Even though Scotland boasts perhaps the greatest and fiercest derby in world football, the league itself is miles away from the rest of Europe.
Celtic and Rangers is a contest for the ages, and the support those two clubs generate across the world is incredible.
But, unfortunately, Scottish football, from a financial perspective, is like a team in England’s third-tier, even though Celtic are bigger than most sitting in the English Premier League today.
For a very long time, there has been a lot of talk about Glasgow’s big two heading down south and competing with the elite of English football.
And it was something once mooted by former Rangers chairman David Murray, as well as Celtic’s majority shareholder, Dermot Desmond.
David Murray on Dermot Desmond meeting about Celtic and Rangers in English football
Let’s be honest, Celtic and Rangers in English football would cause chaos, that’s why it has been talked about for decades.
Rangers’ disgraced owner Murray thinks it’s something that will never happen, despite once ‘talking’ about it with some powerful men in British football, including the man making the calls in Celtic’s boardroom.
Murray told talkSPORT that it has become a ‘no-go’, because those teams bouncing in and out of England’s top-tier don’t want it, rather than the ‘bigger clubs’.
Jim White asks: “David, years ago, you met with Rick Parry, who was the chief executive of Liverpool. David Dein of Arsenal. Dermot Desmond of Celtic, who is still there. You talked about getting Rangers and Celtic into the Premier League here in England. It didn’t happen. Will it ever happen?”
Murray responded: “I don’t think it will happen. I don’t think the Premiership needs Rangers and Celtic. Also, turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.
“I have always been a close friend to David Dein, and still am to this day. The bigger clubs weren’t too against it, but the clubs that were on the periphery, up and down the divisions, they weren’t going to vote for it, so it became a no-go.”
Simon Jordan pushed for Celtic and Rangers’ arrival into English football on one condition
Simon Jordan was chairman and owner of Crystal Palace at the time, and talk of Celtic and Rangers entering English football was at its highest point.
The English businessman explained that he ‘liked the idea’, but made it clear that if two of Scotland’s biggest clubs were going to make that move, then he wanted them to enter into the English Championship, with a ‘bounty’ on top of their heads.
“I liked the idea, by the way,” admitted Jordan.
“It started to get mooted, very loudly, in 2001/02. I was for it. What I was for was the idea of Celtic and Rangers coming down, but I felt that they should come into the Championship, but I felt that they should come into the Championship, ultimately, pay a bounty for doing it.
“Ultimately, there should be a benefit for the clubs they were coming in for and replacing to make it more palatable. I thought they would have a huge value to Celtic and Rangers because it would increase their value exponentially. I was in favour of it.”
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