With the recent news of Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers putting across their aspiration to exit the Scottish Premier League (SPL); the question is whether the ‘Old Firm’ should be allowed to join the Premier League. The soccer governing body FIFA says that both Scottish clubs could ‘hypothetically’ make the move to the English Premiership. Fact is that there are a number of football clubs that already play in leagues other than the ones governed by their own countries. Already a small number of Welsh teams such as Cardiff City, Swansea City. Wrexham, Newport County , Merthyr Tydfil and Colwyn Bay play in the English Leagues . So why can’t the Scottish clubs do the same thing the Welsh clubs are doing in England?
Since we have two clubs with average gates of 60,000 and 50,000 in that order; it is only appropriate and fitting to call both Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers “big clubs.” Only Manchester United and Liverpool FC have a clear cut advantage of global support than Glasgow Celtic for example. This level of support is apparent in North America alone. Seventy thousand people don’t just show up for a game without a valid reason. Their fan-bases and traveling support are massive worldwide, and their very presence in the English Premiership would draw an increase in media coverage – and not just from the Scottish press – as well as supplementary TV and sponsorship money. The top-placed club in Scotland receives £2.6million from sponsorship and media rights per annum. The bottom club in England is relegated with a package of just over £30million. Dimitar Berbatov transferred from Tottenham to Manchester United for £30m-plus in the last summer. The record transfer between two Scottish clubs is only £4.4m. Financially, there is no comparison. It is fair to say that the SPL’s comparative poverty means both Glasgow clubs are restricted in terms of challenging for top signings and that a move to England would be advantageous and constructive to clubs with massive arena and huge worldwide fan bases. The FA Premiership is now a worldwide brand. Fans and players from all over the world want to play or watch the best, and given the performance of English clubs in Europe recently, it is unquestionably so. Who knows with better competition, better training facilities and techniques; there may be the chance of producing another Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Dennis Law or even Alan Hansen, which is something the Scottish football has not managed to do so since the seventies or eighties. I am unequivocally convinced, every team playing in the English Premiership at the time of their induction would benefit financially. So what is the problem?
The justification for the move down to England unavoidably leads to several questions: Could they survive in the English Premiership? Frankly it’s complicated to dispute that they wouldn’t, for both footballing and financial reasons. Pessimists and so-called soccer experts can point to the fact that there is not really much of a competition in Scotland and the only stiff competition is between Rangers and Celtic, which is a regrettable fact. This reality is perhaps compounded by the fact that when Rangers or Celtic have faced other British teams in “Battles of Britain” in the old UEFA Cup or the Champions League, they have produced displays well above their respective income levels.
Keep in mind both Rangers and Celtic have been Uefa Cup finalists in recent season. As a consequence people may then speculate about the future of the other Scottish teams which make up the remainder of the SPL – Aberdeen, Dundee United, Heart, Hibs etc. (or simply put the leftovers of the SPL). The Old Firm’s attendances account for roughly 60% of the fans watching the SPL on any given weekend, meaning interest could go one of two ways – go through the roof because of the additional competition, or nose-dive because of the lack of quality. It is mind boggling that Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen FC was the last team in the 1984-85 season to be crowned champions outside of the Old Firm. I am sure there would be a high percentage of Scottish people who would welcome the additional competition in the SPL after the exit of the Old Firm. How do you think the other teams’ supporters would feel winning the league and heading into Europe on a regular basis?
The final question is how the English FA would incorporate the Old Firm into the present structure should they be given the green light to join?
I have come with three proposals for the English FA to consider:
The first suggestion would be for the two Glasgow teams to enter the English League at the Championship League Two level (The old fourth division). In other words the lowest professional league in England… So they would start at the bottom of the Football Association ladder and then work their way up to the pantheon of English football. Meaning it could take them anywhere from 4-7 years to enter the English Premiership. There are presently 24 teams in that division. I am sure the English FA could bend the rules and allow 26 teams to compete for one full season, and then the Old Firm would “earn” their way up to the English Premiership just like everyone else. Therefore, it is imperative to play four additional games, with the season starting a week earlier and also finishing a week later.
The second proposition is that the Premiership could be increased from 20 to 22 teams for one season, and again the additional four games could be covered by starting the season a week earlier, finishing a week later. So in order for this to happen, I am proposing that the Old Firm be involved in a possible play-off with the seventh and eighth placed teams in the Championship (the old second division). By doing this, they would have to warrant their right to play in the English Premiership, and nobody would be penalized. In fact, two additional teams from the Championship would have a chance of gaining promotion instead of the Old Firm. However, if the Old Firm is unsuccessful in their play-off ties, they would then start their new existence in the Championship, and would have to earn promotion like everyone else. So for that solitary season 5 teams would be promoted instead of the usual three. Then the following year the English FA can then decide whether to keep the league of 22 teams or maybe reduce it back to 20 teams.
