Every six months another story seems to surface that Rangers and Celtic are headed south. In recent weeks, Craig Whyte has been said to have been having meetings about moving his club out of the Scottish leagues. But as guest writer Fraser Wilson explains, it’s probably time the Old Firm picked up their ball and just cleared off…
It’s been brewing and going off the boil for over ten years now, but still the Old Firm aren’t content with Scottish football enough to show it the respect it deserves. News this week that new Rangers owner, Craig Whyte has been eyeing up a “back-door” entrance into the English or a new Atlantic league has raised the issue again of the two ugly sisters leaving the SPL for a more lucrative, better quality of league. But what they seem to forget is that it is them who – largely – have ruined the beautiful game here in the north.
Walter Smith’s success during the nine-in-a-row era was to be admired, bringing back an era of Scottish football success – albeit relative success – on the European front that was in danger of being forgotten. But it came at a price and that price saw Rangers try to buy success in Europe.
Coupled with Celtic’s attempts to spend big to stay in touch with their bitter rivals, and the successive rein and expenditure of Dick Advocaat at Ibrox, Scottish football and Scottish talent became polarised – it took a back seat whilst a handful of class foreign acts and a sackful of foreign misfits flooded the Scottish game so that the Old Firm could try to keep up with the Jones’.
And what for the rest of us? Well Dundee United, Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibernian and even Kilmarnock under Bobby Williamson battled it out for third place and European scraps while the rest yo-yo’d between divisions. The rest of us became the forgotten men of Scottish football, the men who paid the price for having a smaller bank balance, and as time has gone on, we became the men who have drifted further and further off the pace.
Even now when the Old Firm fail to keep up with even the smallest of teams in Europe – Kaunas or even FC Sion – and one half of them is on the brink of administration, they remain streets ahead of the rest because of their bank balance.
The rest just have to suffer; the rest just have to survive.
Sure Vladimir Romanov offered hope with his introduction as owner of Hearts, and for half a season they genuinely looked like stealing the title from the Glasgow pair; potentially the first time since 1984/85 when Aberdeen won, until Vlad the Lad showed his true-hand as an unpredictable nutter and the pantomime of Tynecastle began.
If the Old Firm finally get their wish, Scottish football will be rejuvenated, it will be fresh again and it will be competitive. Between Motherwell in third and Dunfermline in ninth, there is only seven points of a difference. When the going is good, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hibernian have a fantastic support – home and away.
Ironically Killie have a pretty average home attendance – Michael Johnstone’s failure to do anything for his fans in lieu of ticket prices sees to that – and a new, vibrant, plentiful band of merry men ready to follow them to grounds throughout the SPL. On January third last year, they took over two thousand fans to New St Mirren Park, more than any other team in the SPL including those bampots from Glasgow. When they were in the First Division even, harking back to 1992, Kilmarnock had the best away attendance outside the Old Firm – not bad for a team from the Scheme.
There are positives out there in Scottish football and there are genuinely world class players coming through the ranks – granted most will be poached to go down south or play for Ireland, but if the Eredivisie, Swedish Allsvenskan, Danish SAS Ligaen and to an extent the Bundasliga can succeed despite losing players to better leagues, and still provide a competitive national side whilst they’re at it, then why can’t we?
Scottish football was at it’s greatest and most revered when our leagues were our own. When it was Scottish through and through, made by girders and all – before the Old Firm started their nonsense and flooded it with money that it turns out they didn’t have.
Scottish football needs a shake up to be great again, we can all agree on that. If that means saying cheerio to the ugly sisters, then so be it. So long as they clear off quietly and show the rest of us some respect on the way out.
Fraser Wilson is a journalist and football commentator. He can be followed on Twitter @FRAZWRITER.
Typically ignorant comment from yet another blinkered fool who can’t tell the difference between Celtic and Rangers. I’ll grant that as a fan of neither you have the right to dislike the pair equally, but to descibe them as essentially two halves of the same arse shows a lack of understanding.
“Old Firm started their nonsense and flooded it with money that it turns out they didn’t have.”
Quoted from above. Exactly how much do Celtic owe for spending money they didn’t have?
Celtic are distinct from Rangers, not the same as you seem to think. Rangers cheated financially, Celtic did not.
Get you facts right.
I agree with Allan, Celtic and Rangers are different in almost every possible way other than the fact that they have outgrown the league they both currently play in.
I also agree that the old firm leaving the Scottish league would be better for the rest of Scottish football. There would be zero money from TV to spend on players so any decent player would be picked up by the old firm or an English club for next to nothing. Fans would probably increase at first and for a decade or so but young fans would rather support a big club in a big league than a small club in a potentially amateur league. It would wipe the decks of all the clubs struggling at the lower levels and this would be sad for the fans of those clubs and nostalgia but I suppose this would be called progress. But if this meant that it created a new attitude to youth football in Scotland I would support it all the way. To have a successful national team at the expense of a Brechin or Cowdenbeith and a decent national league is a price I would be willing to pay.
