Welcome to the English Premier league, home of some of the world’s greatest teams, players, managers, coaches and stadiums. Not all of them English admittedly, and I mean that for the players, managers, coaches and to an extent the stadiums, although the choice of Australian builders for Wembley wasn’t what you’d call an inspired choice, but the teams are most certainly English.
Welcome to the Scottish Premier league, home of some of Scotland’s best teams, players, managers, coaches and stadiums- well it has all of Scotland’s teams, for now!
There may be no greater tragedy in domestic football if than if Glasgow’s powerhouses of Scottish football, Celtic and Rangers, were to join the English leagues.
There can only be one reason for these two sides to want to join the elite this side of the border, money. Many will suggest it is for success but it is clear that this is an afterthought as it is money that breeds success and not the other way round in most cases. In most domestic leagues throughout, certainly Europe if not the World, there is usually only three or four clubs who are likely to win the league. I don’t need to go through the list of the main players in England, Italy, France, Germany, Spain or Scotland we know them all. But look at Russia, Austria, Belgium, Israel, Portugal, Ukraine, Holland it is always the same teams competing in the European competitions, we can only assume it’s therefore the same teams picking up trophies domestically.
It is also the same clubs who win the big prizes in Europe, mainly from England, Spain and Italy. There has of course been the odd surprise from, say, Portugal or Germany. There is also the ever unpredictable UEFA Cup/Europa League which throws up winners from all over the place, although this may end now with the new set up favouring consistency as it’s more esteemed cousin the Champions League. Consistency means the strongest teams will always rise to the top and lowers the risk of upset. So expect Champions League drop outs or those who struggled domestically last season, and ended in the 2nd tier of European football, to be competing in Hamburg come May.
The point here really is that Celtic and Rangers have no divine right to the money that the English league generates, funny way to suggest it I know, but basically being the most successful club/s by a country mile in a below par domestic league is not exactly a one off, unique in only Scotland. It happens everywhere, and yet there isn’t to my knowledge any question of Anderlecht and Standard Liege joining the Dutch leagues just because the two countries are neighbours.
Actually the whole thing is extremely laughable for one big reason! In 2012 there will be some small multi-sport event in London, you may have heard of it, the Olympics I think it’s called. In said event there is a football medal up for grabs. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have never competed in the football at the Olympics. The reason for this is because at the Olympics the four nations compete together as Great Britain, at football they compete separately with separate Football Associations. With the Olympics being held on home soil the BOA (British Olympic Association) thought it would be a jolly good idea to enter as many, if not all, sports available. The English F.A thought a football team in the Olympics would also be a jolly good idea. The Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh F.As on the other hand were all worried about their status as separately competing nations when it comes to footballing matters. I think we all agree a fair argument. How then can it be a good idea for Celtic and Rangers, the two sides from Scotland with any remote chance of making an impact internationally, to compete in English competitions, where they have little or no chance of qualifying for said international competitions? Way to show some patriotism!
Some north of the border have suggested that it would be good for the Glasgow monopoly on all competitions to flee. After all it would bring serious competition back to the league and bring the crowds back to the grounds. Cue all those south of the border with Sky Sports channels switching off as soon as Inverness vs. Aberdeen kicks off. A lack of Celtic and Rangers in the league would not make the rest of the clubs better teams, it would just get of the two decent sides. The league might come down to more than just the four Glasgow derbies in a season but only a few seasons of Aberdeen and Hearts reign (these clubs are an example) would mean they instantly became a lot richer than the likes of Falkirk due to European money, suddenly two new ‘superpowers’ of Scottish football and we’re back to square one, great!
Welcome to the Scottish Premier league, home of some of Scotland’s best teams, players, managers, coaches and stadiums- well it has all of Scotland’s teams, for now!
There may be no greater tragedy in domestic football if than if Glasgow’s powerhouses of Scottish football, Celtic and Rangers, were to join the English leagues.
