Rangers: Kieran Maguire shares Ibrox call after developments in Scotland
Rangers have called for a fifth tier to be added to the Scottish football league pyramid after pulling their B team out of the Lowland League, according to Kieran Maguire.
The football finance expert explained that the presence of Rangers, Celtic and Hearts’ B teams has done little to impact the division beyond an initial spike in attendance.
There had also been little financial gain as a result of their presence, while the club feel that if a new tier was implemented, it would allow for a form of acceleration for the B teams.
Speaking on The Price Of Football podcast [25 March], Maguire shared: “Rangers have withdrawn from the Lowland B League for the 2023/24 season. What we do now have is Hearts’ B Team has come in.
“When Celtic and Rangers B teams started off in the Scottish Lowland League, there was an uptick in terms of attendance which was mainly driven by a curiosity factor. People wanted to see whether they would see Rangers and Celtic stars playing for the B teams.
“That initial uptick with regards to attendance tapered off quite quickly.
“Rangers, by all accounts, pulled out because they feel there should be a fifth tier of Scottish football which would allow for some form of acceleration, with a natural ceiling. I don’t think that was voted through.
“Quite often we’re looking at attendances in the hundreds, and those are not being boosted by the existence of the Edinburgh and Glasgow B teams.”
Rangers call for new division in Scottish football
The idea for a new league would see the likes of Rangers, Celtic and Hearts B drop into another division which would allow them to start fresh and compete, looking to rise the leagues before hitting a ceiling, likely similar to the one in Spain.
However, given the frustrations with the way Scottish football is run already by the chiefs at Hampden Park, the implementation of an entirely new division for the B teams of the country’s bigger clubs could prove a more complicated task.
As Maguire shared, the notion put forward by Rangers has already been rejected after a vote, so any hope that the club’s request would come off in their favour has already been squashed.
With the title race tighter than ever in the SPFL, fans’ attention will have been dragged away from what’s going on with the B team, but behind the scenes at Ibrox, the club were looking for ways to improve and progress.
In other Rangers news, Gareth Southgate’s preference has emerged as Jack Butland was snubbed again.
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