Jim McInally slams idea of Rangers and Celtic Colt teams joining SPFL
Stranraer manager Jim McInally has hit out at plans for Rangers and Celtic Colt teams to be introduced in the SPFL in League Two.
In February, the Scottish Sun reported the two Old Firm rivals are willing to offer £1.5million each to League One and League Two clubs to buy spaces for their B teams in the SPFL.
The report added that ” lower league clubs would enjoy bigger crowds, due to interest from Old Firm fans” but McInally has challenged that, claiming home supporters would steer away from those sorts of games.
“The whole thing just smacks to me of hypocrisy,” McInally told the Scottish Daily Mail [April 14, page 89]. “They say it’s about improving the national team, but it’s just to do with improving Celtic and Rangers.
“My feeling is that Celtic and Rangers need to produce their own players. There is talk about Celtic and Rangers giving money in return for having Colt teams in League Two and, say, adding an extra 100 fans to matches.
“But teams could lose 200 people because half the crowd won’t want to come and watch a match against a Colt team.
“So what you would gain through away fans you could lose in your overall gate because a lot of fans see Colt teams as demeaning the league.
“Although Celtic and Rangers are massive teams, supporters of any other team in Scotland support their team as much as Celtic and Rangers fans support their team. They couldn’t care less about making Celtic and Rangers better.
“Where do you stop? What if the other Premiership clubs decide they want to have COlt teams as well?
“They would be entitled to have Colt teams. They shouldn’t just be available to Celtic and Rangers.”
Good points
We’re neither for or against the use of Colt teams in the SPFL because we can see the advantages and disadvantages from both sides.
The SPFL is a proud and traditional league system that has been around for a very long time and we can see the argument that adding in Colt teams demeans some of the lower league clubs.
We can also see McInally’s point that fans of lesser clubs might steer clear of Colt games out of protest. South of the border, before COVID, we saw fans avoiding EFL Trophy matches due to Under-23s teams being able to compete against England’s League One and Two clubs.
However, the money that’s being offered up by Rangers and Celtic could help clubs a lot after what has been such a difficult year for all involved in Scottish football.
Plus, there will no doubt be benefits for the Scotland national team as Rangers and Celtic produce a lot of young talent.
But again, as McInally said, where do you stop? Are Aberdeen, Hibernian, Hearts and whoever else entitled to have a Colt team join League Two if they have enough money?
It cannot just favour the Old Firm rivals, it needs to be beneficial for everyone.
In all honesty, we don’t see it ever happening. There seems to be way too much opposition.
In other Rangers news, Newcastle are set to seal a Gers-esque commercial deal after a major move by Mike Ashley.