Report – Confidential dossier reveals Rangers talks with Celtic over major plan

Mon 20 January 2020 12:12, UK

Rangers and Celtic chiefs exchanged emails back in 2011 with view to potentially seceding from Scottish football and joining the English Premier League, according to the Scottish Sun.

In a confidential dossier that has since been accessed by the outlet, the Old Firm clubs are seen to be in discussions over the possibility of competing south of the border, as well as outlining the likely ramifications of such a switch.

These involve breathing new life into the Scottish game by allowing sides other than the to Glaswegian clubs to challenge for league titles.

Rangers

Excerpts from the messages, exchanged between Celtic chief executive Peter Lawell and then Rangers supremo Martin Bain, are included in the Sun’s report.

The piece reads: “It claimed they’d have a ‘massive impact’ on the Premier League down south — and insisted their departure would also boost the Scots game by making it ‘more competitive’

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“It said ‘the addition of two more ‘giant’ teams’ would have ‘an exponential impact’ on the number of big games available to be shown on TV worldwide.

The article goes on to include messages suggesting that another key advantage of the Old Firm competing south of the border would be that: “Teams like Dundee United, Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs and others would have the chance of competing for a title and of being crowned Champions — and a place in the UEFA Champions League.

“Increasing true competition is the best way to breathe fresh life into a league structure which is currently wed to a failing business model.

“Cities outside Glasgow would, for the first time in generations in some cases, have the chance of tasting success. The long-term financial model would be more sustainable.”

What would this have meant for Scottish football?

Had it gone ahead, this plan would have been the biggest thing to happen to Scottish football in a lifetime, plain and simple.

The prospect of having Celtic and Rangers playing in the English game will horrify some, and it’s not hard to see why.

For one thing, it would have meant an end to the kind of dominance that both sides are so used to, at least for a little while until they adapted to the rigours and financial pressures of the Premier League.

Much more important than that, however, is the question of identity.

The Old Firm is so intrinsically linked with the Scottish game that, while you could argue that it would reinvigorate the teams beneath them to remove them from the equation, it could also lead to a collapse in interest north of the border.

Look at how poorly upheld the Welsh game is without Cardiff City and Swansea City.

Cutting the Old Firm loose might be beneficial to those two clubs, although not even that is guaranteed, but it could be disastrous for the Scottish game writ large.

Maybe this is an idea that will get floated again in the future, especially now that the Gers are approaching the peak of their powers once more, but right now, it’s probably for the best that it was abandoned.

In other news, Stephen Dobbie blown away by ‘amazing’ Rangers ace in behind-closed-doors clash.