Old Firm switch ruled out

SPL chief confident Celtic and Rangers will stay in Scotland

Last updated: 8th September 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

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Scottish Premier League chief executive Neil Doncaster does not expect Rangers and Celtic to leave for England any time in the 'foreseeable future'.

The debate has raged for several years over whether the Old Firm might go south of the border and join the Premier League.

Clubs in the English top flight discussed the matter last November, with a new-look Premier League structure incorporating the Glasgow giants on the agenda.

The proposal was rejected but Celtic's largest shareholder Dermot Desmond recently suggested the influence media organisations wield would eventually lead to the Old Firm being invited to England.

Doncaster, however, remains adamant that Scotland's two largest clubs will stay in the SPL.

Reality

He told Sky Sports News: "We all have dreams for our clubs but I prefer to live in the day-to-day reality of where we are.

"Rangers and Celtic are an important part of what we've got in the SPL and I foresee them being here for the foreseeable future.

"They are Scottish clubs and they're in the SPL. I've got to deal with the reality of what faces me on a day-to-day basis, which is improving the environment as best I can for all Scottish clubs and that includes Rangers and Celtic.

"They are a fundamental part of Scottish football and I foresee that being the case ad infinitum."

Comments (38)

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Ron Walker (Chelsea fan) says...

Celtic and Rangers are massive clubs who should be welcomed into the Premier League. Firstly, at present it is a farcial situation in the SPL as they have little or no credible opposition bearing in mind the size of their opposing clubs. Secondly their presence would lift the standard of the whole Premiership. Also if Welsh clubs can play in the Premiership or the Championship, why can''t Scottish clubs.

Posted 04:23 9th September 2010

Ian Mcdermott (Sunderland fan) says...

If Rangers/Celtic want to join the English league, then surely its has to start from non league, by the time they are in the 2nd division with poor money and overpaid old footballers, epl will be distant, fan bases dont attract top footballers in non league, also your fan base would surely drop as the bandwagon goes, if scotland fans want to support an epl team if celtic and rangers leave, then surely they are going for newcastle sunderland and even carlisle

Posted 00:29 9th September 2010

David Cameron (Aberdeen fan) says...

Peter Jones the Everton fan has probably came up with the best suggestion on here, different take and one not been shown before. Both Rangers and Celtic would do well after a few years in england, but should join at the bottom and earn respect working their way up the leagues. Personally would be glad to see the back of them, 80% of the money given to spl teams at the start of the season goes to them, 20% to the other teams in the league, and people elsewhere wonder why it is not competitive up here, It is not that they have better teams, they just have bigger squads and that carries them through the injuries and suspensions that hammer the rest of us.

Posted 00:26 9th September 2010

Gary Pearce (Aston Villa fan) says...

The reason they have such a huge fan base is because they are the biggest clubs in scotland, a country that has a population in the region of 5 million. They are also supported on a religious level.THEY WON''T SURVIVE IN ENGLAND. Some weeks both clubs will struggle to beat St Johnston, a team I place in the same standard as Southampton. You support a big club in a small country, get over it!!!!!

Posted 23:00 8th September 2010

Frankie Mcgovern (Rangers fan) says...

Rangers & Celtic will never be welcome in England quite simply because it is the equivalent of Turkeys voting in favour of Xmas, wont happen ! If they entered the english league it should be in the championship and made work their way up, if the managed promotion they should be made to operate under the same rules as all the other teams. To call them championship sides is a joke, we regularly compete in the Champions League (having to go through qualifiers), Ibrox is one of only 2 Uefa 5 star club stadiums in Britian (the other is Old Trafford). Kris Boyd was the top scorer in The SPL, but he was by no means the best striker! Gavin Hughes can you tell me which country the team you support is based (Cardiff City ???). Personally i would like to see it happen, purely for the progression of my club, i still remember the era of Butcher (England captain at the time), Woods, Roberts, Steven, Gascgoine, Hateley, all first team England picks at the time, but with the limits of the SPL we are unable to attract these players anymore. But common sense does prevail and if i was already in the Championship or EPL i wouldnt want 2 of the most popular and well supported teams in Europe coming in, taking a lot of our tv money, attracting bigger crowds than us, and winning titles that we have been unable to win, so i can see every reason why Rangers will have to be content with winning everything in Scotland and focus on good runs in Europe ;)

Posted 22:52 8th September 2010

John Vernon says...

