Hmmm... tricky...

It would be a win in many ways -- give the glasgow teams more varied and balanced matches, give the other Scottish teams (what? you mean there are other scottish teams?) a chance, move a few bits of silver-ware out of Glasgow, make more money for both clubs and the city. But it would also hurt a lot of people, firstly by being divisive -- clearly saying that the rest of the Scottish premiership are quite literally not in the same league as C&R, damaging the finances of some of the other clubs, and making it harder for C&R fans to make it to away matches.

My guess is that something along these lines will happen eventually, but it'll be a bit painfull and upset a lot of people when it does.

Sounds very much like the fabled 'pheonix' break off league!

Nover gonna happen though.
All the lower premior clubs'll complain that they are loosing more revenue.

And what I want to know is wtf do two Jock Clubs want to play in England!
I for one would be dead against it.
the FA is for english, and the SFA is for the Jocks!
Leave it as is!

I don't think it will ever happen. They'd get the floor wiped with them! Rangers and Celtic are prolly the equivalent of the Man City or Sunderland of Scotland...

Nope, pile of tosh methinks.

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by Ethan
I don't think it will ever happen. They'd get the floor wiped with them! Rangers and Celtic are prolly the equivalent of the Man City or Sunderland of Scotland...

Nope, pile of tosh methinks.

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Neglecting the fact Celtic beat both Blackburn and Liverpool last year in the UEFA Cup...

(although to be fair over the course of a whole season you'd probably be right, I felt they were outrageously lucky to get past Blackburn)

Anyway, I don't want to see it happen. For a start there's plenty of clubs in the 4 divisions + we have here already, and let's face it...if Scottish clubs are integrated into the English leagues then UEFA and probably FIFA will be onto the respective FAs in a second to wipe out the national teams and replace them with a UK team. And where would the fun be in that

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by Spikeo
Celtic beat both Blackburn and Liverpool last year in the UEFA Cup...

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Which is no doubt why Celtic fans are suddenly all for it

In a way I wish Celtic & Rangers would head off to the Premiership and thats putting it nicely.

Their continued insistence on bringing this up undermines Scottish football and keeps money out of the game that the other teams could use to try and close the gap. *If* they hadn't been talking about breaking away from the SPL last season then they wouldn't have scuppered the proposed television deal which meant that the teams eventually recieved less money than they would have.

I think the Scottish league will be closer this season with both Rangers and Celtic struggling to find the funds for new players and the fact that both teams are now more focused on European competition than the national league.

I'm not sure about Rangers and Celtic wanting to join the Premiership.

Aberdeen are quite welcome to though...

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by DJ Billy
I'm not sure about Rangers and Celtic wanting to join the Premiership.

Aberdeen are quite welcome to though...

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Last nights game was a bit of a mismatch...Liverpool put on a fresh 11 for the second half and that was more or less there first team. We held our own in the first half against what is more or less your second string but were always going to be up against it when faced with 11 fresh players of that calibre

Theres been talk about this every closed season for as long as i can remember, asrenal gave rangers a footballing lesson last night with a second string team out and they won everything in scotland last season, celtic put up more of a fight but i think that if they are going to be introduced to the premiership then they should have to get there on merit, start them in divison 3 and let them win promotion, dont just put them straight in thats not fair on the division one clubs that need to be in with the big boys all be it just for a season just for the extra revenue it generates them through gate receipts, television money etc. And remember anyone can go and play in scotland and score fifty goals a season as long as they play for celtic or rangers, lets see larsson do that in the premiership!!!

I think you're wrong about Larsson...as a non-old firm fan I think he's one of the best buys made in football in recent times. He's a proven International and European striker and the basis of most of Celtics wins..when Larsson is injured/suspended/rested Celtic look like a different team.

