By Andrew Warshaw
January 10 – No sooner have plans been announced to revolutionise Scottish football’s league structure than one of the country’s two most famous names has poured scorn on the new proposals.
Rangers chief executive Charles Green says the beleaguered Glasgow giants, who for decades vied annually with Celtic for supremacy before being plunged into debt and demotion, will consider quitting Scottish football if plans to restructure the leagues are pushed through.
Clubs are set to vote on a proposal which would create three divisions, with 12 teams in the top two leagues and 18 in an enlarged third division. Rangers, under their new guise, lead the current third division by 17 points and Green believes the proposed new structure will be counter productive for the 54-time Scottish champions who have won more domestic league titles than any other club in the world.
“If that’s what we have sat here eagerly awaiting, my advice is the quicker we can leave Scottish football the better,” said Green. “We might as well have a winter break from now until August. I can’t see any point in carrying on with meaningless matches.
“I can’t see anything that is going to transform the finances, the status or the excitement. If this does happen, what is the point of us finishing the season?
“In what league do you win a division and then end up playing the same teams again the following season? There is no meaning to it, in reality.”
Although UEFA and FIFA are opposed to cross-border leagues and England’s Premier League have rejected the notion of welcoming the Old Firm (Celtic and Rangers), Green says Rangers must leave their options open.
“On first glance, of course, there is nowhere for us to go. Hand on heart, there isn’t an option but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start looking. If all we have to look forward to over the next four years is more madness then we would be failing as directors not to explore the alternatives.”
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