I sat on Silver!

I could not have put it any better myself.

You persistent son of a ***** - OK the answer was...drum roll - FUCK THE ENGLISH!

Alluding to the fact that Englishman don't run Westminster for the benefit of their 'own' people (Welsh Irish and Scots are not included in the term 'their'), is just as delusional as thinking that Jews don't run America. BARMY! OK - I'm now off to look up some moon landing conspiracy theories and get back into my 'mental block'...

No I don't - the mother of my child is English. It would be irrational to hate any one nation. However, I 'do' hate what their governments have done to our country (Scotland) through its 'continuous' discriminatory economic policies. I've also lived in England for a significant portion of my life and I can guarantee you that the vast majority of their citizens don't give a flying f**k about us (Scots). That's all.

Cheers for the history lesson. I think (hope) you'll have got my point though?!

The SNP's (proposed) anti-bigotry legislation is a shambles and (I predict) will fall squarely on its arse. We shouldn't be getting too upset about just yet. As far as being a Rangers supporter goes - well I am, and a fucking good one at that, and that means I can vote for whoever I please - that includes the SNP! The English (bastard) governments have been sticking it up our Granny's holes forever, and now they're trying to stick it up ours and our ma's & da's too. But hey, that's a political debate. Let's talk about football - fuck politics and its association with religion or 'The Union'. Rangers is my religion and Ally McCoist is my God - until he fucks up once too many times that is!!!... WATP!

Well said Rod! Some people are saying it would be a sore head! I don't think so... your format makes that clear.

Something like that - no-one who's that nimble on their feet could ever be a straight shooter!...

Yes and that's Platini's fault for making an already rocking ship let in more water - and pish water at that... These bastards are allowing stolen oil and gas money to dictate who's successful in Europe - time to leave!... Bati, Anzhi, Shaktar et al - who the fuck are these people? - We had to play that Anzhi mob near Auschwitz their place is that much of a war-torn midden!!!...

It's hard to better the ones you've listed. Trevor Steven at right back 92-93 season was an eye opener.

Nothing doing that weekend... http://www.rangers.co.uk/page/fixtures/0,,5,00.html Maybe we'll get a another friendly with Liverpool on the go?...

The European competitions are so corrupt in their format that I don't want to participate in them. Champions League!!! We've now had same country finals from 3 countries: Real v Valencia 2000 AC Milan v Juventus 2003 Man U v Chelsea 2008 And don't bet against another this year - it's a fucking joke - oh and who competed the Europa League final in Paddy Land this year? A couple of teams from Portugal... On a positive note I like the idea of The Royal Cup!!! Up until 1904 Norway and Sweden were The United Kingdom of Norway and Sweden, and with The Dutch, ourselves and teams like Royal Antwerp and Royal Standard Liege, there would be a fairly uncomfortable theme running through it for a certain team!...

TV audience is (potential) - the figures were merely being highlighted to show the size of the AL to the EPL (England has a population of exactly 50 million). Stadium sizes, quality and capacity also dwarf the EPL - those were the points I was trying to make. The Parken or Craven Cottage? Amsterdam Arena or Goodison Park? De Kuip or Ewood Park? Ibrox or The JJB Stadium? And that's me not mentioning the worst of their middens down there. In these countries they also have 'standing' areas which a lot of clubs create by removing seating for specific games - there would be Summer Football and I'd bet you that 'IF' UEFA 'did' want to have representation from the AL - the clubs would be banging at the door of the super powers of European football for winning it. There are so many positives and so little negatives to the idea. Attracting top players and the standard of football being the main ones! Not to mention the potential worldwide markets it would appeal to...

I agree 100% - fuck them - The Beggars are a necessary evil. The rest can go to the wall for all I care. I met a Partick Thistle supporter a couple of weeks back and told him I'd bought a 'Save The Jags' t-shirt back in the mid 90s when they were going tits up. I thought he'd appreciate it... How wrong I was - all he did was give me a diatribe about us being 'sectarian scum'. I was in his shop at the time so I quickly (but aggressively) threatened him with arson and promptly left!!!... Fuck the lot of them...

Well said Ped!...

Portugal - as well as Austria and Switzerland, that were mentioned earlier, would complicate it and be difficult as regards to travel. Also, when you look at the clubs already in the North Atlantic we wouldn't need them. Portugal wouldn't go for Summer football either.

Looks good to me! Just goes to show how many decent teams are out there that would be a great league...

This is a good idea but the reality is that smaller clubs wouldn't have the finances to participate in a North Atlantic League system. They would only be financially capable once they've grown within their own domestic set up. The Dundee clubs, for instance, are clubs that would not be able to participate right now, but with some domestic success and an increase in attendances and revenues, they 'would' be in a position to move up. I did have another thought. and that was regards stadium size. If you've not got a 20,000 seater, then you shouldn't be in AL 1 and the cut off for AL 2 would have to be 15,000 or so. Clubs would need to invest in their overall infrastructure in order to get a place at the table...

