Robbie Copeland takes your calls as an age-old debate comes back to the table and the Hotline isn’t having it
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It’s been a while since we’ve had a good old ‘what if the Old Firm went to England’ debate, but here we are again!
Former EFL chairman Keith Harris claimed he had an agreement in principle to make the unthinkable happen all the way back in 2002. And as you’d expect, the Hotline has some thoughts…
John Scott, Grassmoor, said: “There is no doubt in my mind that some day Rangers and Celtic will need to move to a more affluent league. The longer they continue to fail in Europe, it will be inevitable. However the story of their collaboration in 2002 to join the English Championship made me smile.
“Keith Harris states that Hearts and Aberdeen would have been in a position to win the league. At that time Livingston and Hibs were finishing third. Ironically Aberdeen were saved from relegation given Falkirk’s ground did not meet the standards of the Premier League. Also at that time the split was introduced. Pretty pointless with no Rangers and Celtic.
“So either there’s moves in the pipeline now, or Harris’ recollection of events is clouded by his lack of knowledge of the Scottish game 20+ years ago.”
Steven Anderson, Coatbridge, said: “The English Championship for Rangers and Celtic? I’ll crack the jokes… The likes of Bournemouth and Sunderland are thriving in Europe after a few years lapping up the Premier League TV money. Give genuine big clubs like the Old Firm a slice of that pie, with 50k+ home supports behind them, and they’d be challenging at the top within a year or two.”
Paul Reilly, Larbert, said: “Let’s face it it’s never going to happen, but if it did, there’s only one club from Scotland that English football would welcome. And ***spoiler alert**** it’s not Rangers!
“If the Ibrox side want to hang onto our coattails like they’ve done for years up here then we can’t stop them, but they’d get left in our dust down there just like they have been in the SPFL for the last 15 years and counting.”
Moving on, Willie Mercer, Dumfries, responded to a call on yesterday’s Hotline as he said: “I wholeheartedly agree with caller Gary Hart about the poor standard of Scottish football and the gulf in quality between our top flight and the Championship down south, never mind the Premiership, and the need for something to be done to improve the quality. To my mind Craig Mulholland is looking at things from the wrong angle with his incentives to the Scottish Premiership teams to field homegrown young talent in the cup competitions.
“This scheme would not only be fragmented, but be limited in the numbers it benefited. A scheme that would offer a continued benefit to the development of homegrown Scottish talent, and have a greater numerical impact, is to incentive the lower divisions, for playing young, homegrown Scottish talent in their first teams, rewarding financially for each player played per game played. “A structure such as this would also loosen the monopoly the Old Firm have in this market, which does more to stifle development of young talent than it does to develop it.”
Elsewhere Harry Kane became the first English player since Michael Owen to win the Ballon d’Or after averaging more than a goal a game for Bayern Munich. You can’t really grudge him it… or can you?
Stephen Johnstone, Ardentinny, said: “Harry Kane of Bayern and England wins the Ballon d’Or 2026 and becomes allegedly the greatest player on the planet, but our very our own Scott McTominay of Napoli and Scottish international is a contender next year if he keeps fit. He could become the first Scottish player after missing out last year as he is a better, meaner leaner player than Harry.
“If it were not for Sir Stanley Matthews’ 70th Anniversary, held in London and outside Paris for the first time, I don’t think Harry Kane would have won it. Lamine Yamal met the criteria with medals won where Kane did not just like the 1966 English World Cup.”
And Fleetwood sending Arsenal packing from the EFL Cup has got one regular caller talking as Stephen Mulhern, Dumbarton, said: “Minnows Fleetwood turning over Arsenal in the cup must surely go down as the English equivalent of the greatest cup shock of all time. It’s certainly on par with the Jock Wallace inspired Berwick Rangers’ incredible victory over Rangers back in that memorable year in 1967.
“I have fond memories of obtaining goal hero Sammy Reid’s autograph when he later signed for my local club Dumbarton. Happy days indeed!”