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old firm at wembley? lol


linfield1690

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The organiser of the International Champions Cup, Charlie Stillitano, thinks the Old Firm would appeal down south.

 

 

 

 

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Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Edgar Davids and Scott Brown help launch the International Champions Cup

SOME people will call it American Pie in the sky.

But Charlie Stillitano believes Rangers and Celtic fans across the world would bite his hand off to see the Old Firm get it on outside Glasgow.

And if it were down Wembley Way, the New Jersey-based football tycoon believes there wouldn’t be a spare seat in the house.

Stillitano has the ability to make it happen. And the tournament to facilitate a meeting between Celtic and Rangers outside the city’s boundaries for the first time.

His International Champions Cup is already bursting at the seams with most of the world’s biggest clubs and this year, for the first time, Celtic have been invited to the party.

Relevant Sports Chairman Charlie Stillitano (left), Celtic captain Scott Brown (second left), Edgar Davids and FAI chief executive John Delaney (right) at the Aviva

Stillitano believes Rangers, now that they are back in their own top division, can have a role in the competition and if and when that happens, it makes perfect sense to have them play Celtic.

After all, as he says, if he can organise a Manchester derby for Beijing in July, what’s to stop him doing the same with Glasgow’s big two at England’s National Stadium?

Stillitano was in Dublin this week with Scott Brown and Edgar Davids to promote the Celtic-Barca clash at the Aviva Stadium on July 30, and has no doubt that a Celtic-Rangers clash away from Glasgow for the first time would be a massive box office attraction.

And while he reckons that taking the game to the States or to Australia may not have the appeal it would have had a few years ago, the New Jersey-based events supremo, who handled much of the organisation of the 1994 World Cup in the US, is convinced that Wembley would work.

Celtic captain Scott Brown (left) and Edgar Davids at the launch of the International Champions Cup match between Barcelona and Celtic in the Aviva Stadium

Stillitano said: “Celtic v Rangers would fill out Wembley, 100 per cent. That would be wonderful. We had Manchester United v Liverpool as the final of this tournament in 2014. They didn’t want to play each other but they ended up meeting in the final in Miami and it was a great occasion.

“We have the Manchester City v Manchester United in China this year. If we can put on a Manchester derby in Beijing, we can put on a Glasgow derby.

“I think Wembley would be perfect for it.

“It would be fantastic and having it at Wembley would be spectacular. I think it would be a personal goal of mine to do that.

“I love both clubs. I brought Rangers over to America under Dick Advocaat then Alex McLeish. I deal with Peter Lawwell regularly and we’ve brought them over many times.

“So for me, it would be a wonderful thing to do. And I don’t think the safety issues would be insurmountable although it would have its challenges.

“We had in the past considered trying to organise one over two legs. Rangers v Celtic in Toronto, where there are a lot of Rangers fans. Then another game in Boston, where there are a lot of Celtic fans. A home and away scenario.

“But a game in London would be amazing. I’m not sure what the authorities would think but Wembley is used to hosting big games all the time.”

The US-football guru is adamant that Rangers’ fanbase across the globe makes them eligible for inclusion in his tournament at some point in the near future - particularly as they will be back in top flight football next season.

Willie Vass

Mark Warburton salutes the Rangers fans as he holds the Championship trophy aloft

“The fact Rangers are back in their top league and playing Celtic again on a regular basis gives the Scottish game one of the biggest fixtures in the world again,” he said.

“Would we like them both to be involved in the ICC? Of course, we would.

“We would love to stage a Celtic v Rangers game. We have had conversations with Peter Lawwell at Celtic and Martin Bain, when he was at Rangers in the past, about the topic.

“The fans would love it in the US or Australia; places where there are lots of fans with Scottish heritage. They would absolutely love it.

“We wanted to get a tournament together with the great rivalries of world football. River Plate v Boca Juniors, Celtic v Rangers.

Andy Halliday gives Scott Brown the eyes

“But getting that organised is much harder than you think. There are security concerns but they can be overblown. I ran the 1994 World Cup at Giants Stadium and we were shown all the various security issues but America is a different world. We’ve not developed a super player yet but we know how to put on a show.

“In America, the Rangers and Celtic rivalry is more friendly than it is back in Scotland. There was a lot of fervour when I was younger about Celtic and Rangers but you now see dads with Celtic or Rangers strips with a son or daughter who have a Barcelona or Real Madrid strip.

“Those are the teams all the kids talk about these days and Messi and Ronaldo are the players they all talk about.

“Could a Rangers v Celtic match sell out a huge US stadium like the Met Life (former Giants Stadium) with 80,000 fans? I don’t know but I’d sure love to find out.

PA Wire

The Celtic and Rangers teams walk onto the pitch for the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final match at Hampden

“But I am sure it could fill Wembley.”

This year’s International Champions Cup will take place on Australian, Chinese, North American and European soil.

Melbourne Victory, Spurs, Juventus and Atletico Madrid will face each other down under, while the Manchester clubs and Borussia Dortmund are involved in China.

Celtic, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, PSG, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid will play their games in the US and in Europe.

Celtic host Leicester City at Parkhead on July 23, five days before heading to Dublin to take on Barcelona. Their final group match will be against Inter Milan on August 13, with the European venue still to be finalised.

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What a day out that would be, would be absolute carnage .  :lol:

No chance will the cops allow this to go ahead...

This guy has no idea what he's talking about if he thinks the Manchester derby in Beijing is in any way comparable to the Old Firm playing at Wembley.

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only if it were a "friendly" game. if we had to play league games down there i'd be pissed. 

maybe we'd actually be able to sell out wembley. that FA cup semi final (most recent game i've watched that was at wembley) was a joke. they can't even sell out their national stadium? so many empty seats.

both clubs would make up 90,000 no problem. give a ticket to every season ticket holder. don't know how much the filth have but next season we'll have 40,000+ no bother. 

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9 hours ago, Prso's headband said:

Na fuck that. Hope we don't get sucked into rubbish like this or playing an extra game in China or something. Money is ruining the game

yeah fuck spreading our name and brand acrossthe globe, gets you nowhere as a football club

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9 hours ago, Prso's headband said:

Na fuck that. Hope we don't get sucked into rubbish like this or playing an extra game in China or something. Money is ruining the game

Bullshit its not ruining the game in Scotland - We have no money.    Only by trying to broaden interest can we ever hope of expanding the Scottish game through the injection of some real cash.

Old Firm in Bangkok r Beijing would be more interesting than Wembley

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29 minutes ago, Willis said:

yeah fuck spreading our name and brand acrossthe globe, gets you nowhere as a football club

I didn't say that at all. I was talking solely about this extra game, old firm global game rubbish. 

Why the need to play an extra competitive game in another country that has a bearing on a Scottish football league being won or lost? 

And why render the old firm like any other game and make it like a friendly for a few quid so Asians or Americans can have a watch it? Way OTT 

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5 minutes ago, siddiqi_drinker said:

Bullshit its not ruining the game in Scotland - We have no money.    Only by trying to broaden interest can we ever hope of expanding the Scottish game through the injection of some real cash.

Old Firm in Bangkok r Beijing would be more interesting than Wembley

 

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8 minutes ago, jackunion said:

Imagine the battle for Trafalgar Square the night before the game 

Doubtful. The taigs wouldn't bother turning up as they know they'd get skelped

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