Celtic and Rangers Could Destroy English Premier League
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Gartside’s tinkering could change the face of the Premier League forever.
The English Premier League is seriously considering admitting Glasgow’s two premier football clubs, Rangers and Celtic into the ranks of the Premiership as part of a domestic football reshuffle.
American journalist Jimmy Breslin said: “Rage is the only quality which has kept me, or anybody I have ever studied, writing columns for newspapers.” Never has the sentiment been truer as I read the BBC’s announcement about Celtic and Rangers joining the EPL.
It’s a ridiculous idea which has been touted for a long time, but could be pushed through if Bolton chairman Phil Gartside is given free reign to reform the Premiership as he sees fit.
Under the scheme the EPL would be “expanded” into a two-tier league encompassing between 36 and 40 teams, of which Celtic and Rangers would be included. The top tier would consist of 18 clubs, with relegation and promotion awarded in a similar way the football league works now.
Cutting through the bullshit, “expansion” is a misguiding term as Mr Gartside in effect wants to reduce the top tier of football from its current 20 teams to 18. Celtic and Rangers could be placed in the lower tier, but others are pushing for them to be put in the top tier, meaning a further two English teams will have to relinquish their top 18 spots for the Scottish pair.
The “second tier” of the Premier League would then become the new Championship league, and all leagues below would be demoted one spot in the rankings of English football.
If such a plan were implemented today looking at the current table, that would mean waving goodbye to Hull City, West Ham, Wolves and Portsmouth, and welcoming Celtic and Rangers to the new Premier top tier. Would this make English football considerably better? I think not.
For a start, reducing the top tier from 20 teams to 18 means fewer games overall will be played in the Premier League. Fewer of the smaller clubs outside of the money-rich elite will be able to count on big ticket sales on match days when the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal turn up to their grounds.
Not only will Celtic and Rangers be denying other English sides their place in the Premier League, they will also be denying themselves crucial Champions League spots. All this will do is weaken the Champions League as teams like Hearts are given the opportunity to be Scottish champions.
Does anyone really believe that in an integrated league that current SPL champions Rangers will be able challenge for a top four spot in a reformed EPL? Celtic and Rangers will be mid-table contenders at best – lost in mediocrity. At least in their own league they can retain dominance as champions.
This doesn’t even take into account the social problems of integrating Scottish football fans into the English game. The rivalry between Celtic and Rangers is bitter enough as it is, without bringing the added dimension of national pride to games when the Scottish teams play the English sides.
Games will regularly dissolve into madness: it will not be a case of Liverpool vs Celtic, it will be England vs Scotland. Has Mr Gartside considered the additional policing requirements that will be needed in London alone, when ten times a season thousands of Glaswegians descend on the capital to watch their teams?
Former Birmingham City chairman David Gold told Radio 5 Live that the EPL needed: “new thinking, new proposals, new ideas,” in order to “save itself from itself.” These are the same new ideas that argued the Premier League would be well served if a 39th fixture was added to allow Premiership teams to play international sides in Asia and America.
The Premier League is one of the best and most competitive leagues in the world. The recent history of English dominance in the Champions League is testament to the superiority of the English sides in general when compared to European counterparts. Diluting the EPL by introducing Rangers and Celtic is a bad idea, and Mr Gartside is seriously misguided if he believes this will improve our beloved game.
What do you think about Celtic and Rangers joining the EPL? Have your say with a comment below!!
Over the past years, the Old Firm, particularly Celtic have more than held their own against English teams in Europe so I believe that argument is answered!!
Also financially the Old Firm would be better off because both already consistently get better gates than any of the English clubs except possibly Man Utd and Arsenal.
I believe the argument that it would be viewed as Scotland vs England is ridiculous – there are so many non-English players in England’s top teams for example and even if this seemed the case in the first instance I believe that those feelings would disappear as time goes on.
As for the ‘mid-table at best’ outburst, with the current Old Firm squads, that comment is probably accurate but the Old Firm at present, even with good gates, do not get the finances that the Premiership get, so that would make all the difference and we would finally be able to attract the quality players that the Premiership teams can at the moment!
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With regards to the travelling support comments, Celtic have never had a history of causing trouble on their travels – we have in fact been awarded by UEFA in the past for it. Bring it on, if it’s going to happen!!
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If the Old Firm want in, it’s all good. Let them join in at League Two and earn their spurs. Say bye bye to their Champions League spots and domination over the SPL and start afresh, then they’ll have proven their commitment to the EPL. Sorry, you’ll need to make some huge sacrifices.
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It is amazing that filled with foreign players and managers (yes, Alex Ferguson counts) that they are still called ‘English’ clubs. Certainly, the players will feel no national loyalty, only the weight of their salaries.
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Celtic and Rangers should stay in the Scottish league where they belong, English Premier teams are suffering already, don’t need more.
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Good God. What’s going on. For a start, the idea that Celtic and Rangers are huge clubs is overstated, a fact best illustrated by the shocking recent attendances over the last couple of years at Parkhead (Celtic say 58,000 – the rest of Scotland know it’s nearer 35,000) and remember, Rangers were similarly affected in the early 80s when they were going through a poor spell. And there’s the rub. The one thing the Old Firm have to do is win, if they don’t, no-one turns up.
Next, the idea that their new found wealth will automatically mean the top players in world football will be beating a path to Glasgow is optimistic. They will need to pay top dollar for average squad players first, something they will not want to do and when they eventually accept that fact it will still take several years for them to catch up. Only then will they be in a position to start competing with everyone else. The other clubs in England, will, I’m sure, have obligingly stood still!
