My mate, Arthur, wrote a little piece yesterday that opened some good discussion I thought we might discuss here... Have a read and I wonder if anyone might find the idea worth exploring... http://lastwordonsports.com/2012/07...-league-open-its-doors-to-rangers-and-celtic/ Perhaps if they started in a lower division?
Celtic is big enough to enter Prem straight away ... and big enough for me to doubt them accepting to start outside it ... Rangers on the other hand ... with the recent financial issues they had (and being booted far down the scottish divisions (to 3'th division? ... don't remember), i doubt anyone in Premier League (or championship, or League one) would accept them at the time being.
Probably would never happen, but I love the idea. Especially if Celtic jointed. More competition for the top four. It would be great for the BPL and the team as well
it would be great for all parties involed. it would be great for the old firm because they would get more exposure in the premier league and both the premier league and the old firm would make more money consittering they would add glasgow as a major market. if the english system has 5 teams from wales, why not 2 from scotland???? the spl would become a exciting league, you could always have clubs like partick thistle and clyde as your glasgow representatives and the league would make more money because it would be a wide open more exciting more competitive league.
The SPL would be more interesting competitively speaking but there is exactly zero chance it would make more money!
personally, i'd like to see all the welsh and scottish clubs merger into the english system. the old firm, hibs and hearts in the premier league. aberdeen, the dundee clubs and kilmarnock in the championship, motherwell, partick thistle, inverness, st. johnstone and st mirren in league one, ross county, clyde, dunfermline, falkirk and ayr in league two and everybody else go non-league.
Ross County has 32 points in Scotland and Dundee FC is in last with 14 points, so why do you want to put Dundee FC two levels higher? Ross County is a newly promoted club and I don't know about Dundee FC's history, but being famous and/or successful in the past doesn't prevent clubs from being relegated after a bad season. Leeds United went from being great to being relegated twice. Three seasons ago Southampton were in League One and Portsmouth was in the Premier League. Now Southampton is in the Premier League and Portsmouth is in League One looking likely to go to League Two.
that was just a example. but ross county could'nt make it in the premier league, the premier league is all about money and market size. let's face it, only a handful of cities in scotland could be viewed as sustainable in the premier league, that being glasgow, edinburgh, dundee, aberdeen and paisley. a team like ross county from a village like dingwall would never make it in the premier league. as for the english clubs you mentioned, the premier league played a part in both leeds drop to league one and portsmouth slow decay into oblivion, that being money issues. clubs in the premier league spend themselves into debt just trying to keep up with the jones and look respectable, withever ever thinking they can be competitive. it's always the same story with the middle and bottom clubs, every year is a broken record, listen to roberto martinez, martin jol, chris hughton, brian mcdermott, owen coyle when he was at bolton, any of the bottom managers "we want to sustain our premier league status". that's there battle cry every year. everybody fancies roberto martinez when he has never led wigan higher than 15th in the premier league. he should have been sacked by now, he must have pitcures of glen whelan with a goat or something. everything below the premier league is about what's is on the marquee and on the pitch, football. football is only a small part of the premier league.
First Question: How is this merger achieved? Since the English league system has a promotion relegation system in place and your suggested merger adds 4 Scottish clubs to the BPL......does that mean the top 3 from the Championship in the merger year don't get promoted and, that year, 4 teams get relegated instead of 3? Or are you suggesting an expansion of the BPL to 24 teams....making it a 46 game season instead of 38?
Once you get over the fact that the two marquee draws for the SPL would be gone...effectively killing the already low clout the league had...it's not a bad idea. The BPL already has Welsh teams so why not add a couple(or all SPL) clubs into the mix and make that B stand for British instead of Barclays. Spread the wealth around the island a bit more. The Scottish leagues have virtually no draw except for in Scotland and the Old Firm.
I think the big question is if (or why) being in the top league in Scotland should mean that you should get into the top league in England. Many (outside Scotland at least I'd imagine) would could consider the SPL to be far inferior to the EPL and thus the Scottish team maybe should get inserted further down in the English league structure.
There are two sides to this coin. Yes, Celtic and/or Rangers as they are currently constituted (player/squad ) would fit what you describe....what people see, however, is that given the size of these clubs, the size of their support (domestic and globally) that they would be able, with the assistance of the EPL revenue added to that fan support, to compete very well in the EPL. That said, there are those that feel that no club (regardless of size) should be able to jump the line in getting to the EPL......that if Celtic and/or Rangers should want to get into the EPL then they should follow the same path that Swansea, Southampton and everyone else does. Granting these clubs an EPL spot ahead of the normal promotion/relegation system would be seen as a step towards "EPL Franchises"....not something that too many would want to see...and, I still have the logistic issues I asked before:
I would be ok with Celtic, I would not be ok with Rangers because it is like saying "Oh we see you mismanaged your club to hell and back but its ok you can come right into the BPL no questions asked." As a fan whose club faced the very real threat of administration I would be distressed to see a club rewarded for similar behavior.
Would not support either club from joining. It's unfair the the SPL because and will hurt their domestic league yes I know it's subpar anyway but still. rangers are not good enough to start in the championship, I would put Celtic in the championship.
In the 2012-2013 Champions League Group Stage, Celtic beat Barcelona and advanced by finishing ahead of Benfica (9th in the coefficients for 2008-2009 through 2012-2013) and Spartak Moscow. I think Celtic is among the best 20 clubs in England and Scotland combined. How many English clubs could beat Barcelona even once if you gave them ten home games against Barcelona?
On any given day a squirrel finds a nut. They are respectable but no I don't beleive they would contend consistent in the epl. Probably be relagated often.
I never understand how people can reach that sort of conclusion. Both Celtic and Rangers have the sort of income generation potential (through stadiums and worldwide fan bases/shirt sales) that if they were in the EPL would put them, easily, in the upper half of the league. The squads they build now, and seemingly they basis of the "they would struggle" conclusions are reflective of the income available to them in the SPL. Despite generating CL money and despite having a 60k stadium (which is usuallly 5/6th full on match days against low opposition) and despite winning trophies.......Celtic brought in less money than every club in the EPL last year......because their league generates so much less. That is why they are selling players to Southampton and the likes. No disrespect to Southampton but they are not the same "size" of club of either Celtic or Rangers. Like everyone else here, I have no idea how they would do in the EPL........I do know, however, that it has very little to do with their current squads and more to do with what they would/could do in building squads if they were in the EPL and generating the cash that that would bring.