“Scottish football and Scottish talent became polarised”
It was not the fault of old firm that Scottish football became shit and our national team suffered. remember that thing called the Bosman ruling where players could leave clubs for f all and foreign players could now play in whatever league they wanted to.
Remember all those foreign donkeys that played for the dundee utds, kilmarnocks hibs etc. The old firm did not bring them to Scotland. Those clubs did that themselves.
If I remember correctly – Dundee UTD played without any Scottish players what so ever. Other clubs where not much better, Rangers and Celtic included.
You have a short memory and this rant is stupid with hardly any facts. Tut tut Frazer
Aside from a completely ignorant and, quite frankly, pathetic article, there’s one major sticking point.
“Scottish football was at it’s greatest and most revered when our leagues were our own. When it was Scottish through and through, made by girders and all – before the Old Firm started their nonsense and flooded it with money that it turns out they didn’t have.”
How do you explain, then, that Kilmarnock only have 9 Scottish players in their full 28 man squad?
Oh, sorry. You can’t.
And i’m sure the Welsh clubs will agree with how blossomed and mature their league is without the big clubs.
The old firm are only still here, playing in Scotland, because the English leagues don’t want them. If the English were willing to accept the old firm in any capacity they (and yes they are 2 cheeks of the same arse) would not have been seen for dust many years ago.
The Scottish leagues still have them as historically they have been here and as they have no where else to go they refuse to stop paying all the lesser teams.
If the English or Atlantic league want to take on the violence and bile associated with this pair then let them do it, however I doubt it very much
If the Old Firm do leave Scotland (which is pretty unlikely) for a league such as the EPL, then guess what, they’ll stop winning trophies.
Consequently, their great armies of rent-a-club supporters will move on to pastures new, such as Man United, Chelsea, Man City or even a club in the SPL that is winning trophies in the Old Firm’s absence. Be careful what you wish for Craig Whyte and co, glory hunters don’t much care for mid-low table finishes.
They say the truth hurts! seems to be true in old firm land.
So only one half (for those of a sensitive nature) has overspent. I seem to recall the arse was all but out of the biscuit tin when the bold Fergus appeared over the horizon.
It seems that there is only one thing old firm supporters hate more than their old enemies and that’s having it pointed out how alike the two lots are.
If we turn the clock back a few years till the time when the Scottish teams began to struggle in Europe then forward to the point when that fate started to include the Old Firm much wailing was heard in deepest Glasgow.
It’s all the fault of the “diddy” teams we’ve no competition at home, and the press would join in by lambasting the next layer of teams for lack of investment and ambition. Of course this lack of competition did not stop the Old Firm hoovering up any of the available talent from the “diddy” teams to make sure the competitive advantage remained.
Unfortunately some of those running the next tier of clubs took notice of the press and let the egos take over. Money that these clubs certainly didn’t have was speculated on players and their wages with the result that they still were nowhere near competing with the Old Firm and the clubs were soon carrying ridiculous levels of debt which in most cases they are still struggling with.
The Old Firm need to make up their minds as to where they want to play their football. They are “Scottish” teams and if they want to remain that they need to recognise the size of the country and the TV audience and the likely amount of money in the Scottish game. There then needs to be a levelling of the playing field and of course the resources to give others a chance to compete. (Last time I looked, it took two teams to have a football match yet in this country very often only one team takes most of the income.) If we don’t move in that direction it’s only a matter of time before there are only two teams left. Despite the hype and the TV’s desire for OF games this will soon get pretty boring. If boredom doesn’t kill it off then I’m sure that some of the tripe, which accompanies the fixture will have the authorities helping it on its way.
If the Old Firm really wanted to play in England they could have done it years ago. There have been plenty of teams in the south in financial difficulties over the years which could have been acquired for a song (in OF financial terms) and renamed accordingly. The whole operations could have been relocated and memberships of the leagues acquired at the same time. Scottish head offices moving south is not exactly something new.
The Old Firm don’t really want to move out they just want to whine about it – to have their cake and eat it!
i’m english and i’m one of thousands of supporters who hate the thought of ANY scottish team in english football…….we’ve got to get the sheep shaggers out….
The author of the blog should read this http://www.rangerstaxcase.com
There’s only been one team spenidng the money they don’t have.
we english dont want either of them down here,anti english to the core.and can there be any difference between the ira and uvf.stay in scotland,you’ll be independent soon..hooray.