Martin Keown calls on Rangers and Celtic to share Australian revenue
Rangers and Celtic should share half of the money they make from the proposed tournament in Australia with the rest of the League, says Martin Keown.
The already unpopular plans for the Glasgow giants to take November’s World Cup-imposed break to play in a friendly tournament will make them as much money as the rest of the league season, according to Gers commercial director James Bisgrove.
Light Blues fans are unhappy that the Old Firm rivalry is being diluted and that the marketing for the trip has so far depicted them as sidekicks on Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou’s supposed homecoming tour.
Speaking on talkSPORT on a clip posted to their Twitter, ex-England defender Keown said: “It’s all about money isn’t it, and survival, and finding clever ways for them to be able to compete on the European stage.
“If they are going to attract top players they have to have the revenue source and it’s just not there.
“Maybe half of that money should be shared with Scottish football, or certainly the [Premiership] because how do they compete otherwise?
“This distribution of wealth should be shared among the other clubs.
“They’re going to be twice as wealthy from that one game, and that makes them twice as powerful as the rest of the Scottish [Premiership].”
Noble idea
What Keown is proposing is an honourable idea to uplift the whole of the SPFL on the back of the strength of the Glasgow clubs, but it would be a major surprise if it happened.
The only positive spin the club can put on the plans as they try to get fans back onside is the massive financial boost it will supposedly bring.
So if that is immediately halved it becomes half as attractive of a proposition.
There are valid arguments to the strongest teams in a league helping to uphold the competition as a whole, but football clubs on the richer side of this divide rarely seem to see the validity.
The European Super League, which is apparently again on the table after the original disastrous launch last season, was an attempt by some of the richest clubs in Europe to break free of such obligations.
The Old Firm have been so dominant in Scotland for so long that it is hard to see fans of either side be especially eager to strengthen league rivals.
With Gers arguably better in Europe than they are at home currently they are sure to want to avoid it.
More should be done to make the league as a whole more competitive, and fairer on a moral basis, but if it comes out of these plans it would be a huge shock.
In other Rangers news, a former Light Blues hero has defended the plans, but not their execution.