Why not swap two top teams from the Championship with the Old Firm and see which is more succesfull. I fancy an English winner in Scottish prem and mid table championship for the old firm!!

Posted 22:46 8th September 2010

Graeme Port (Rangers fan) says...

I''ll go through the comments one-by-one: 1. John Harris - "No one who supports English teams want ''the old firm'' to join the Premiership!" Of course not John, as it would increase the chance that their team: a) wouldn''t win the league, b) wouldn''t finish in a Champions League spot, c) wouldn''t finish in a Europa League spot, or d) that they would get relegated. 2. Tommy Burke - I''''m not sure these teams would be able to survive in the Premier League full stop..." I agree with you Tommy, they would both struggle in the bottom half of the league if they were thrown in at the moment. The clubs have such massive fan bases though - especially Celtic, who have an entire country that supports them (Ireland) - that within four or five years they''d both be competing at the top of the league. 3 & 4. David Shepherd and Gavin Hughes (both basically make the same point) - "Not to sound disrespectful, but if those two teams came straight into the Premier League it would be grossly unfair." Yes it would. They should both start in the Championship. This is a situation that I''m sure both clubs would happily accept.

Posted 22:35 8th September 2010

Michelle Dallas (Rangers fan) says...

I think if you asked many of the Old Firm fans they would prefer to stay in the SPL rather than turn to the dark side and go south of the border. Whilst playing in the more competitive leagues in England would certainly help develop our teams at the end of the day we are Scottish and always will be. We should stay where we are and help support Scottish football through the bad and enjoy the good times when they hopefully return. Who wants to listen to the English pundits every week anyway!!

Posted 22:26 8th September 2010

Jay Ayr (Celtic fan) says...

Cardiff are not an English team but yet play in the English set up and they are not the only one''s,

Posted 22:20 8th September 2010

Paul Stewart (Rangers fan) says...

The Old Firm would enhance English Football however I do agree that they should have to join the Championship and earn the right to join the EPL. Rangers and Celtic have a massive fan base throughout the world on a scale larger than Chelsea, Arsenal, Villa etc. The only teams larger in popularity are Liverpool and Man U. For this reason Celtic and Rangers would be sought after if they joined the English Leagues and they would be able to attract the best players throughout Europe. The Old Firm is an institution and anyone who believes they wouldn''t improve the English Leagues is very naive indeed.

Posted 22:17 8th September 2010

Barry Madden (Celtic fan) says...

Celtic and Rangers would hold there own in the premiership. apart from the top 4/5 teams in the premiership the rest of the teams are very average. First off all the premiership would b gaining 2 club that as big if not bigger that any of the top 4 with the exception of Man U. There was a German Mag that done a report recently on the top supported teams in the world Celtic Came 3th and rangers 4th just that shows the size of the 2 clubs. If Celtic and rangers received the 26m at the start of every season instead of The 1m from Tv rev they would def b able to attract top players and challenge in the prem if they ever got down there.

Posted 22:08 8th September 2010

Thomas Murray (Celtic fan) says...

It has to happen eventually, the fan power these two clubs have not just in Scotland but worldwide will force media and television giants to pressure the FA and premier league chairmen to allow them entry. Regards to how they would fair, if the old firm were claiming the television rights and prize money te rest of the PL clubs are on it would''nt be long before they would be challenging for the championship.

Posted 22:03 8th September 2010

Bryan Waide (Rangers fan) says...

