in the Premier League, and nobody would be penalised. In fact, two additional teams from the Championship would have a chance of gaining promotion. If the Old Firm fail to win their play-offs, they’d start their new lives in the Championship, and would have to earn promotion like everyone else.
There is the question of if either of them qualified for Europe from the Premier League, would they be permitted to compete in the Europa Cup or Champions League? I’m sure UEFA could bend the rules.
Appreciate that most people will not agree with this view, but thought it would be interesting to get your opinions on this, and if it were agreed that they would be invited down south, how it could be made to work?
Awaits anti-Scottish remarks….
Agree with most of that, I also believe that they would be a mid-table team at best and think We would have a good chance of turning them both over…especially when one of the temas main assets (Big Lee) wasn’t even one of our better players
My big concern SW would be that if they were to join the Prem , you can bet your last euro that the UEFA powers that be would try to use it as a way of getting the Home Nations into one combined international team.
And that must never , ever be allowed to happen. :evil:
Unfortunately nowadays it’s all about money , so the people who run our game ( Sky ) will eventually go for it. :x
No, we should not just let them come and join the prem.
I know you said that more money would be generated by this for the English game. Your’e right, it would, But is that what this league needs, i would say that, that is what has or is ruining our game. Plus you say that it would reduce the SPL to a conferance like state, It’s not very fair on them is it? We more than most know what it’s like to be shat on by the authorites, when trying to get elected into the football league.
Don’t get me wrong,it would be good entertainment but it just isn’t fair, I know what you said about the play-off thingy and is a good idea but it’s still not fair, A bit like this European superleague idea, The money clubs all saying “We are all alright, you lot can fcuk off”. And they basically leave us to rot. You also say that if they shuld qualify for Europe that UEFA could bend the rules, why should they bend the rules just for the big boys, that is what has p.i.s.s.e.d latics fans off for years. look at Lutons points deduction the other year, that won’t happen to UTD or Chelsea when the sh.it hits the fan there.Maybe we sould introduce them into the league cup or something but i am still not sure about that.
Good post though and should get lots of different opinions. ;)I’m not sure the “Sky 4” would want Rangers & Celtic in the Premier, as it stands now they wouldnt get out of our Championship, but put them in the PL with all the money etc that comes with it and they’d be massive.
I would think that Celtic are probably the one club who in terms of crowds could match anything Man Utd could achieve, I reckon if they were in a big enough league and were successful, Celtic would easily get 90,000 a week watching them
I don’t want them in our league.
Reasons are, if they do, they will get their way with a two-tier Premiership, which would be a joke. Of course, we’d be second tier, and it would make a mockery out of everything. I think it would go like that for 2 or 3 seasons, and then the ‘cream’ of the top tier would break off into a European Superleague, thus leaving the teams in the secon tier, including us, to come in and ‘rectify’ things.
Another reason is that they are Scottish, not English. We’ve managed for over 100 years without them, so we can manage now. Think I’m done with football if it happens. We mock Rugby league when they suddenly bring in Catalans and Celtic Crusaders, and the likes of Leigh are struggling. And yet football would be doing the same thing. Why should Rangers and Celtic get a ‘passport to millions’, when the likes of us have had to EARN the right?
No way.
If Celtic & Rangers want to stop playing in Scotland & start playing in England then let them resign their SPL place & apply to joing the NWCL or NECL & work their way up like every other club in our pyramid structure has to
Playing in a play off with the 7th & 8th placed teams in the championship is not fair to everybody else. Nor is plonking em straight into the top flight. Nor is increasing the number of teams in the top flight to accomodate them.
Both clubs talk about joining the premier league rather than the English leagues & so i assume they think that they have some sort of right that if they abandon their own domestic league they “deserve” to be in the top flight. If they finish in the bottom 3 would they refuse to be relegated??
And why stop at Rangers & Celtic – Benfica, Porto, Anderlecht, Club Brugge, Ajax, PSV etc.. are all “too big” for their own domestic leagues. Lets invite them in too coz its not fair they can’t complete in Europe coz their own domestic leagues are so poorEDIT – and there are enough idiots who watch football in England anyway without Rangers & Celtic fans chucking in their own brand of religious bigotry into the mix n’all
Celtic and Rangers would finish mid table in the Prem, so why come to the Prem and miss out on Europe when if they stay in the SPL they’ll make it in to the Champions League every season?
