The Scottish Premiership

[jhubs 41]

Watching the St Johnstone vs. Rangers game and as always the mind wanders to how the Scottish teams would fair in the English leagues? I'm not convinced that Rangers and Celtic as they stand would be anything other than middling Championship teams with the rest no better than League 1 standard. What do people think?

The other thing that I've always thought would be good would be to scrap the Carabao cup and replace it with a UK wide cup competition to include the Scottish, NI, other Welsh and maybe even Irish teams. Would love to see more interactions football wise across the UK.

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,304]

years ago, there was the anglo-scottish cup

[cambridgeshire canary 7,697]

Top three- Could make the Championship playoffs. Rangers and Celtic could probably use their money to to try and buy their way out.

 

Rest of the divison however I simply see as down the bottom of the table

[canarydan23 4,699]

That's garbage, Celtic and Rangers would comfortably survive in the EPL. Hell, Rangers got to the Europa League final less than 2 years ago and were not even SPL winners that season.

Given access to EPL TV money, alongside their higher than average attendances, it wouldn't take long before they were challenging for European qualification via league position.

Edited February 18 by canarydan23

[Coneys Knee 1,037]

As it stands, they wouldn’t be anything special, but that would change if they played in the English league and I’d expect both to be top EPL clubs within 3-5 years.

To Think otherwise would be naive.

[The Raptor 1,526]

I hope they never come into the English league. If they do then they should have to work their way up from the bottom. The conference at the very least.

There are plenty of English teams with decent fans and decent crowds who deserve their chance to compete at the top rather than them. 

 

[Bomber 54]

1 hour ago, canarydan23 said:

That's garbage, Celtic and Rangers would comfortably survive in the EPL. Hell, Rangers got to the Europa League final less than 2 years ago and were not even SPL winners that season.

Given access to EPL TV money, alongside their higher than average attendances, it wouldn't take long before they were challenging for European qualification via league position.

Nah middle to lower Championship at best 

[HazzaJet 266]

If Celtic and Rangers move into the EPL they may never qualify for Europe again

[Conrad 223]

24 minutes ago, HazzaJet said:

If Celtic and Rangers move into the EPL they may never qualify for Europe again

They are unlikely to move directly into the EPL, rather they would probably have to start somewhere lower down the English football pyramid. 

[The Raptor 1,526]

2 hours ago, Conrad said:

They are unlikely to move directly into the EPL, rather they would probably have to start somewhere lower down the English football pyramid. 

Mulbarton on a Tuesday night can be a tough place to go...

[Fen Canary 1,450]

Give them the money from the English leagues and they’d be in the European spots within a year or two. They are massive clubs worldwide, much bigger than the likes of Man City, Chelsea or Newcastle 

[Conrad 223]

2 hours ago, Fen Canary said:

Give them the money from the English leagues and they’d be in the European spots within a year or two. They are massive clubs worldwide, much bigger than the likes of Man City, Chelsea or Newcastle 

But why would anyone give them that money, without them having to progress through the leagues to earn it? It would be a bit like turkeys voting for Christmas

[Fen Canary 1,450]

45 minutes ago, Conrad said:

But why would anyone give them that money, without them having to progress through the leagues to earn it? It would be a bit like turkeys voting for Christmas

The question was how would they go if they moved across to the English leagues. Being in the English league would mean they had access to the English television money, which coupled with the size of the clubs to me means they’d be regularly in the European spots 

[AyrshireBob 10]

As I live in Ayrshire I have been ( for my sins 😁)  been to many Scottish Premership matches mainly KIlmarnock as they are local but never to a Celtic or Rangers match and never will. Standard of footbal outwith C or R plus occassionaly maybe Hibs or Hearts at times, is probably around mid / lower level in EFL Championship, odd team maybe would make the playoffs - but only maybe. Having said that the extra TV money would make a difference. So to C & R both have ex or current City players , well maybe mid / lower end of table for a few seasons and the with again tv money ?? both teams have a massive following both in Scotland and Ireland.

Ok you ask what about seeing Norwich, well I usually manage 1 or 2 home games a season, mid-week fixtures as I can use train via Edinburgh to Peterboro with single overnight stay ,whereas Saturdays is two noight stay and iffy trains on the Sunday. last home game Sheffield Wedensday. Away games try for three or four in the north , like this Saturday going to Blackburn by car, 4 hours there and 4 hours back. Now in my early 80's not so mobile and driving that distance takes a day to recover 🤔unless we win then only a couple of hours !!!!!!!

[Commonsense 798]

23 hours ago, Fen Canary said:

Give them the money from the English leagues and they’d be in the European spots within a year or two. They are massive clubs worldwide, much bigger than the likes of Man City, Chelsea or Newcastle 

I don’t think this is true at all. Go abroad and you will see people not from the UK wearing English shirts-particularly Chelsea of the clubs you mention, although increasingly Man City as well. I’ve never seen a Rangers or Celtic shirt being worn except by Scottish or Irish fans ( in the case of Celtic), or British fans in the case of Rangers.

[Fen Canary 1,450]

1 hour ago, Commonsense said:

I don’t think this is true at all. Go abroad and you will see people not from the UK wearing English shirts-particularly Chelsea of the clubs you mention, although increasingly Man City as well. I’ve never seen a Rangers or Celtic shirt being worn except by Scottish or Irish fans ( in the case of Celtic), or British fans in the case of Rangers.

