Is a British Premier League Ever Likely to Happen?
How many times does something have to be called inevitable before it is truly inevitable?
Celtic and Rangers are hoping not too many times more, given how often their proposed move to the Premier League has been hailed as an unavoidable destiny for Scottish football’s predominant duo.
Every so often talk of the country’s Old Firm rivals switching leagues surfaces, with Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond just last week claiming the two clubs will one day make the move down south, to join England’s top-flight, in the next decade.
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Desmond told Sky Sports:
"We would like to compete in the holy grail in England.
It will bring money into Scotland and rekindle football in Scotland having [Manchester] United, Arsenal and others.
Maybe it’s going to be 10 years but I think it’s inevitable. Rangers and Celtic are among the top 10 teams in Britain and some of the biggest teams in the world and they should be competing at the highest level.
I think it’s inevitable there will be changes.
"
And Desmond certainly isn’t alone in such a belief.
Rangers boss Mark Warburton agrees that the Ibrox club and their Glasgow rivals will one day count themselves among the Premier League’s member ranks.
"I am sure sooner or later, some time in the future, not saying the near future, I am sure that will happen,” he insisted, per PA Sport (h/t Eurosport.co.uk) just days after Desmond’s own remarks—with Celtic manager Ronny Deila also echoing a similar sentiment. "It takes time but Celtic is a team that should have the opportunity to play in the best league,” he said.
And yet while Scottish rhetoric perpetually links the Old Firm with the English top flight, those south of the border continue to rebuff it.
Back in 2009, when Premier League clubs held a vote on the possibility, chief executive Richard Scudamore called the proposal “a non-starter,” per BBC Sport.
Indeed, Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside’s proposition was rejected outright six years ago, with at least 14 Premier League clubs voting against the notion of Celtic and Rangers joining the division.
“So we’ve made a clear and unequivocal statement and we’re going to move on from there,” Scudamore said, per David Conn of the Guardian. “No means no.”
But does no really mean no? With every Scottish insistence, Celtic and Rangers seemingly move closer to forcing their way into the Premier League.
Former Rangers chief executive Charles Green even claimed that gender discrimination laws could be used to sue UEFA should they block any move by the Old Firm down south, per Matt Barlow of the Daily Mail.
Green wasn’t exactly the most believable figure—given that he has now been taken to court himself over allegations of fraud, per Andy Newport of the Scotsman—but his comments illustrate a growing doggedness about Celtic and Rangers’ increasingly concerted efforts to join the Premier League.
As Green pointed out, there is in fact precedence for cross-border leagues within UEFA’s catchment, with the BeneLeague—a joint Belgium-Netherlands women’s football division—running from 2012 to 2015.
And of course, the English top flight isn’t strictly English as it is—with Swansea City among its 20 member clubs. Little over a year ago Cardiff City also counted themselves a member of the Premier League elite. So why should Celtic and Rangers be considered an exception?
As things stand, the answer is one of historical origin—both Old Firm clubs have played in the Scottish leagues since the day of their establishment, while Swansea City signed up to become founding members of the Football League in 1920.
Quite simply, things are the way they are because that’s how it has always been—and that might be a rather difficult paradigm to shift.
For Celtic and Rangers, the benefits of joining the Premier League are obvious. In the Scottish leagues, both clubs are deprived of the resources and finances to equip them at the top level of the European game.
Against the riches of the English top flight, teams north of the border simply cannot compete—compare the estimated £16 million per season shared across the Scottish game with the £10 million paid in television revenue per single Premier League fixture. Moving to England would allow them to cash in on their respective statures and renown.
But what would an Old Firm move south hold for the Premier League? As per Brand Finance’s most recent rankings, Celtic have a worth of around £79 million—making them world football’s 34th most valuable club brand—with Rangers also one of the most recognisable brands in the European game. Their addition certainly wouldn’t harm the Premier League’s own worth.
Arsene Wenger has confessed himself as open to the idea of the Old Firm playing in the English top flight, per Scott Burns of the Daily Express, with Harry Redknapp also an advocate of the plan to move Scottish football’s dominant pair.
It has even been reported that Prime Minister David Cameron would back any potential move by Celtic and Rangers to the Premier League—although that might have been a ploy to plunder independence referendum votes.
From a sporting perspective, though, what would English football get from opening its doors to the Old Firm?
Rivalry is the essence of football, creating compelling and engaging contests to colour the game. In that sense, the Premier League would be better off for welcoming Celtic and Rangers, regardless of the toxicity that sometimes taints the rivalry.
Another derby—especially one of the Old Firm’s distinction—would only add to the Premier League’s already-shimmering spectacle.
Yet when scrutinised further, it’s questionable whether a move into the English football pyramid would reflect the true desires of both Celtic and Rangers’ native fanbases.
Both clubs are accustomed to perennial success and European competition as gigantic fish in a disproportionately small pond.
While the financial rewards of Premier League football might be of obvious appeal to boardroom directors and executives, the same may not be necessarily said of the fans. Those in the stands value winning more than anything else.
Others may make the point that Celtic and Rangers should instead focus on improving and boosting their own native game, rather than holding such wildly fanciful ambitions. Only then may they demonstrate the kind of might that would make them irresistible to the English game.
It might not be until they do so that their Premier League switch is, indeed, inevitable.
