Just Say No To Celtic And Rangers

Nothing against our neighbours as such, it just makes me feel uneasy. I know money shouts loudest in football but why should we accept two massive clubs with gigantic fan bases into the English league and who on earth is going to vote for that to happen?

If you're the chairman of Bolton, Blackburn, Wolverhampton Wanderers, or even Sunderland, why would you vote to allow two rivals, with more financial muscle than you, and considerably bigger followings, to come and play in your league when the gap between the rich and poor is already an unbridgeable chasm.

Now, I know Welsh clubs play in English football, but how can two Scottish teams play in the English league when the Scotland FA has made such a song and dance about refusing to allow any Scottish players represent Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics.

The Scottish FA want to remain separate for obvious reasons, to protect their national side from Fifa's meddlers who could, in theory, say we should have a British team for international competition not four separate ones.

However, they don't want to mix and play nicely at the Olympics so why should it happen week in week out in the Premier League?

As for the supporters, well they cause enough headaches for police forces up and down the country when they play in pre-season friendlies and who can forget how well Rangers fans behaved when they travelled to the Uefa Cup final in Manchester last year?! I can't see PC Plod giving the idea any support either.

No I reckon the Glasgow giants would be better focussing on revised attempts to create a new North Atlantic League incorporating the big clubs from Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Holland.

All of those league are struggling to compete in Europe and have significant financial trouble keeping pace with the rest of the continent. This could be a timely shot in the arm for all of them, while also potentially spicing up European matches by creating a league which is strong enough to compete with England, Spain and Italy.

However, isn't it sad that this what football has become? Scottish teams, like the Dutch, Swedes, French and Greeks, used to stand toe to toe with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, AC Milan, Juventus, Real Madrid and Barcelona with at least a fighting chance of victory.

Now we are talking about the need to scrape their domestic leagues in a bid to ensure their biggest clubs are able to survive on the continent. It's the way of the world where capitalism rules but that doesn't make it right.

Progress always seems to come at a price and it's the poorest who end up paying for it.