There can only be one reason for these two sides to want to join the elite this side of the border, money. Many will suggest it is for success but it is clear that this is an afterthought as it is money that breeds success and not the other way round in most cases. In most domestic leagues throughout, certainly Europe if not the World, there is usually only three or four clubs who are likely to win the league. I don’t need to go through the list of the main players in England, Italy, France, Germany, Spain or Scotland we know them all. But look at Russia, Austria, Belgium, Israel, Portugal, Ukraine, Holland it is always the same teams competing in the European competitions, we can only assume it’s therefore the same teams picking up trophies domestically.
It is also the same clubs who win the big prizes in Europe, mainly from England, Spain and Italy. There has of course been the odd surprise from, say, Portugal or Germany. There is also the ever unpredictable UEFA Cup/Europa League which throws up winners from all over the place, although this may end now with the new set up favouring consistency as it’s more esteemed cousin the Champions League. Consistency means the strongest teams will always rise to the top and lowers the risk of upset. So expect Champions League drop outs or those who struggled domestically last season, and ended in the 2nd tier of European football, to be competing in Hamburg come May.
The point here really is that Celtic and Rangers have no divine right to the money that the English league generates, funny way to suggest it I know, but basically being the most successful club/s by a country mile in a below par domestic league is not exactly a one off, unique in only Scotland. It happens everywhere, and yet there isn’t to my knowledge any question of Anderlecht and Standard Liege joining the Dutch leagues just because the two countries are neighbours.
Actually the whole thing is extremely laughable for one big reason! In 2012 there will be some small multi-sport event in London, you may have heard of it, the Olympics I think it’s called. In said event there is a football medal up for grabs. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have never competed in the football at the Olympics. The reason for this is because at the Olympics the four nations compete together as Great Britain, at football they compete separately with separate Football Associations. With the Olympics being held on home soil the BOA (British Olympic Association) thought it would be a jolly good idea to enter as many, if not all, sports available. The English F.A thought a football team in the Olympics would also be a jolly good idea. The Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh F.As on the other hand were all worried about their status as separately competing nations when it comes to footballing matters. I think we all agree a fair argument. How then can it be a good idea for Celtic and Rangers, the two sides from Scotland with any remote chance of making an impact internationally, to compete in English competitions, where they have little or no chance of qualifying for said international competitions? Way to show some patriotism!
Some north of the border have suggested that it would be good for the Glasgow monopoly on all competitions to flee. After all it would bring serious competition back to the league and bring the crowds back to the grounds. Cue all those south of the border with Sky Sports channels switching off as soon as Inverness vs. Aberdeen kicks off. A lack of Celtic and Rangers in the league would not make the rest of the clubs better teams, it would just get of the two decent sides. The league might come down to more than just the four Glasgow derbies in a season but only a few seasons of Aberdeen and Hearts reign (these clubs are an example) would mean they instantly became a lot richer than the likes of Falkirk due to European money, suddenly two new ‘superpowers’ of Scottish football and we’re back to square one, great!
Meanwhile down in England! “Welcome to Parkhead on this cold Saturday afternoon as Celtic take on Portsmouth”, just think of the hoards of Pompey fans wanting to make the long, and no doubt, expensive trip to Glasgow during these times of recession. Fans of both Celtic and Rangers will tell you that atmosphere’s at their grounds are amazing, and no doubt the games I’ve watched that these teams take part in have seen great crowds, but then again I only watch derby games and European nights so it’s hardly surprising. The fact is that most, if not all, team’s fans are the same. Loud away from home, loud at big games, loud when the mood suits them, but quiet a lot of the time and there to watch football being played and not make ridiculous amounts of noise all the time. The other thing I’d say for the fans is that I went through Manchester the night after Rangers UEFA cup final loss and I’d rather not see my city looking like that again thanks, one off maybe but I still don't want another potential Milwall or Leeds.
Celtic and Rangers aren’t good enough to compete week in week out in the Premier League, maybe one day, with all the money the Premier League generates, they will be. But that’s the point; they have done nothing to warrant all that money. I’ll tell you what my Sunday league football club could do with all that money and then we’ll start our Europa League campaign!
slightly harsh but very true!!
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