Personally, I’d be more inclined to remove the Welsh teams than let Scottish teams in. It’s all about money though, which is why the likes of Swansea, Cardiff, et al. play in the English league, rather than the Welsh league where there is much less money.
The point about Europe is an interesting one, though. If Celtic and Rangers join the English structure, they can kiss goodbye to ever qualifying for the Champions League again and the Europa League will be a stretch.
Agreed. Why should the jocks come down here? They can’t stand us and are going on about independence all the time so why should we help those Glaswegian coontz? also agree about kicking the Welsh clubs out too. It’s about time UEFA made us show some consistency.
I’d compare it to a family having the best christmas party in the street and the sour faced grumpy neighbour who’s always moaning and hates your guts wants to come to the party to fill his boots and dance with your missus, whilst bragging his mere presence enhances the evening for all concerned.
Carry on letting them press their noses up against the windows and eating their caledonian hearts out.
Gents, there have been some interesting views posted on this subject, and I note, no name calling or comments about people’s mothers etc. Not a bad thing in my book.
I’ll be totally honest with you now, as my original post wasn’t a full representation of my truthful view. I submitted the post to see what sort of reaction I’d get, and there was a lot of it deleted before posting.
Yes, I would love the Old Firm to be allowed into the English Leagues, but much of this is down to the fact that I have a lot of mates and acquaintances in Jocko Land who are Old Firm fans, and who insist that with Premier League money, they’d conquer Europe: ‘We have massive fanbases. We have huge stadiums.’ Etc.
I have tried to point out that, that being the case, Newcastle, Sunderland, Leeds and Sheffield United should be right up there with the big boys.
I have also tried to get across the point that footballers are also human beings. If you were offered two contracts, where would you rather live with your family: Surrey, or Glasgow? Sandbanks or Hamilton? (Okay, I may have exaggerated it, but it proves a point) Glasgow has a bad name, and will do so for many years. For reference, please read Steve Bruce’s philosophy on Tesco v Harrods shopping and how geographical location means comments like this can come back and bite you on the arris.
Do they take this on board?
So yes, we’d all benefit from extra money, and yes, I have considered how it could be made to work.
For the record, I don’t agree with throwing the Welsh out, as this is tantamount to ethnic cleansing. If they are good enough to play in our leagues, then let them – they’ve earned it.
The real survey, however, it how many of you would take great delight in watching the Scottish Giants fail miserably, ending up on an even keel with the likes of Barnsley and Scunthorpe?
It would be the football equivalent of rubber-necking whilst passing a car crash, with a broad grin on your face.
Celtic and Rangers would finish mid table in the Prem, so why come to the Prem and miss out on Europe when if they stay in the SPL they’ll make it in to the Champions League every season?They’d make a heck of a lot more money by being a mid-table side in the Prem than they currently do in their own league and the CL / Europa Cup.
The situation is a hell of alot different with the Welsh clubs as Welsh clubs have played in the English league system for almost as long as its been going – to throw them out after some of them have been here for over 100 years & have earned the right to be here is IMO different to inviting 2 other clubs in merely to help them get more cash at the expense of other clubs
Similarly there are English clubs playing in the Welsh (TNS) & Scottish (Berwick) leagues but they’ve been there donkey’s
I work in Scotland and know lots of fans of both clubs. I wouldnt want them in the ENGLISH league full stop.
Reasons. Theyre Scottish. How will more fans fit in grounds that mostly sell theyre away allocation?. Who wants another 10,000 ticketless mongs wandering round town pissed out their heads every time they play away. There will be trouble, lots. Countless arguments about Scottish money being legal tender, even when its fake.
I could go on, more importantly why is Boltons chairmong pushing for this big time?, hes always in the paper up there going on about it. To quote one Scots paper, “The Old Firm have been playing a game of who can pee the highest up the wall for years, it now seems to be backfiring on them”……… f*** them.
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