He cost them something like £375,000 and if they sold him I reckon they could probably get at least 7 million for him. Sutton wasn't that great in England while at Chelsea but he was decent at Blackburn and I'd say he's decent at Celtic...Martin O'Neil is good at getting the best out of mediocre players..look at Neil Lennon and John Hartson(the man that Wales are pinning their hopes on just now)

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by John Sampson

the FA is for english, and the SFA is for the Jocks!
Leave it as is!

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What about Wales?
The FA quite happily allow Welsh clubs in the F.A.


I don't think Rangers & Celtic will ever join the Premiership as it stands at the moment.
Not because of the Scottish/English incompatibility, nor any Fifa international regulations, but because the folk in charge of the FA (and the SFA) are hopeless!

However, the champions league (and Uefa Cup) in effect do allow Celtic & Rangers to compete with the best of the Premiership and the best of the rest of Europe.

Most footie fans will agree that when a Scottish Club & and English club are paired up, they do make for good games (as long as footballing skill isn't high on yor enjoyment agenda).

Failing that, when the Premiership eventually gets downsised (just to shut up the likes of Wenger!), then R & C might get their chance to join the new & improved (but smaller) league.


I'd also like to point out the financial strength of Celtic & Rangers:

Average attendances last Season:
Celtic 57,473
Rangers 48,814
Hearts 12,058 (3rd Highest attendance)

Man U 67,602
Newcastle 51,923
Liverpool 43,243
Arsenal 38,042
Chelsea 39,784
Fulham 16,707 (Lowest Premiership attendance)

Sooner or later as clubs get more & more in debt, the Premiership may welcome the extra income from these 2 super clubs.

As for ability, I have no doubt that Celtic & Rangers would be able to compete with the best of the Premiership as last years Uefa Cup shows. Ibrox & Parkhead are very difficult places to win points.


Personally, I wouldn't like to see Celtic or Rangers leave the SFA. They are the benchmark for every other Scottish club, and playing against them can bring out the best in the opposition.

What I would like to see though, is a combination of the 2 other league cups, in Scotland it's the CIS Insurance Cup, and in England the Carling Cup (replacing the Worthington Cup).
These clubs are getting more & more meaningless with big clubs not fielding their strongest side.
I'd love to see every Scottish & English (& Welsh) club be entered in the draw for this cup, allowing the likes of my club to take on the might of the Premiership & Nationwide divisions.

I have to admit that it'll be difficult for my team, Heart of Midlothian, to improve on last years 3rd place in the league. I however welcome the oppertunity to watch them try.

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by CJL
(quotes)

What about Wales?
The FA quite happily allow Welsh clubs in the F.A.

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Yeah - this is true but then again Wales dont exactley have any good teams do they, and the're aren't enough team in Wales to waarant a single WFA.

I mean when you look at it Cardiff are one of the better teams in Wales - and thats saying something

Personally I am just Peeved that the Champions League is on soddin' sky this year!
Means no TV football for me

There's no reason in principle why it shouldn't happen. There's an English team in the Scottish league (Berwick) and Gretna played in the FA Cup a few years back while they were still in the English non-league set-up. Similarly, there are three Welsh teams in the English league and one English team (Oswestry) in the League of Wales.

From the point of view of the Scottish league, the main problem with Rangers and Celtic playing in England would be leaving your main centre of population (i.e. Glasgow) with Partick Thistle as its largest club. You'd probably have to create a new Glasgow side to play in the SPL.

Last year I was on holiday in Arran while all the Neil Lennon fuss was on and I remember reading a preceptive article in the Herald (I think) about how the Old Firm have it quite cushy the way things are. Guaranteed European football before they've even kicked a ball (guaranteed Champions League thanks to Celtic's run last year), loyal support and a solid customer base thanks to the respective "traditions" of their supporters. What you'd probably have to do with them in the Premiership is have an agreement similar to the one in Germany after unification, where the East German teams were so poor that they had to guarantee that however low they finished, one East German team (usually Dinamo Dresden) stayed in the top division until the standard improved.