The English Premier League players have been discussing the prospect of Celtic entering their top-flight amid the ongoing European Super League controversy.
So much has been spoken about over the last 24 hours regarding the new breakaway closed-shop Euro competition. 12 founding clubs have created a competition in which they’ll never have to qualify for as they look to replace the Champions League with a new tournament.
The idea is that they would be playing their games during mid-weeks [BBC]. Therefore, they would still be part of their national FA’s and would take part in their respective domestic leagues. However, English fans in particular want the “big six” who have signed up for it to be kicked out of the EPL.
Players all over England have been talking about it. And, speaking in the Athletic, an unnamed Premier League player claims that there have been discussions in the changing-rooms about Celtic potentially joining the competition.
“It’s a shambles. It’s the rich getting richer. I can understand why the clubs are doing it – if you can’t beat them, join them. But for the rest of the Premier League, the implications of that will be serious and long-lasting and it’s not going to be what we know it as now.
“We’ve been talking about it. Someone said Rangers and Celtic could come in and four teams will come in from the Championship (to make it 20 teams again).
“But the Sky deals and stuff like that, they’re only doing that because of the big teams. People don’t realise the implications. There’s not a chance that Sky would keep paying that money. It’s not just about the top six.”
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Celtic joining the English Premier League? No thanks
Clubs down south have been against us joining the EPL for years. It was actually a proposal that was officially rejected back in 2009 by the English top-flight clubs too [The Guardian].
So there’s something morally questionable about leaping into their open-armed invitation this time around. Especially with so many English supporters appearing to be wanting Celtic and Rangers to join them.
It’s not as if this European Super League is close to taking off in any case. There are plenty of negotiations to be had and a lot of middle ground to be met. For example, players won’t fancy risking their international careers to compete in the competition.
The sheer anger from so many towards the competition could prove telling. Even if it was to go ahead, there’s then no guarantee that England’s big six would even be kicked out of their domestic league. If there was even a chance of that, you couldn’t imagine them backing the Super League over their own domestic competition.
And if Celtic were to come running with England’s call (and we likely would), you would have to question our own morals. Given the crippling effect, Covid has had on football clubs in Scotland, jumping ship would leave them all in a perilous state. Not least because Sky would almost certainly lose any interest in the Scottish game.
So even if players and supporters are discussing it, don’t expect Celtic to be joining any form of British League anytime soon.