http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/rangers/old-firm-need-to-help-improve-the-league-they-re-in-1.925421

 

Old Firm need to help improve the league they’re in

 

Mark McGhee

 

Published on 10 Oct 2009

 

The prospect that Celtic and or Rangers (I can’t remember anyone at Ibrox fantasising about it publicly) will one day play in the English Premier League has once again been raised.

 

Only by Peter Lawwell, it has to be said, and not by the chairman or chief executive of that league.

 

I would like to go on the record now and say that Aberdeen would also fancy playing in the English top flight and that we would appreciate Peter including us in any conversations that he might have regarding abdication.

 

I think all of the other clubs in Scotland would feel equally keen to have a crack down south. The millions that are on offer down there would be hard to resist for any of us.

 

I’m not sure, though, that the chairmen of West Ham, Wolves, Burnley and Portsmouth were all phoning round each other on hearing Peter’s comments suggesting that they do their best to expedite Celtic’s move. It would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.

 

On examination, what do Celtic have to offer the English Premier League?

 

Full houses and one of the best ?travelling supports in Britain, not a lot else. And the travelling support would be curtailed anyway by the fact that most matches are as good as sold out by home fans.

 

I think that Celtic talking publicly about this is rude and disingenuous to the rest of us. Peter said that no club other than Celtic or Rangers will win the SPL and that seems true at the moment, although his team didn’t win it last year any more than Aberdeen did so what are the criteria for being included in the application to defect? Clearly being champions is not one of them so Aberdeen tick that box. Perhaps winning a European trophy is one? Well Aberdeen were the last Scottish team to win a cup in Europe if I am not mistaken, so we tick that box. We would certainly sell out if the likes of Manchester United or Liverpool were coming to town. Another tick. Aberdeen don’t attract the 60,000 that Celtic do but we would extend our plans for our new stadium to accommodate the numbers that would be attending these matches. We would build a modern out-of-town stadium that would make Celtic’s hemmed-in Parkhead seem antiquated.

 

Under the present structure the Old Firm clubs will never get to play in England. Only some sort of independent breakaway group, which would probably include the European “super clubsâ€, would offer that possibility, but how would that work? Something like that would represent the final frontier in football. What would happen when the fans of those clubs tired of that competition? There would be nowhere else to go. It would be the end of the modern game.

 

A strong global game relies on strong national competitions. Most countries are similar to Scotland, and that includes England: only a few clubs have the resources to win the national competition. In the last 10 years only three clubs have won the English Premier League. That represents 15% of the clubs in that league. In Scotland’s case the figure is over 16%, which renders that argument spurious.

 

That the other clubs would be better off without the Old Firm is another opinion that is repeated. How they would be better off has never been explained to me. Automatic qualification for one of us into the Champions League seems like an attractive proposition but in the absence of the two Old Firm clubs Uefa would soon change that. How would it affect the national game? Would it lead to a British team and the loss of our national identity on the international stage? Eventually. Don’t Celtic care about protecting that, or do they put self-interest first?

 

Surely, rather than bleating on about something that will never happen, the two Glasgow giants should look closer to home and help address some of the problems facing Scottish football.

 

As finances are squeezed year on year we will be forced to source our new players from lower and lower down the leagues and from abroad. This process will erode the quality of the competition and Celtic and Rangers will increase their domination of the Scottish game. We have to look really seriously at the whole structure of our game if we are going to maintain any sort of standard in our competition. And like it or not Celtic and Rangers are, and are going to remain, a part of it. The Glasgow clubs have the power with the broadcasters and can drive the process. We need help now or our game will become irrelevant in the scheme of European leagues. The SPL will soon be viewed internationally on the same terms as The League of Ireland. Its status is important to Celtic and Rangers so there is self-interest in them contributing. Investors and sponsors as well as broadcasters and the media will lose interest if the quality of the competition is allowed to deteriorate much further.

... and sure as huns are huns, Martin Bain goes and drops his tuppenceworth into the equation in today's paper.

Mmmm. I'm going back to bed.

I don't think I'd ever want Aberdeen to play in England....an away tie at Plymouth, no thanks. Furthermore it would almost definitely result in an end to any real Scottish identity in Football. No National side, a Scottish Cup played infront of a handful of folk by the rump of the Scottish set up, not good enough to make it down south....it would be miserable.