I'll get back to you on that one once I've all the facts - but I'm sure I heard something about him and the De Boer twins in a dirty dirty threesome!!!...

Yes that's true - but it would never happen. England aren't EVER going to allow anyone else in to their 'wee thing' and as for the rest - Italy Spain Germany - they're all getting a decent deal at the moment - guaranteed Champions League etc. So the prospect of any rival break away leagues are remote to say the least.

A good point and not easy to overcome - especially the commitment thing. But where there's a will there's a way! People from Iceland come down here (Glasgow) on a Thursday to shop because they can save so much money - Glasgow and back on the same day. Icelandair provide the scheduled flight. Supporters clubs would need to be well organised in chartering flights and (you're right) the airlines would need to do their bit - but that lot like bums on seats (it helps their share price!) and I think they would react to it and provide a sensibly priced service. Aberdeen and Inverness aren't exactly cheap on petrol and I think the lure of a beautiful summer's day in Stockholm, Amsterdam or Copenhagen would be very very appealing as opposed to a cold, wet and windy winter's night at McDiarmid Park!...

Thanks for saying that. Any good young Scottish players are now heading south - it's sickening. We need to provide a platform that they would want to play in as well as a platform that the cream of Europe would want to play in also...

There are a lot of things that I like about Scottish Football too. The only problem is there's nowhere to go in it - nothing to aspire to... Your points are valid and I had posted this on the assumption that all the association league clubs (inc clubs like Dundee, St Johnstome et al from here ) would be vying to win their own domestic league and get into a play-off for entry to AL 2 (structure would need some thought). The standard of football would rocket and there would be no more free lunches being provided by the Old Firm - if you're not big enough and don't have the backing, then get to fuck!!! SIMPLES! :-)

OK so this one's not for the faint hearted so stop reading now if you think the Atlantic League is a crap idea. On the other hand, if you think it 'is' a good idea, then keep reading - I'd be delighted to hear any counter arguments/suggestions etc. I'll try not to bore everyone to death on this so here are a few FACTS! The prize money for winning the SPL is approximately 2.5 million. The worldwide market for Scotland is purely based on Rangers and Celtic. The prize money for finishing in 17th position in the English Premier League (EPL) is 3.2 million! I.E. Just surviving and not getting relegated. The worldwide market for the EPL is based on Man U and lots and lots of 'hype' about the others!!!!!!!!!!! Here's the countries that would be involved in a proposed Atlantic League (AL) and their populations. (TV Audience does 'not' include potential worldwide markets). Country Population (Millions) Belgium 10.3 Denmark 5.3 Netherlands 16.7 Norway 4.9 Scotland 5.2 Sweden 9.0 Total = (TV Audience) 51.4 That would make it the 4th largest in Europe with only Germany, France and Italy having greater populations. Bigger than Spain and England and with the potential for an AL 2 - I've looked at this and the potential for 2 leagues of 12 (with a split in the top one) and a play-off system in AL 2 (similar to English Championship) would be awesome. AL 1 might look something like: Team Stadium Capacity AIK Stockholm Rasunda Stadium 35,000 Ajax Amsterdam Arena 52,960 Anderlecht Constant Vanden Stock Stadium 26,361 Brondby Brondby Stadium 29,000 Celtic Celtic Park 60,832 Club Brugge Jan Breydel Stadium 29,042 FC Copenhagen Parken Stadium 38,065 Feyenoord De Kuip 51,577 Malmo Swedbank Stadion 24,000 PSV Eindhoven Philips Stadion 35,119 Rangers Ibrox Stadium 51,082 Rosenborg Lerkendal Stadion 21,166 454,204 AL 2 might include: FC Twente Gothenburg Braan Bergen Standard Liège Hearts Aberdeen Utrecht Hibernian Den Haag Valareki Lyngby Djugardens Viking Stavanger I would bet that all teams listed here (and there are more) would increase in size and support. The reality is that the 6 games played on a weekend, in AL 1 ,would have a combined attendance of 220 - 260,000 as opposed to 80,000 that currently make up the average SPL weekend attendance. 3 x as big!!! My own thoughts are that this league would have a massive potential and would get big clubs like ourselves and Ajax back to being bigger than the likes of Blackburn and Swansea!!!!!!!!!!... It's a fucking no brainer!... TV money and sponsorship would be rolling in (especially from Easy Jet!!!)... Thoughts/suggestions/reality checks etc are ALL welcome... WATP!

I know what you mean. It doesn't seem feasible but it does work. Man United's expansion gives you an excellent insight into how it would be achieved. Their ground was a pig sty when I was first there in 1993. Since then they have built it up bit-by-bit. As they have done so, the (outside) of the ground has got ever more complicated - there's actually a tunnel you can drive through now at the base of the stadium - MENTAL. That's actually what would have to happen if we expanded the Govan. A third tier on it would only 'slightly' overhang the current rear section (just like the rear overhangs the front) . I'm using Man U's expansion as a concrete example because ours would be very similar. I must say though - when thinking about a season ticket - no one with vertigo need apply!!!...