If you Man City/Chelsea swapped leagues with Rangers/Celtic then you would see much more of the latter. Rangers and Celtic have supporters clubs the world over despite being stuck in a league with no money that isn’t watched by anybody outside Scotland. City/Chelsea have nothing like that despite having all the money and exposure of being in the most watched league on the planet.

I wouldn’t put too much stock in the shirt choices of foreign fans either. I remember yonks ago going round Asia and the locals all had Man Utd, Arsenal and a smattering of Chelsea attire because they were the strongest clubs. I remember chatting to the locals who had said that a number used to support Liverpool but changed when they hadn’t won anything for years. I went back on holiday a couple of years back and there wasn’t a United or Arsenal cap in sight, it was all City or Liverpool.

They had no real concept of supporting a team through the good and bad, they were more than happy to switch clubs with success or follow their favourite players around 

[Paul101 184]

think both rangers and celtic would be mid to playoff championship teams the rest vary from  league one to non league levels nearly

but once Celtic got into the prem they would be able to leverage the shirt sales ect to to slowly gain

 

on the other hand this is something that will never happen the Football league have said if they ever joined it would be at the lowest level

[Fen Canary 1,450]

Just now, Paul101 said:

think both rangers and celtic would be mid to playoff championship teams the rest vary from  league one to non league levels nearly

but once Celtic got into the prem they would be able to leverage the shirt sales ect to to slowly gain

 

on the other hand this is something that will never happen the Football league have said if they ever joined it would be at the lowest level

You could start them in the conference and both would be in the top flight within 5 years. As has been mentioned Rangers recently made the UEFA cup final, what makes people think these clubs would struggle to finish higher than the likes of Bristol or Birmingham? 

[GJL Mid-Norfolk Canary 2,026]

Put any top half championship player in the SPL and they will look a standout player.

If McLean played in that league he'd immediately be one of the top 3 midfielders in the whole division

[Paul101 184]

watched Celtic play the other day it was awful but.. playing at a decent level would raise there game and the players willing to join would also be better

 

but would never want to see either team in the english leagues  Vile bigoted fans who still line up  Catholic vs Pros  what ever the hell one of them is

 

Maybe we should ask Oliver Cromwell

[Fen Canary 1,450]

1 minute ago, Paul101 said:

watched Celtic play the other day it was awful but.. playing at a decent level would raise there game and the players willing to join would also be better

 

but would never want to see either team in the english leagues  Vile bigoted fans who still line up  Catholic vs Pros  what ever the hell one of them is

 

Maybe we should ask Oliver Cromwell

Not sure Celtic would have lasted long under Cromwell, he wasn’t exactly known for a live and let live philosophy 

[Paul101 184]

12 hours ago, Fen Canary said:

Not sure Celtic would have lasted long under Cromwell, he wasn’t exactly known for a live and let live philosophy 

I think he is the reason they are all so angry about everything which is just messed up 

[Badger 2,743]

If Celtic and rangers were allowed into English football (which they won't be) they would soon be regulars in European football. Celtic's average attendance is the 11th highest in Europe (c 59,000) and Rangers is 46th (c39,000).

With Premier league football being more attractive, these attendances would probably increase (e.g. Man U would be a more attractive fixture than Kilmarnock).

Revenue would greatly increase with access to EPL TV money and would be further stimulated by increasing "brand value" that regular appearance in the EPL would bring. Their financial power would be far greater than most Premier league teams and they would, I suspect, become attractive to foreign investors. As somebody above pointed out - for this reason it is never likely to happen.

 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/statistik/zuschauerrangliste

[Conrad 223]

On 18/02/2024 at 22:57, Fen Canary said:

The question was how would they go if they moved across to the English leagues. Being in the English league would mean they had access to the English television money, which coupled with the size of the clubs to me means they’d be regularly in the European spots 

But the question didn't state which league or division. If they didn't move directly to the EPL (which I believe they shouldn't) they would get little money and, without playing in Europe, perhaps even less than they do currently. 

[Ulfotto 773]

It should not be underestimated how much financial muscle there is now in the premier league I would hazard a guess that on a club revenue basis Crystal Palace or any other mid table premier league side are bigger than rangers and Celtic combined which is utterly mad.

[daly 546]

On 19/02/2024 at 19:05, Commonsense said:

I don’t think this is true at all. Go abroad and you will see people not from the UK wearing English shirts-particularly Chelsea of the clubs you mention, although increasingly Man City as well. I’ve never seen a Rangers or Celtic shirt being worn except by Scottish or Irish fans ( in the case of Celtic), or British fans in the case of Rangers.

 

[Commonsense 798]

3 hours ago, daly said:

 

I think that pretty horrible video proves my point!

[Fen Canary 1,450]

4 minutes ago, Commonsense said:

I think that pretty horrible video proves my point!

How dare football fans sing and be a bit rowdy! Or is it a snobbery thing, you’re looking down on them for being working class? 

[Aria Chen 4]

5 hours ago, Fen Canary said:

How dare football fans sing and be a bit rowdy! Or is it a snobbery thing, you’re looking down on them for being working class? 

maybe its just their thing hahaha

[dylanisabaddog 5,990]

A couple of years ago the Chief Executive of the Premier League was interviewed by the BBC and among other things was asked if Scottish clubs would be allowed to join. 

He said that in no circumstances would they be given direct access and went on to say if the Football League had a different view no Scottish club would be allowed in via the promotion route. He was firm in his responses, almost to the point of being rude. 

I watched some of the Rangers game on Sunday and it was absolutely dire. Having said that, the recent Rangers Celtic games have been quite entertaining.