 

I used to look forward to the day that the OF fucked off, but that just ain't ever going to happen.  And if it did I tend to think it would be the start of a slippery slope that would end up with the above.  At best we would have a league that had 4 instead of 2 sides sharing the trophies while every fan of a Socttish League side also supported their big team, Celtic or Rangers, in the EPL/Euro League/Atlantic League/Intergalatic League/Lawell's Fantasy league.

 

Of course none of this is going to happen and the press really need to get a bit more critical with Lawell (and Bain) when they come out with this crap.  They are, and will be for many years to come, part of the SPL. Running to the press twice a year exlaiming "this league is crap get us out of here" will do absolutely nothing to attract new fans or sponsors to the game.  Given their main complaint is lack of cash they are shooting themselves in the foot.  If they really want an improved league set up then we should go back to shared gates and a more equitable split of TV money.  But that, much like Lawell's fucking fantasy will never happen.

Yeah, but the atmosphere at every other game is great... 

Are you kidding?  Come on, which teams are going to vote to lose the income of playing the OF (potentially) twice more to bring in Dundee, Ross Co, Partick Thistle, Morton etc?  I don't disagree with your proposal at all, but Aberdeen themselves wouldn't vote for it would they (they would be mad to, on a purely business level) ?

 

I have in my head that gates used to be shared in the Premier Division? Is this still the case in the SPL? If not would going back to that (if it ever happened) not make up for the loss in revenue for the other teams? OK the OF would never vote for it, but would they need to for the rest to gain a majority? By that I mean; would Aberdeen,  Hearts, Hibs etc expect to loose too much to vote for it?

 

Alternatively, would an equal split of TV money make up for the difference? I know both ideas will mean the OF giving up some of their unfairly large cut of the limited pot of SPL money, but this ruthless capitalist model that seems to be followed by both halves of the OF is what is killing Scottish football. That is why the TV revenue is low, sponsorship is low, competition is low (the OF's favopurite stick). For an outsider there are only two teams worth showing, for a yougster growing up there are only two teams worth supporting.

 

You only have to look (where the better Scottish players look) to see what having a competitive league can do for TV and other revenue streams.

 

* edit. I see most of my questions and points have been covered, should look at the posts that have been typed since I started my reply, sorry.

McGhee is merely highlighting that Celtic and Rangers are getting nowhere near England. He made the point about Aberdeen throwing their hat in the ring to show how ludicrous Celtic and Rangers are being. The English don't need any Scottish sides in the league, ever, and talking about it is merely a waste of time.

 

McGhee continues to go up in my estimations.

Personally, I think the infirm leaving would be terrible for Scottish football. Even more kids will end up supporting the huns and tims purely because they would be playing in a "bigger league" so to speak. The Scottish game would then be quite umarketable, or would rather attract very little TV money. I know baggy says that there will be increased competition etc...but the reason why the SPL gets any substantial investment at the moment is because companies like ESPN want to see the Huns/Tims play. This also does not mean that because they leave, the football would be any better/more attractive. A lot of folk (not on here) were claiming that it wouldn't end up like the Welsh and Irish leagues, because football is Scotland's national sport. I don't see why it wouldn't to be honest, what incentive would there be for a decent player outside of Scotland to come and play in our league?

 

I know its a rather bleak outlook on things, but I can't see it being any other way. The sooner the infirm realize that they need us as much as we need them, the better things will be in the Scottish game. I think this is what McGhee is pointing out.

@ manc_don. I was inferring the OF give up some of their ill-gotten gains, in order for the league to become more competitive, and speculating that a more competitive league would increase revenue streams thus enabling the OF to recoup some of their earlier losses. BUT the thing holding that back is the OF themselves and their seemingly ruthless business model. Summed up in your final point.

Exactly Baggy, redistribution of wealth is the issue in Scotland. The trouble is I can't see anything changing any time soon.

 

 

Especially when you've got dickheads like Gartside repeating the OF's desperate plea's, from an EPL perspective. 

I have in my head that gates used to be shared in the Premier Division? Is this still the case in the SPL?

 

Gates are still shared in the cup competitions ... hence why the likes of Huntly and Forres act like they've won the lotto when they draw Rangers or Celtic away in the cups.

 

But the home team gets all the gate revenue for league matches. This has pissed me off for a long long time now, as the travelling Red Army are one of the biggest travelling supports in the country. Whilst Pittodrie remains half-empty for many games, our travelling support keeps the other SPL teams in business!