Scottish Football

Davo15

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May 20, 2014
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Hamden CT
Probably making a mistake starting this thread as I'm likely to be surrounded by Celtic supporters :D

Very happy with Rangers first competitive match under Mark Warburton this morning. Some weaknesses at the back and I don't think they've gelled yet but 6-2 over Hibs who gave them a lot of problems last season is a very good start. I'm happy with the Warburton hiring and the fact that he's trying to build the squad around young talent picked up from the English Championship and league one as opposed to the veteran SPL cast offs they'd recruited the previous seasons since the enforced relegation.
 
What division are Rangers a member of?

I can't seem to find a straight answer anywhere.
 
Nothing would change, they wouldn't get put straight into the PL, they'd probably have to start in league 2 or maybe a division below but it would be worth it in the long run for them.
It would be the death knell for a few other SPL clubs and also reduce their chances of revenue and exposure gained from Champions League.
 
It would be the death knell for a few other SPL clubs and also reduce their chances of revenue and exposure gained from Champions League.
Why don't they just move all the domestic leagues of the UK into one? Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all with England. Is that a horrible idea?
 
Why don't they just move all the domestic leagues of the UK into one? Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all with England. Is that a horrible idea?
Why don't you yanks go play in the Mexican league same idea ?
We want f**k all to do with the sweaty jocks thanks.
So yes bad idea .
 
It would be the death knell for a few other SPL clubs and also reduce their chances of revenue and exposure gained from Champions League.

It would actually help a lot of Scottish clubs by allowing them the chance to play in the CL, SPL only gets two spots and it's almost always taken by Celtic and Rangers. Playing in the Premier League is more lucrative than the Champions League, getting to the QF will earn a team around about $65m, when the new PL TV deal starts next season the team who finishes 20th will be guaranteed at least $155m, finish 10th and you'll get about $185m. Right now the winners of the SPL get something like £2m ($3.2m) from TV/prize money. It will increase their revenue more than the Champions League ever could.

Why don't they just move all the domestic leagues of the UK into one? Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all with England. Is that a horrible idea?

If the UK is going to play internationally as four separate countries (which I find kinda stupid anyway, we compete in the Olympics as one) I think there's FIFA rules which state there needs to be a domestic league for each country, but a situation like Wales where the biggest teams in N.Ireland and Scotland play in England wouldn't be a bad idea at all in my opinion.
 
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It would actually help a lot of Scottish clubs by allowing them the chance to play in the CL, SPL only gets two spots and it's almost always taken by Celtic and Rangers. Playing in the Premier League is more lucrative than the Champions League, getting to the QF will earn a team around about $65m, when the new PL TV deal starts next season the team who finishes 20th will be guaranteed at least $155m, finish 10th and you'll get about $185m. Right now the winners of the SPL get something like £2m ($3.2m) from TV/prize money. It will increase their revenue more than the Champions League ever could.



If the UK is going to play internationally as four separate countries (which I find kinda stupid anyway, we compete in the Olympics as one) I think there's FIFA rules which state there needs to be a domestic league for each country, but a situation like Wales where the biggest teams in N.Ireland and Scotland play in England wouldn't be a bad idea at all in my opinion.
The biggest Welsh teams Swansea and Cardiff occupy spots in the top 2 divisions of English football. I don't really understand why each country needs its own domestic league when many of those domestic leagues struggle to pay players and fill seats.

FIFA never required the USA to have a domestic league in order to compete as an individual nation. Hell, the U.S. Even had a period where they had no professional teams in the country.

Merging the league's into one big UK system shouldn't stop Wales, Scotland, and N. Ireland from competing as individual nations. They'd still have professional teams in their nations.
 
Why don't you yanks go play in the Mexican league same idea ?
We want f**k all to do with the sweaty jocks thanks.
So yes bad idea .
That's not a good comparison at all. The USA and Mexico are 2 COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND FULLY INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES. Why would you even consider merging their league systems?

Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland are commonwealths of the United Kingdom. They mostly share a common culture, language, and racial identity. And all of their domestic leagues are struggling to bring in the money required to properly run a football team today. Why wouldn't they join a much more lucrative and successful football league system? It couldn't hurt any of the teams involved.

I don't pretend to know all of the politics involving the commonwealth nations and their apparent hatred of England. Is that why many are opposed to this sort of idea?
 
It would actually help a lot of Scottish clubs by allowing them the chance to play in the CL, SPL only gets two spots and it's almost always taken by Celtic and Rangers. Playing in the Premier League is more lucrative than the Champions League, getting to the QF will earn a team around about $65m, when the new PL TV deal starts next season the team who finishes 20th will be guaranteed at least $155m, finish 10th and you'll get about $185m. Right now the winners of the SPL get something like £2m ($3.2m) from TV/prize money. It will increase their revenue more than the Champions League ever could.

Fair points but I was selfishly referring to Celtic's CL chances :) Celtic & Ranger have been the bigger road draws for many clubs, the other teams left in SPL would be losing that. And that PL $$ only counts if you're in the PL. I'm not so sure Celtic would make it into PL and if they did, if they would manage to stay up. Their spend would need to increase significantly.
 
Why don't you yanks go play in the Mexican league same idea ?
We want f**k all to do with the sweaty jocks thanks.
So yes bad idea .
mind your language and learn to have a civil conversation without name calling.
 
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The biggest Welsh teams Swansea and Cardiff occupy spots in the top 2 divisions of English football. I don't really understand why each country needs its own domestic league when many of those domestic leagues struggle to pay players and fill seats.

FIFA never required the USA to have a domestic league in order to compete as an individual nation. Hell, the U.S. Even had a period where they had no professional teams in the country.

Merging the league's into one big UK system shouldn't stop Wales, Scotland, and N. Ireland from competing as individual nations. They'd still have professional teams in their nations.

Maybe it's different for UEFA but I'm pretty sure each country in Europe needs a domestic league even if it's not fully professional, didn't the US get the World Cup in 1994 on the understanding that a domestic soccer league was going to be created? I don't think we'll ever see a full merger of the leagues in the UK but the door is definitely open for Rangers and Celtic to join one day.
 
Maybe it's different for UEFA but I'm pretty sure each country in Europe needs a domestic league even if it's not fully professional, didn't the US get the World Cup in 1994 on the understanding that a domestic soccer league was going to be created? I don't think we'll ever see a full merger of the leagues in the UK but the door is definitely open for Rangers and Celtic to join one day.
I don't understand why 2 teams would be allowed to leave their own leagues and practically destroy the rest of the domestic league. Shouldn't t it be all or nothing?
 
Celtic would spend more in the PL because of the tv contract money among other things, but Old Firm leaving Scotland would destroy Scottish Football I hope they stay in Scotland where they belong.
 
Not quite sure what the reason for this conversation is. The two teams mentioned are in Scotland, in Glasgow. The EPL is in England, a completely separate country. It's not even like they're on the border either.

Give me a few minutes, gotta go look up an appropriate Groucho quote.