Celtic: Future British league set-up remains ambition

[Bearman 9]

Yep, this topic rears it's head once again:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34406891

 

Celtic still harbour ambitions of playing in a future British League, according to manager Ronny Deila.

The subject was raised once again when majority shareholder Dermot Desmond predicted such an outcome for Celtic and Glasgow rivals Rangers.

"It takes time but Celtic is a team that should have the opportunity to play in the best league," said Deila.

"Hopefully in the end we can get into the Premiership or a league that is more a British thing."

In 2009, English clubs voted against a proposal that would have admitted Celtic and Rangers to a second tier of the Premier League.

At that time, Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premier League, described the idea as a "non starter".

This year, the Premier League sold television rights to its games for a record £5.136bn.

Deila said a British league "could be possible" but added that "it is not easy to do things very quickly in Britain".

However, Desmond believes the global reach of Glasgow's big two will eventually lead to change.

"Celtic and Rangers have an immense fan base throughout the world," the Irishman told BBC Scotland. "They are teams people want to watch.

"Ultimately, football matches are about content, whether it's Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool. I think Rangers and Celtic are in that bracket.

"So we look forward to maybe a new British league in the future. Everything evolves, nothing is static."

Having missed out on promotion to the top flight last season, Rangers lead the way in the Championship after winning their opening eight games.

And Desmond is looking forward to a time when the derby rivals meet on a regular basis.

"We've missed them over the last few season," he said. "But I must say Aberdeen have built a quality squad, as have Hearts.

"I think it's good for Scottish football to have clubs of the size of Celtic and Rangers playing each other."

[der Berliner 3,809]

Is it deja vu time? While the Yahoos would certainly flood back in their droves to watch EPL teams beat the living shyte out of the Scum, what would the bonus be for the EPL teams? Their grounds are full anyway (more often than not because they have limited spaces) and they sure don't look forward watching the grey-green hordes besmirch their grounds and surrounding areas with their vile appearance and "banter" on a match day. This whole thing would essentially be a one-way thing and I can't see the English FA nor the EPL changing their rules and guidelines anytime soon. Not to mention that no English Championship team would be in favour of this. If anything, they can scrap the League Cup and start a British version.

[craig 5,199]

Is it deja vu time? While the Yahoos would certainly flood back in their droves to watch EPL teams beat the living shyte out of the Scum, what would the bonus be for the EPL teams? Their grounds are full anyway (more often than not because they have limited spaces) and they sure don't look forward watching the grey-green hordes besmirch their grounds and surrounding areas with their vile appearance and "banter" on a match day. This whole thing would essentially be a one-way thing and I can't see the English FA nor the EPL changing their rules and guidelines anytime soon. Not to mention that no English Championship team would be in favour of this. If anything, they can scrap the League Cup and start a British version.

 

Exactly. The only time this becomes even viable is when the paying customer switches off to EPL. The reality is that they just signed a record TV deal so people are still prepared to pay for the product - so they clearly don't need the OF at this time.

[BrahimHemdani 1]

There's zero chance of this happening in the foreseeable future.

 

The turkeys at the bottom of the EPL are not going to vote for a Christmas in the Championship to accommodate us, particularly given that there are 2 too many teams in the League at the moment; and the teams at the top simply don't need us in terms of money and certainly wouldn't want the potential competition. Bear in mind Celtic would be 2nd or 3rd in terms of attendance and we would be 3rd or 4th. So other things like TV money being equal we should be challenging the current top 4. If you were a team like Liverpool would you really want us trying to muscle in above you, I very much doubt it.

 

In addition, neither Rangers nor Celtic would have the "guaranteed" European spot that we have enjoyed in Scotland although as I say above over time we should be challenging for a CL berth.

[RANGERRAB 3,743]

Dermot Desmond ( or is it Desmond Dermot ) is a deluded man if he thinks ra Shellik will ever play in England.

 

The truth is everyone down south has opened their eyes and realised what a vile anti-british club they really are. They're Scotland's problem & no one is prepared to tackle that problem in this country.

 

They could always try the League of Ireland but I suspect they'd get the same response from them.

[calscot 0]

20 years ago we would have been big box office, now we're just old news. Our best chance was when we were kicked out the SPL, but instead of taking the chance in the English backwaters we chose to consign ourselves to the perpetual backwater of Scottish football.

[Ser Barristan Selmy 222]

There's zero chance of this happening in the foreseeable future.

 

The turkeys at the bottom of the EPL are not going to vote for a Christmas in the Championship to accommodate us, particularly given that there are 2 too many teams in the League at the moment; and the teams at the top simply don't need us in terms of money and certainly wouldn't want the potential competition. Bear in mind Celtic would be 2nd or 3rd in terms of attendance and we would be 3rd or 4th. So other things like TV money being equal we should be challenging the current top 4. If you were a team like Liverpool would you really want us trying to muscle in above you, I very much doubt it.

 

In addition, neither Rangers nor Celtic would have the "guaranteed" European spot that we have enjoyed in Scotland although as I say above over time we should be challenging for a CL berth.

This is a non starter, but the part in bold would only be relevant to me if we were both playing regularly in Europe and performing well, like getting to the advanced stages of the Europa League regularly, or getting to at least the CL group stages most seasons. A few games each year in the Europe League hardly seems something to be concerned with, when we would be playing week in week out against sides that are 10 times better than who we currently face.

[ian1964 10,761]

Timmy starts chanting "Besiktas" at the Fener fans and they respond with "Glasgow Rangers!"

 

 

https://twitter.com/yarisaha/status/649654561024704512

[Gribz 919]

I can see possibilities of a European League in the not so distant future. I would imagine there would be a Super League A and B in which the OF would be invited into the second tier.

 

With FIFA and UEFA internal issues now It wouldn't surprise me if there was a shadow party being set up behind the scenes right now with the top clubs in Europe having mass input and putting this in place by 2020-2022.

 

As for joining the English league, that ship has sailed. Both OF would need to apply and start in the Conference. Again the only way around this I see is if the Premier League make the Championship in England a Premier League 2 then they would perhaps find Rangers and Celtic more appealing than Rotherham and Huddersfield etc.

[alexscottislegend 2,376]

I can see possibilities of a European League in the not so distant future. I would imagine there would be a Super League A and B in which the OF would be invited into the second tier.

 

With FIFA and UEFA internal issues now It wouldn't surprise me if there was a shadow party being set up behind the scenes right now with the top clubs in Europe having mass input and putting this in place by 2020-2022.

 

As for joining the English league, that ship has sailed. Both OF would need to apply and start in the Conference. Again the only way around this I see is if the Premier League make the Championship in England a Premier League 2 then they would perhaps find Rangers and Celtic more appealing than Rotherham and Huddersfield etc.

 

Agree with this. The Euro League must come sooner rather than later; look at big clubs like Ajax, Feyenoord. Benfica - they must be sick of the financial disparity with clubs like Stoke city. Also, with the very real possibility of Scotland becoming independent, we would only have to secede from any British League.