The last solution is in a roundabout way for the Old Firm to pay the English Premiership teams a one off balloon payment of anything from £100-£150M to be immediately included into the Premiership. I am sure this proposal would interest the majority of the teams in the league. And the money would then be split up equally between the 20 already existing clubs. Then again the league is obviously expanded from 20 to 22 teams for one season and at the end of the season five teams are relegated instead of the usual three.
All this is in theory. I know that Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, is completely against the Old Firm moving down south to England. He has gone on record by stating that he would block any attempt of move to the Premiership. The reality is that Scudamore is forgetting is that a large part of English Premiership is foreign owned, administered and staffed. The Glazer family, Stan Kroenke, Tom Hicks and George Gillett only invested into English soccer for one reason and that is to make money. When all’s said and done, Scudamore is just a face representing the English Premiership, he doesn’t have the final say on this matter as he is certainly not the person pumping well over £1 Billion into the English Premiership; it is Rupert Murdoch and Sky Television. If Murdoch wants the Old Firm in the English Premiership then in all probability happen it will happen.
On the flip side, if the Richard Scudamores of the world are successful in stalling the move into the English soccer league, I would suggest that the Old Firm along with the likes of Ajax Amsterdam, Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven from Holland, FC Mechelen, Anderlect, Club Brugge, Standard Liege from Belgium with FC Basel, FC Zurich, Servette FC, Grasshopper Club Zurich from Switzerland, Rapid Vienna, Austria Vienna, Sturm Graz, from Austria, Rosenborg, FC Helsinki, FC Copenhagen, Malmo, FC Gothenburg, Bronby, FC Haka from the Nordic countries form a super league so that they compete with the teams based in England, Italy, Germany and Spain for TV and Revenue funds. Otherwise these leagues and teams will continue to be third level football. In the long run, this may harm the Champions League, however none of these teams will win that competition with the way the current format is set out.
In conclusion, the way the Champions League is formatted, the majority of time we are not really getting the best teams winning the competition as in the past when the competition was only for the champions of a specific country. Rangers and Celtic moving to the English Premiership would certainly be interesting, but as I’ve pointed out above, I wouldn’t be too shocked if there were some pretty major continental reactions.
Uhhmm, is the the same mighty Rangers that are at the bottom of their group in the CL and that were handled by Urea, I mean Unirea? Seriously, come on mate, both Glasgow teams are good, but they are not good enough to fight for honors (fan base or no fan base). The Prem doesn’t need another team in the middle of the pack .
I think RMP’s point was that given increased access to Prem money, that they could buy better. And given the revenues that these clubs already generate, it wouldn’t shock the system if they can compete. It seems that they would have to dig deep into their pockets upon entry to the league to buy players to ensure early success. Some concept as taking a company into debt to build the foundations for a profitable future.
No one disputes that they can compete in the Prem, however should they not qualify for CL football (which is very likely due to the increased level of competition for places), it would adversely impact their profile and bottom line. Unless they consider such a scenario a leg up, it is a decision that cannot be made lightly. Be careful what you wish for!
That is right, Clivey! Currently, Celtic and Rangers place third and fourth in average home attendance, behind Manchester United and Arsenal. They also have a travelling support the equal of any in English football. The corporate match day revenues would go through the roof with ticket prices and corporate packages all increasing in price as the quality of opposition rises. So now you have basically given two teams which can survive on SPL wages and TV money an extra £50million plus a season that they can chose to invest in anyway that they want and still stay in the black. Celtic and Rangers would match all the big 4 in terms of revenue if in the Premiership so it is fair to say they could build up quite an impressive team without even getting close to the level of debt that the Uniteds, Arsenal, CFC and Liverpool have….
I think Sir Mixie is concerned because he is just worried in time his team will not qualify for the champions league due to the improved competition.
It is boring having the same yoyo clubs going up and down as well….. be interesting to see the likes of United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton fight relegation on regular basis…. and maybe even get relegated…
Talk of the Old Firm moving to England just doesn’t seem to go away…..
Martin O’Neill, David Moyes, Phil Gartside and Harry Redknapp have added their support to the idea of Celtic and Rangers joining the Premier League in England.
Proposals to accept the Glasgow rivals into an expanded Premier League will be put forward for consideration today….
Hey RMP, don’t worry, it looks like Liverpool are well on their way out of the top 4. What a poor display against Birmingham. Seriously, being in the top 4 is as much about good financial management as it is about coaching on the pitch. Man United, Chelsea and AFC have some of the best in the business. Rangers and Celtic are good clubs but I don’t think they will worry any of the top 4 clubs in England. At that level the rich always win out. As things stand, with their incredible fan base and success, Rangers are in debt just like every other football club. I don’t see how joining the Prem will benefit them financially. They will need to take on more debt to compete for a top 4 place and should they not qualify (which is a certainty for at least one of them if not both), then they are just one of the pack, perpetually dreaming of being one of the vaunted few at the top of the Prem table. This all reminds me of the scene in Oliver Stone’s Platoon between Pvt. Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) and King (Keith David), where they talk about how they ended up in Vietnam. Think of Celtic and Rangers as Chris Taylor and Tottenham, Everton and Aston Villa as King.
