Craig Whyte: Time To Leave The Spl

[gunslinger 270]

last season celtc fans thought their club were trying to get out of Scotland in a constructive dismissal fashion.

perhaps Craig will create a situation where the sfa or spl literally eject rangers from the Scottish leagues. or a situation where the rangers football club plc no longer exists but new clubs are set up. perhaps in different places.

[delparlane 5,753]

This, not interested in the slightest in the impending implosion of English football and want Rangers to have nothing to do with it. We are a Scottish club who belong in Scotland.

Second this. Maybe it's parochial, but the idea of leaving Scotland to play in England never has and never will seem right to me.

[Thermopylae 15,287]

Problem is though del Scottish football is going down the pan and we will go down the pan with it if we stay.

I have changed my mind on this up until about 5 years ago I really did think having access to the champions league made up for a poor domestic league but the lack of cash has pretty much put an end to that.

I do believe Whyte when he says he could raise £100 million of investment if we were in a bigger league

[delparlane 5,753]

Problem is though del Scottish football is going down the pan and we will go down the pan with it if we stay.

I have changed my mind on this up until about 5 years ago I really did think having access to the champions league made up for a poor domestic league but the lack of cash has pretty much put an end to that

May well be true, Therm, and maybe it would be best for us financially. If it does happen, I would still always follow the Gers (goes without saying), but I don't know...guess I'm an old dog and it's a new trick. I know you have to adapt to survive, but the whole idea just seems weird and very sad to me.

[caseyjones 3,009]

According to some, the arse has been due to due fall out of the EPL for about 35 years now.

Fixed that for you.

[baxterboy 476]

I saw this a while ago but thought it was just more of the same pie-in-the sky (we don't get a mention in any breakaway, but i assume we'd be in there, along with filth fc) ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jul/27/european-clubs-breakaway-fifa-uefa

some rationale in here (what makes it different this time)...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jul/27/uefa-champions-league-european-revolt?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

i don't think it made it to the red top rags, but i wouldn't really know.

this is, without doubt, the future.

forget the epl it will be a parochial league in ten years.

rangers and celtic will be part of a european league or a major european league group,

Glasgow along with every major city in europe will be represented. it will be a league based on cities - big cities whose teams have big supports and big stadiums. Glasgow has the prerequisite.

the blueprint for a european major league is the NFL NBA, NHL, as well as the American and National baseball leagues.

the wigans and aberdeens will play in their own domestic leagues. and they will have plenty money because they will be the place where young players for the major leagues develop.

travelling support will be a thing of the past except where clubs are in close proximity to each other, play offs and finals.

weekly plane travel for teams will, as in these other leagues, be status quo.

rangers in twenty years will be playing barcelona, real madrid man u and milan on a weekly basis. guaranteed.

why? because there's too much money in it for it not to happen.

[JograBear 1,074]

rangers and celtic will be part of a european league or a major european league group,

Sounds awful to me. We already have champions league and this new Euro league would kill it. Champions League is one of the best things in football. I dont want to see it happen every week, lets keep it special.

[thebooler 4,509]

Man city will never go bust aslong as they keep their chairman

All things being equal, he'll die eventually.

[ogbg 20]

At the risk of sounding very unambitious I'd actually be slightly concerned about joining the English league system simply because we run the risk (assuming we go in at the bottom) of not actually making it to the top. Just look at a club like Leeds. We should back the team regardless of course, but what percentage of the fan base do you think would stop turning up every week if we were stuck in League 1 for 3 or 4 seasons? I was at a Charlton match recently and the stadium was half full.

[Johnstone Burgh 1,658]

Why don't we actually try to push for restructuring here? Might as well sort our own house out instead of moving away.

[OneDavidCooper 2,505]

Why don't we actually try to push for restructuring here? Might as well sort our own house out instead of moving away.

[baxterboy 476]

Sounds awful to me. We already have champions league and this new Euro league would kill it. Champions League is one of the best things in football. I dont want to see it happen every week, lets keep it special.

the opportunity to watch rangers play the likes of barcelona and bayern and milan and arsenal every week in this euro league - which i think is inevitable in the next twenty years is, apart from revenues that will put us on a level playing field with such teams, is from a strictly football perspective preferrable to possible trips to raith rovers or livingstone or hamilton.

however, to each his own when it comes to football preference but i think the reality of a major football league based on large metropolitan centres is the inevitable for the reasons i previously stated.

i remember a time, as some others have referred to, when rangers teams were so powerful that we had no need to go into a defensive shell because our lack of finances to have players who could compete with the likes of barcelona. i remember watching us paly real madrid as a kid and playing them off the park at ibrox, and only losing because of break aways and the exquiste volley of a puskas.

i want my rangers team to have that stature and respect again in world football and i am convinced we will be there in the next 20 years because of the size of our world wide support and because of the size of city we play and the potential revenue it brings.

