Scott Brown shares Rangers theory after ‘ignorant’ Ibrox admission by Tim Sherwood

English football fans would only realise the true size of Rangers and Celtic if they were to play in the Premier League, according to Scott Brown.

The two Old Firm sides are no doubt massive but football fans south of the border have often looked down their noses at them due to the quality in the rest of the Scottish Premiership.

Brown reckons that Celtic could double the size of Parkhead if they were to move to the English top flight due to how many fans want to attend games in Scotland but are unable to.

rangers

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast on 14 December, ex-Tottenham manager and player Tim Sherwood asked Brown about the standing of Celtic in world football. Brown said: “The size of the football club is huge. In Europe, I’d say they’re in the top 10.”

Sherwood then said: “You’ve got ignorant people like me but we’re not trying to be disrespectful. We know how big Rangers and Celtic are. Don’t get me wrong, we know. We just don’t know how big.”

The former Bhoys captain said: “I think the only way a lot of English people would find out is if Rangers and Celtic went into the Premier League.

“Celtic’s got 60,000 season-ticket holders and 28,000 on standby – they could double the size of the stadium if they went down to England. And they’ve got so many Irish fans who come over, so many Scottish fans and fans from all over the world, which is exceptional.”

How many season ticket holders?

Broonie needs to check his maths here because if Celtic had that many season-ticket holders, they wouldn’t ever have any empty seats at Parkhead, let alone many away fans.

Celtic’s stadium wouldn’t need to double if they played in the Premier League because the fanbase stays the same. The same goes for Rangers.

You don’t suddenly get tens of thousands of new supporters based on what team you support, you just get existing ones coming out of the woodwork to watch the team play against better teams.

Rangers and Celtic never have that except in European football. It’s just that for one-half of the Old Firm, European wins – let alone qualifying for knock-out stages – come once in a blue moon.

It’s an age-old discussion about whether Rangers and Celtic should play in the Premier League.

It would be better for the clubs financially, of course. But Scottish football would be ruined and our clubs will be the case of that.

Just look at the Welsh league with Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham. Yikes.

In other Rangers news, the Scottish media blasted one “clumsy” Gers player despite starring in the win over Real Betis.