If Rangers and Celtic went into the Premiership they would both definately do enough to survive in that league in the 1st year. But my prediction would be that after 3-5 years they would BOTH be up challenging for European places. Neither club whilst playing in Scotland can attract top players because we simply dont have the money behind us and the level of football in our country is obviously not of as high a standard as it is in England. The revenue that clubs in the premiership can generate through tv rights etc is phenominal. If the old firm were able to play in the premiership and have the chance to generate the same amount of money, then we could both attract better players and we would then be able to afford to pay the big transfer fees and the big wage packets. We would instantly become a far bigger draw for players by playing in the premiership. Top players would definately be lining up to play for both sides in Glasgow. Rangers and Celtic are two of the biggest clubs in world football. FACT. In my eyes there are only a couple of clubs in England who can better the old firm in terms of stature and fan base around the world, these probably being Manchester United and Liverpool. I would just love to see the old firm in the premier league. I dont think it wil ever happen though. Teams like Everton, Villa, Spurs etc will not want the extra competition and they know there is a good chance they could quickly be overtaken and their usual European places would be taken away from them. Also the Scottish game would die as a result. Yes the league would become more competitive if there was no old firm but Rangers and Celtic bring in so much money for the other clubs but the league would become even more 2nd rate. I wish it would happen but I cant see it happening in my lifetime.

Posted 22:00 8th September 2010

Seb Brown (Chelsea fan) says...

If they want to join the English league, then they should be made to join at the bottom of the pyramid. That way they will have to earn their right to be in the English top flight. If they do that then I don''t mind them joining the English league, as they would have earned the right to be their. However, if they think they can just walk in at Premier League or Championship level then it will make a mockery of the system.

Posted 21:59 8th September 2010

Kevin Mccann (Rangers fan) says...

Rangers and Celtic would initially struggle in England but with Premiership football and the money they would receive, they could attract players of the highest calibre, due to the stadiums, the city and the fan base. Within a few years they''d be challenging for Europe. This will never happen though as it has no benefit to the English clubs and could even damage clubs in the bottom half. I''d love to see us play down there but in reality, we''re stuck up and here and we have to stop dreaming and start facing up to reality. Celtic in particular need to get a grip and stop talking it up.

Posted 21:43 8th September 2010

Peter Jones (Everton fan) says...

I can''t see them being included in the league setup in England for any division. If Rangers and Celtic are allowed into the English league setup how do you legitimately refuse Hearts or Aberdeen from joining an English league. It might be fun to add Scottish teams in the mix for the league cup. Or even have the charity shield played between the English and the Scotish champions and a British supercup played between the English FA cup winners and Scottish FA cup winners.

Posted 21:38 8th September 2010

Michael Rob (Arsenal fan) says...

I think its unfair to say that they wouldn''t cope in the premiership. Celtic is one of the most supported teams on the planet yet people here say they would struggle? The only reason they struggle now in europe is because the lack of money in the SPL. How many clubs in the Premiership can match the support and stadium that Celtic has to offer? My only problem would be that Arsenal and Celtic would have to face off.

Posted 21:31 8th September 2010

Lee Mullin (Celtic fan) says...

The old firm would easily survive in the premier league with the minimum 50 million tv money they would make they could sign top quality players. Welsh teams play in England why not Scottish. Money talks.

Posted 21:18 8th September 2010

Stephen Kelly (Celtic fan) says...

as a life long celtic fan i dont want to join the epl not now not ever,no interest at all . both the old firm would make it big believe me they would .the fan base would be immense most epl teams would have to increase the capacity of their grounds for example .the world wide fanbase would be astronomical,too even rival if not better man uniteds and they know it .as do the english fa .the money that would be involved would be unbelieveable they both would have an enormous bank roll also.the players they would attract would be mind bending only a few clubs would come close.the more i think about it the more i no dont even go there .so fans of the epl teams relax you dont have to go into hiding just yet.

Posted 21:12 8th September 2010

Taylor Harris says...

im a rangers fan, and mostly celtic and rangers fans would love to be in the premiership, but for me it would be to much of a challenge for both teams, and dont mind you will also have to travel alot so all the traveling fans will have to put more money into it.

Posted 21:07 8th September 2010
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