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Warburton Optimistic Of Old Firm In English League


Shuggy

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From the BBC News Website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34417034

It's that old chesnut again, but who knows? If Warburton thinks its going to happen, I hope he is right.

As a thought experiment, if the English clubs had let us in back in 2009, I am pretty sure the Murray/Whyte/Green story would never have happened. But what about HMRC? So, its all Richard Scudamore's fault!

Rangers manager Mark Warburton believes including his side and Celtic in a British league would help keep top-flight football fresh.

The Englishman believes that, while there are a lot of hurdles to overcome, it will happen "sooner or later".

"What dominates is TV money," said former Brentford boss Warburton.

"It's a different financial climate down south than north of the border and they're always trying to keep the product fresh."

Six years ago clubs in England voted against admitting Celtic and Rangers to a Premier League second tier, with the league's chief executive Richard Scudamore describing the proposal a "non starter".

Despite that, Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond has spoken this week of his hope that the wide attraction of Glasgow's two biggest clubs can bring about change.

"You get to the stage eventually where team X and team Y don't have the same appeal to the average man on the street, whereas Manchester United versus Rangers or Celtic versus Arsenal etc is new, it's fresh, global fan bases - it's another level of excitement," Warburton said.

"Ask any football people down south, they recognise the potential in clubs such as Celtic and Rangers.

"But there are many, many hurdles to overcome - where would they go, what level, how would they get in, how do you start that process?

"It'll take a smarter man than me, that's for sure.

"Sooner or later, sometime in the future and I'm not saying near future, I'm sure that will happen."

Asked if he fancied his squad's chances against some of the teams in England's Premier League, he added: "Let's be realistic here and keep the conversation serious, I think.

"You have to respect the money down south, the work being done building squads and teams. It would be very foolish to be disrespectful of that fact.

"The size of the clubs, the global attraction - don't forget they're starting to talk about Premier League games taking place in New York or this type of progression.

"If that's the case, the global fan base and the attraction of Celtic or Rangers is obvious."

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i think a lot of people wouldn't mind us going to england or being in a british league. but are we prepared to not win any premiership titles for a long time? we'd need a lot of money to compete with their top flight teams. we might not even get placed in the premiership.

right now it's just a big what if. we shouldn't even be worrying about this right now. let's focus on becoming champions of scotland once again and put that lot in their place.

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I'm 50/50 about this. Would be great revenue, away days etc but can I really cope with Rangers not being in Europe for years? I know we aint been there just now but its only a matter of time and more often than not weve finished 1st to get into Europe.

Also winning the leagues, could we really sit back and say its fine if we don't win anything? Never acceptable in a Rangers jersey and I think the novelty of playing Man Utd, Arsenal etc would wear off after a few years.

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I'm 50/50 about this. Would be great revenue, away days etc but can I really cope with Rangers not being in Europe for years? I know we aint been there just now but its only a matter of time and more often than not weve finished 1st to get into Europe.

Also winning the leagues, could we really sit back and say its fine if we don't win anything? Never acceptable in a Rangers jersey and I think the novelty of playing Man Utd, Arsenal etc would wear off after a few years.

If it were to happen we would eventually get back into Europe and with the income we would be receiving we would be in a much better position to challenge to actually win European trophies with the quality of player we would then be attracting.

It's not about the novelty of playing Man Utd and Arsenal, it's about the club becoming better off overall. Has the novelty of beating Celtic not worn off yet?

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A British League is only likely as part of a pyramid structure underneath a European League. I would think a two tier European League would come first, with regional leagues feeding that. I would expect Rangers to be invited into the European League.

I'm pretty certain this is what the ECA was formed with the intention of developing, either in or out of UEFA. It is a distinct possibility in the next 5 to 10 years, particularly if the EC is able to break down the national restrictions on broadcasting rights, which they seem determined to do.

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We could fill out a 70,000 stadium every other week if we had teams like Arsenal, Man Utd, City, Chelsea and Liverpool coming up every other week. The money we'd make on season ticket and match day tickets alone, would dwarf the money we make in this tin pot of a league.

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I would never say never, Indeed I would like to dream that we could one day compete Financially and on a football pitch with the Teams in the EPL, We are certainly a Bigger Club than a lot of the current clubs that are playing in it.

I personally don't see this happening in the next 10 Years, but money talks and one day we could well be going head to head with the best that comes from England & Wales..British League sounds good to me...

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I'd much rather we built Scottish football into something a lot better and more competitive than it is just now. I have zero interest in joining the English leagues.

Yes we owe Scottish football so much after all they treated us so well in our hour of need. Had we been n England we'd have been booted from pillar to post with other clubs and their fans wanting us extinct. Yes indeed Scotland is much more impartial.

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Never going to happened. Especially is Nationalists get their way.

Would love it though. It would be great to see us welcome Man Utd, City, Arsenal and Stoke City rather than dross like Ross County, Hamilton and Celtic.

Haven't we all spent most of our lives dreaming about playing the mighty Stoke?

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