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How about this for a scenario. Without exposure to Europe, the ‘brand’ will lose its lustre, top players will not want to come, which will mean both clubs will lose regularly against lower opposition and then attendances will drop (this is starting to sound like their recent experiences in Europe), which will result – ultimately – in their relegation, forcing the authorities to dream up yet another convoluted system to save these two clubs from extinction.
Of course another solution might be if England sent up some of their smaller, big clubs, like Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and dare I say it Bolton Wanderers, to add some much needed interest, competition and sponsorship to Scottish football.
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Let them rot in Scotland.
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No Celtic and Rangers near the Premier League Cup, only Arsenal.
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After the way Celtic fans disrespected people who died for this country during the Remembrance Day silence why should they be welcomed into our nation’s league? Let them rot in their awful SPL where they belong.
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Good job Gartside doesn’t get influenced by random blogs on the Internet, I don’t think this idea goes far enough. Scotland has 4 European trophy-winning sides and they should all be included. Let’s not forget if a player in the Premier League is awarded a testimonial the opposition is 9 times out of 10 one of the Old Firm, they can fill stadiums anywhere in the world, it would add more sparkle to the league, and teams outside the Big Four would get more than four sell out matches a season.
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There were a handful of people outside the ground that disrespected the silence and brought shame to our club. The overwhelming majority of Celtic fans respect the silence and have had family fight and die for this country.
We do have an element of people who seem to think a football match is the platform for their political beliefs. We have shown throughout the years that we as a support are not violent or cause trouble. The Rangers fans and press try to use things like this to shield their beloved violent Rangers.
Do not tar a club by the actions of a dozen tossers please.
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If a player wants to play in Scotland and has offers from, say Hearts, Aberdeen and the Old Firm, they will most likely choose one of the Old Firm. If a player chooses to play in England and has offers from say, Newcastle, Villa, Fulham and West Ham, they will probably choose one of the London clubs. Location, location, location. Now, do you see where I’m going here? Without Champs League to offer and without the guarantee of domestic silverware, who the f*** would choose Glasgow over London? Also, what gives the Old Firm the right to relegate 6-10 clubs to the third tier of the league?
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Don’t tar Rangers either then.
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Phil Gartside is a c***.
Ignore the Old Firm smokescreen – this plan is about ending promotion and relegation between the Premier League and Football League, so that Bolton can keep their greedy snouts at the trough.
Screw ‘em. C***s.
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With the number of fans at Celtic and Rangers it wouldn’t take them long to catch up with the current English top four. The SPL’s current TV deals, by comparison to the Premier League, are a pittance.
Playing in the EPL would almost certainly attract investors to both clubs and as mentioned their massive fanbase – attendances only outshone by Manchester United and Arsenal – would ensure they were challenging for Champions League spots sooner rather than later.
Not that I’m for the proposal, just your reasoning is rather poor.
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“Has Mr Gartside considered the additional policing requirements that will be needed in London alone, when ten times a season thousands of Glaswegians descend on the capital to watch their teams?”
So you think being Glaswegian makes you a hooligan? The evidence of history is that English fans are far more prone to causing mayhem. This whole article is a load of bigoted crap.
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And so it is!!!
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“The English Premier League is seriously considering admitting Glasgow’s two premier football clubs, Rangers and Celtic into the ranks of the Premiership.” No. That’s just poor reporting. The “English Premier League” was never “seriously considering” it, it was an idea put forward by one of the 20 EPL chairmen, and supported by a couple of managers who have no actual say in it. The proposal was rejected almost straight away by the EPL once it was formally submitted.
The two-tier system is still up for discussion but won’t include the Old Firm.
Stop trying to drum up interest in this article via sensationalist journalism.
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We don’t want those low lifes in our league. Let them rot in their own Mickey Mouse, crap league.
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Scots beg us to bail them out followed by years and years of whining and hypocrisy.
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If Celtic did join the EPL, they’d still be second fiddle to Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in regards to attracting the best players. The best players prefer London, or they choose Liverpool or Man United because of their history. United and Liverpool have a much bigger history then Celtic, both are bigger clubs. Arsenal and Chelsea are smaller clubs then Celtic but are from a better city, so players would choose London over Glasgow. Celtic may break into the top four after several years but it would be very difficult.
Celtic may be the third biggest club in Britain but Rangers aren’t anywhere near that. They are a slightly bigger than average club. They’re smaller then Arsenal, about on a par with Chelsea, Spurs, Everton, Leeds and Villa.
The best they could ever hope for would be a Europa League spot after several years in the EPL. Nobody sees Rangers as a massive club other then Rangers fans.
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Celtic are massive. People just don’t understand the fan base this club has, it is incredible.
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As a Celtic fan, I would like to see the two clubs in the Premier League.
The two teams have massive fan bases. At the moment the two teams have declined but the only reason for this is $$$$$.
1. Television rights: the Premier League clubs get unreal amount of money from ESPN, Setanta and Sky Sports. The teams in the Scottish League only get a small fraction of this.
2. Foreign owners: If Celtic and Rangers were in the Premier League they would attract extremely wealthy owners, such as the sheikhs or Roman Abramovich. This would allow them to buy better players and invest. At the moment they can’t do this but are making the best of the home-grown talent and making a say in Europe.
But if the Old Firm left, the Scottish League would disintegrate.
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