Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack says Celtic want to perform on a bigger platform

By David Walton

December 15, 2020

Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack has revealed that Celtic want to perform on a bigger platform than what Scottish football provides them.

Over the weekend, the Dons chief was urging the Bhoys to change their mind on rejecting plans to move to an Atlantic league that would’ve involved several Scottish clubs. Cormack said he “didn’t know why” Celtic had pulled out of the idea (Daily Mail).

Clubs across Europe will be looking at ways in which to recover from the global health pandemic, with opportunities ranging from player sales to alternative competitions all likely to be considered. No options will be off the table as football attempts to haul itself back from economic chaos.

And Cormack has been revisiting the subject of an Atlantic league once more, as he stated that Celtic will undoubtedly want to leave the Scottish Premiership in the long-term.

As quoted by the BBC from the Dons’ AGM yesterday, Cormack said: “If there’s a significant amount of money on the table it should be looked at. We’ll stick our heads in the sand if we don’t think there’s going to be cross-border leagues or European super leagues with divisions. What we have to do as a country, as a group of clubs, is be at the table looking at these opportunities.

“There’s no doubt that, in particular, Celtic – and I don’t blame them – they would like a bigger platform to play on. With Scottish football, getting to a consensus can be a difficult challenge. People have talked recently about British leagues. So, for example, if Celtic and Rangers went off to the English Premier League, where does that leave the rest of us? Are we playing Exeter? Plymouth? Where do we go and would our fans want that?

“It’s healthy to have a discussion and a debate over what might be and we need to do more of that as Premiership clubs and clubs in Scotland.”

Atlantic league sounds great in theory, but is it practical?

It feels as though the idea of Atlantic leagues or European super leagues have been around forever. Almost every Celtic manager seems to have been confronted with questions about it. But there’s no denying new revenue streams are more essential than ever for clubs, especially in Scotland.

If the likes of Aberdeen are earning a share of a pot funded by TV companies from around Europe, it would likely go a long way towards helping their own financial problems. That’s not even taking into account whatever bonuses successful performances reap.

However, the league proposals put forward in recent weeks involved teams from Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Scotland (Daily Mail). Is Celtic vs Rosenborg, for example, really the peak of our opportunities here?

Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack / (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group via Getty Images)

You couldn’t blame Celtic for wanting to wait and see what better opportunities come along in the next few years that could change the landscape of European football. They may look for something a touch tastier than this. Entering the English Premier League, for example, is something that’s been eyed up by Dermot Desmond as recently as September.

Speaking in comments published by the Daily Record, Desmond said: “Celtic and Rangers are in the top eight clubs in Great Britain by any metric – support, attendance, international appeal. At some stage, there’s going to be the realisation that if they want to maximise their revenues, then there’ll be a British Premier League. And there should be a British Premier League, because you already have a couple of Welsh teams in the English leagues. So why not?”

Celtic may be looking to dip their fingers in bigger pies than what Cormack’s Atlantic league solution may have brought. We’ll see what kind of discussions occur over the coming months.

In other news, an international coach has revealed that one of Celtic’s youngsters had been growing “frustrated” in recent weeks.