King: Hey, Taylor, how in the **** you get here anyway? You look educated.
Chris Taylor: I volunteered for it.
King: You did what?
Chris Taylor: I volunteered. I dropped out of college, told ‘em I wanted the infantry, combat, Vietnam.
Crawford: You volunteered for this ****, man?
Chris Taylor: Believe that?
King: You’s a crazy ****er, giving up college?
Chris Taylor: Didn’t make much sense, I wasn’t learning anything. I figured why should just the poor kids go off to war and the rich kids always get away with it.
King: Oh, I see, what we got here is a crusader.
Crawford: Sounds like it.
King: Shiiit, you gotta be rich in the first place to think like that. Ever’body know, the poor are always being ****ed over by the rich. Always have, always will.
Agreed SirMixAlot. Haha! Good one. Thanks for the laughs mate. Platoon is fantastic film btw. Spot on though… Liverpool will struggle to make the top 4 this year. One win from 10 games is a disastrous spell and Rafa Benitez cannot hide behind the larger than life shadow of the fallacious Gillette & Hicks forever. If the Gillette and Hicks had more clout and money Benitez would have been sacked by now. TBH, I don’t think Benitez has the integrity or honour to do the decent thing and fall on his own sword.
Financial management? Fair points. United and Arsenal are massive institutions able to really stand up on their own. Lets be honest, Chelsea are a big club and were in the same place as Liverpool until they won the lottery. Facts are facts, Liverpool FC is one of the world’s greatest, most renowned sporting institutions and the previous owners never took advantage of it. My fury from day one has been with David Moores and Parry. And I have to say it but there had to be a racial undertone to the way Moores did not want to sell to the Dubai Royal family. I mean it is pretty clear that the they had the money, so why would you sell it to Laural and Hardy (Gillette and Hicks). And Rick Parry what an idiot, for over a decade he watched Manchester United and Arsenal change one sponsor after another, Increase stadium capacity to 60000+ and 75000. He watched United again market themselves all over the globe and merchandise the far east. They bought Park ji Sung to sell shirts in Asia with an added bonus of having a really good player. What did Rick Parry do while all this was going on. He did nothing…
Right now the club is lumbered with debt, it is owned by these ridiculous, stupid men who care and know nothing about football, who care and know nothing of their ‘asset’, and who seem to dislike each other as much as they dislike football. Like a silly, squabbling married couple, one of them wants to sell his share but can’t do so unless the other idiot agrees to it. They haul themselves around rich Saudi Princes offering the club like a 20 dollar whore, each of them with a different, doubtless hapless idea about how to take the club forward. Liverpool FC is now a slave to their debt, condemned to forever graft to pay off the interest on the loan. It would seem that these jokers have ownership of the asset to sell for a personal profit but the club has ownership of the debt. The Gruesome Twosome lose nothing if Liverpool fail.
Rangers and Celtic? Of course the two Scottish clubs will struggle like any other English club as you mentioned but success does not happen overnight. Both clubs are aware of this. Hence the reason that they are both even willing to relinquish Champions league football for a few tears just to be given a chance to play in England. Regarding their debts? Remember Celtic are only £1M in debt. And Rangers debt is under £32M. They are both not in immediate danger of having to build a new stadiums from scratch. Hence the debt will never reach the numbers being bandied around in England. We all know Manchester United and Chelsea are by far the most indebted, owing £699m and £701m respectively, Arsenal are third, with £416m debts and Liverpool, the other top four club, were understood to owe around £300M due to their new buyers purchasing them on a debt….
Off course the premiership will benefit them financially…. It is all about the TV cash….The bottom team in the premiership pocketed £30M in their fight in avoiding relegation last season. Glasgow Rangers won the league last year and was awarded £2.6M for their effort! Face the facts mate….Sky Sports can almost touch the seductive lure of TV revenues from Rangers Vs Man Utd, Celtic Vs Liverpool. Two new, massive clubs means dozens of extra huge match days for Sky to sell their packages.
And Sky is part of News Corp – a global media giant with decreasing revenues in their mass newspaper divisions – don’t imagine News Corps execs aren’t the driving force behind these moves.
if the top can clubs get millions more and Sky can get matches with Rangers Vs Celtic, Chelsea Vs Cetic, Arsenal Vs Rangers instead of Blackburn Vs Reading or Wigan Vs Hull how do you think this will pan out?
Don’t forget similar, radical changes happened not so long ago – has everyone forgotten the ten clubs who threatened to break-away from the English leagues if they did not get the Premiership they wanted?
They wanted more TV cash, they wanted a smaller league (it was reduced to 20 in 1995)an they were going to have it with or without the smaller clubs and fans who objected so loudly at the time.
They got it – all of it.