I would love to see both clubs join the premiership, and I agree once they settle in both will be top 8 clubs.

Both are in debt though at the moment and would need a transitional period to bring in better players but their home form would be enough to keep them top 10 for their first few seasons.

Then who knows.

I think it would be far easier for them to attract top players if both played in the premiership, and both Celtic and Rangers would improve as a result.

I doubt there would be a single Scottish player in either side as no Scots are good enough to play in the premiership who currently play in Scotland and who are on either clubs books.

It would be beneficial to the premiership though as both are huge clubs with massive support.

IMO it would be fairer to start both clubs off in the 1st or 2nd divisions though. This way premierships chairman's cannot do anything to block their accession to the premiership.

Of course this would still be unfair to other clubs in the lower leagues so perhaps a second premiership could be created of the top Scottish clubs and the top half of league one.

I would be also in favour of merging all the leagues to have one British league format, but where the would fit in I'm not quite sure.

think both teams will join the premiership in the next few years, and think they will do well after a small transition period. will make b it a lot easier to watch the bohys for fans down south- both on tv and at away games.
however, cant see formation of a british league as this would probably lead to the demise of the scottish fa and seperate national teams. i know some folk wouldn't have a problem with this- scotland may not have the strongest team at the minute, but there are some good youngsters coming through the ranks at the minute, both in the scottish and english premiership.

not great for travelling for all clubs concerned really is it.

This has been a talking piont for a while now. Although it will benefit the two clubs financially it could ruin the scottish leagues as crowds are low in scotland and only the two 'giants' of scottish football bring them in on a regular basis. However, it will mean better chances for 'smaller' clubs to win cups and the league, but would the UEFA pull out the european places as they know Rangers or Celtic wont be there? They have only just added another Champions leagues place for the league?

A move would not be good for scottish football with regards to the national team IMO, as I think if either Rangers and Celtic join or get promoted to the Prem then they like other teams may go for a larger amount of foriegn players leaving the scottish players that are in the squad to drop to lower divisions, saying that most of the scottish national team are made up of lower division players.

Talk of a super European league has been thorwn around, this would free space in the premier league with promotion possible to that. A British league system would be good but would it include N.Ireland and more Welsh clubs?

Check this on Celtic (http://worldsoccer.about.com/b/a/138822.htm)

Originally posted by brooksy
not great for travelling for all clubs concerned really is it.

Agreed, Southampton V's Rangers: travellers advised to set off a week early:gag:

The most interested variation I heard on this theme was a while back and was the idea of regionalisation of the league structure.

From what I can remember, the idea went something along the lines of this:

Instead of the football leagues been arranged how they are now, they would be split into regions, for example Scotland, North England, East England, West England (possibly including Wales), South England, and finally London.

For each region there would be a mini league, with each team playing all the others in their region a number of times. At the end of this, the top side (or top 2 sides) would progress through to a secondry league system or cup style knockout tournament to determine the Overall winner.

Again (as with most things) there are pros and cons to this, but I think it's quite a good idea that could work, if done properly.

What it would mean is that the smaller clubs (those currently in Coca-cola leagues in England and lower leagues of Scottish football) get to play reguarly against the big boys of the current premiership, so making the sharing out of the TV money better and long term hopefully closing the gap between those big clubs and the rest.

All of this would of course run alongside the FA Cup, League cup and Scottish cup.

It would also still allow the Scottish FA to continue operating, as they could be given control over their regions league (provided they stick to the general structure and plan outlined and used by the rest).

Obviously it has it's drawbacks, but I think it would be an interesting shake-up.

I think the problem is there would be several side effects which people are whying away from. One would be a certainty, the others a possibility.

The certainty would be the end of fully professional football in Scotland.

Some of the possibilities are
1. a Greater polarisation of rich and poor in the professional game
2. Would there then still be a justification for a seperation between the maintainig of seperate England and Scotland national teams? (I suppose it could still carry on, as Cardiff and Swansea both play in the English league)

I believe the main motive for Celtic and Rangers joining Englaish league would be short term and financial (mainly to the benefit of TV companies)

Good point about the National sides, I had not considered that.

I think the Premiership would benefit as a whole with 2 massive clubs like this joining it.

As I said I would support a total merger of all the teams in Scotland into the English league to form a British league, obviously travelling would be a factor and some of the smaller clubs would need subsidising in this department.

The big questions is where do you start them? Apart from the top teams all other Premiership sides are going to vote against it because it would mean these taking their place. The only fair way is to start them lower down.

Another idea as a trial would be to turn the League cup into a British cup allowing Scottish teams to play in it. It would certainly make things more interesting.

Yes I think have some sort of home nations tournament seperate from the League might be a better idea.

And wouldn't the Celtic and Rangers fans get a bit fed up of having to travel several hundred miles minimum to ever go to an away match?

The League cup would be an excellent starting point as the cup seems to have lost importance and it would re-ignite the excitement.

The fans could be a dilemma but from another angle, I happen to know there are lots of Rangers fans around these parts who would no doubt relish the opportunity to see their team.

Yes the two clubs have a big enough following around the country to give them a good away crowd although it would be annoying for the fans in Glasgow. They are not too far from Newcastle though, the Jocks V's the Geordies!

I think a british cup would be a good replacement for the league cup, a home nations super cup or something with a champions league place to the winner!

If Celtic and Rangers joined the premiership, would UEFA expand the quota for clubs competing in the Champions League? Because unless they let about 7 or 8 teams from the premiership in, Rangers and Celtic wouldn't have a hope in hell of qualifying for it.

A far more sensible (and interesting) option would be to merge the english and scottish league cups, and perhaps the irish and welsh too.

I don't have a problem with Celtic and Rangers attempting to join the Premiership, just as long as they start at the very bottom rung of non-league football and they work there way up.

I mean, I'm not having my beloved Blyth Spartans position jeopardised by those Glasgow types ;)

Would they be keen on joining?

At present they are, more or less, guaranteed places in European competitions every season.

I know they rarely get very far but it does provide additional income via gates and TV money etc.

Also, because they are regularly in European competitions, it acts as a draw for so-called big-name players they like to sign.
And because they have the additional money from Europe, they have the cash to pay the wages big-name players require.

If they threw in their lot with the Premiership, they may not be guaranteed the Euro income.

Then they may not be able to afford big-name players, etc, etc.

In my earlier post dishwasher i put in this link (http://worldsoccer.about.com/b/a/138822.htm) Celtic are very much in favour of joining. Yes, they are usually guaranteed a place in the european competitions but this only occurs once a year and as you said they do not go far. Playing in the premiership means playing against the top european clubs on a constant basis which gives the top players a bigger incentive to join the clubs and a bigger wage than they could command in the Scottish leagues.

Ticket prices in the Scottish leagues are generally lower than the Premiership, they go to grounds with half the capacity of most prem' team grounds so income is lower than what it could be. They rely on the European cups for the money but if they were in the premiership it would be an added bonus for them more than a lifeline to keep players.