[ogbg 20]

the opportunity to watch rangers play the likes of barcelona and bayern and milan and arsenal every week in this euro league - which i think is inevitable in the next twenty years is, apart from revenues that will put us on a level playing field with such teams, is from a strictly football perspective preferrable to possible trips to raith rovers or livingstone or hamilton.

however, to each his own when it comes to football preference but i think the reality of a major football league based on large metropolitan centres is the inevitable for the reasons i previously stated.

i remember a time, as some others have referred to, when rangers teams were so powerful that we had no need to go into a defensive shells because our lack of finances to haveplayers who could compete with the likes of barcelona. i remember watching us paly real madrid as a kid and playing them off the park at ibrox, and only losing because of break aways and the exquiste volley of a puskas.

i want my rangers team to have that stature and respect again in world football and i am convinced we will be there in the next 20 years because of the size of our world wide support and because of the size of city we play and the potential revenue it brings.

If air travel was getting cheaper rather than more expensive then I'd be inclined to agree that something like this is very likely. As it stands I don't see many folk paying for return flights all over Europe every 2 weeks.

[ogbg 20]

Why don't we actually try to push for restructuring here? Might as well sort our own house out instead of moving away.

If we could somehow get 2 teams consistently getting into 3/4th positions and at least challenging for 1/2nd and qualifying for Europa League then TV companies might take more interest.

[AlCapone 7,678]

Sounds awful to me. We already have champions league and this new Euro league would kill it. Champions League is one of the best things in football. I dont want to see it happen every week, lets keep it special.

The champions league is dying

[baxterboy 476]

If air travel was getting cheaper rather than more expensive then I'd be inclined to agree that something like this is very likely. As it stands I don't see many folk paying for return flights all over Europe every 2 weeks.

as i mentioned, travelling support at grounds that are not within fairly close proximity, for the most part, will be a thing of the past even with low airline tickets.

this is a shame really but will, i think, nevertheless, come to pass. the NHL and NBA etc. are the precedents for this new order.

if you look at the games in these leagues, the home stadiums are sell outs with very few opposing fans in attendance - because of the distances involved, the cost of travel and no seats available for opposing fans because of season ticket holders. sure, the special energy is lost but if you have been to a Monteal - Toronto NHL game where there are few opposing fans it is still an electric atmosphere.

the major exceptions would, of course, be derby games like rangers v the scum, man u v city and milan v inter etc.and playoffs where opposing fans would be present.

[baxterboy 476]

If we could somehow get 2 teams consistently getting into 3/4th positions and at least challenging for 1/2nd and qualifying for Europa League then TV companies might take more interest.

with all due respect, tv companies with the money necessary to make rangers competitive with the milans and madrid's will never be interested paying for scottish league games because we do not and never will have the population necessary for their interest. no small country will ever have it. the powerhouse that rangers or ajax were in the past just cant occur again because of their small domestic market.

you'd get money from stv or such like but it would be peanuts compared to the money big tv will shell out for metropolitan clashes like a rangers v arsenal game or a scum v man u game.

the money is massive and the clubs and tv companies know it, thus it will come to pass

[ogbg 20]

with all due respect, tv companies with the money necessary to make rangers competitive with the milans and madrid's will never be interested paying for scottish league games because we do not and never will have the population necessary for their interest. no small country will ever have it. the powerhouse that rangers or ajax were in the past just cant occur again because of their small domestic market.

you'd get money from stv or such like but it would be peanuts compared to the money big tv will shell out for metropolitan clashes like a rangers v arsenal game or a scum v man u game.

the money is massive and the clubs and tv companies know it, thus it will come to pass

I agree with that. I think we could aspire to the sort of level of Portugal with the right setup.

[MosesMcNeil 1,664]

the money is massive and the clubs and tv companies know it, thus it will come to pass

The end. In my lifetime - every major decision regarding football with regard money has resulted in pursuit of the money.

Scottish fitba - home gates to be kept by the home team, club revolt predicted, result? Home gates kept by the home team.

English league - Premier league proposal, club revolt predicted, result? Premier league is duly created.

UEFA - Champions league to be extended to incorporate non-champions, club revolt predicted, result? 4th placed teams competing in the Champions league.

There are many more examples.

[Sicknote 26]

smoke and mirrors

[mattymckayloyal 1]

Eventually a European Super League will happen... we just need to make sure we are invited to the party.

The fact the CL is starting to lose popularity a bit, and FIFA/UEFA are out of favour, might get the Real Madrids and Barcelonas of this world to act sooner rather than later.