What would happen if Celtic left Scottish football

I'd be flying to games instead of supporters bus... In all seriousness, id * love it, and for us to leave the huns in scotland.

 

'New' Firm of interest' to Super League, says football finance expert Kieran Maguire

Celtic and Rangers "are certainly of interest" to European Super League organisers, believes football finance expert Kieran Maguire.

While the Old Firm have confirmed their commitment to Uefa competitions, Maguire said both clubs are an attractive proposition for the ESL.

The revamped ESL proposal includes 64 teams split across three divisions.

"They're clubs with heritage and history domestically and in Europe," Maguire told BBC Scotland.

"They have big fanbases and generate clicks and interest from the media.

"I am sure the organisers would be wanting to have both of those clubs involved but it will be a merit-based competition, different to the original version which was an invite-based competition."

The original idea for the Super League surfaced in 2021 but has returned to the spotlight after a ruling by the European Court of Justice found Fifa and Uefa "abused a dominant position" by threatening clubs with sanctions and exclusion for their involvement.

A new format has been unveiled by the competition organisers A22. The proposed three-tiered system comprises the Star League and Gold League, both including 16 teams, with the bottom tier - the Blue League - featuring the remaining 32.

Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack believes the ESL will happen and fears it could further increase the financial gulf between the Old Firm and the rest of the Scottish clubs.

Maguire added: "I think a lot depends on who is going to be funding the Super League.

"If Saudi Arabia comes in via the Public Investment Fund and provides similar financial backing to what we have seen in the likes of LIV golf, then the current gap between Celtic and Rangers and the likes of Aberdeen - which is currently around £70m or £80m - would be accelerated.

"Having said that, if you are not going to be at the very top tier of the competition I do not think there would be as big a gap.

"All of the focus is likely to be on the 16 clubs who are at the top.

"If Celtic and Rangers are at that top table I think we could see a substantial increase to the already gargantuan differences in the funding in the Scottish game."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67812719

 

Celtic moving leagues would shake everything up, but ticket demand would be through the roof no matter where they play. If that ever happened, keeping an eye on www.seatpin.com could be a good shout for finding tickets. Prices and availability could change fast depending on the league and fixtures.

 

It would obviously cost the league financially, but it wouldn’t weaken competition. Domestic completion in Scotland could hardly be weaker - it would be a challenge to find another league globally where one club had been so dominant over the last decade.

 

Probably become a football deadwater, BBC Alba showing the highlights and league sponsored by Jimmy Wong in Arbroath.
Sky and the other major TV companies showing league of Wales games.
Playing 10 qualifying rounds to qualify for the first round of any European competitions.

 

Ahhh... we have literally played a bunch of them in the Champions League THIS SEASON...

• Slovan Bratislava have won the Slovakian league 6 of the past 7 seasons, including last 4 straight.
• Dinamo Zagreb have won the Croatian league 17 of the past 18 seasons, including last 7 straight.
• Young Boys have won the Swiss league 6 of the past 7 years, including last 2 straight
• Even Club Brugge have won the Belgian League 5 of the past 7 seasons
• oh yes, and Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga 11 of the past 12 seasons.

And all except Young Boys would be odds on favourites to do so again this season as things stand in their respective domestic leagues.

 

Slovan Bratislava haven’t won the Slovak cup since the 20/21 season.

Dinamo Zagreb are absolutely a fair shout, but have also only won their domestic cup twice in the past 5 years.

Young Boys - like Dynamo have only won their domestic cup twice in the last 5 years. They currently sit 7th in their league.

Club Brugge aren’t close to as dominant as us. 5 leagues in 7, and only one cup win in that time.

Bayern again a fair shout in terms of league, although again have only won the cup 3 times in the last decade.

Zagreb and Bayern are up there, but none of these teams monopolise trophies domestically the way we do. We’ve won 90% of the league titles in the last decade, and 70% of the domestic cups.


Edit - I note now that I did actually say ‘league’ originally there are teams that can match our league dominance, but I stand by the claim that there are very few, if any, who are as dominant as we are domestically.

 

I think it would be a positive for the league if celtic and rangers moved on. Most teams in the league would have a chance of actually winning, crowds would increase for most teams, and the credibility of the league would improve. Any league with 12 teams and with only 2 having any chance whatsoever of winning the league already has no credibility.

Any financial hit due to a poorer TV deal or a lack of Celtic/Rangers fans would need to be offset, but I don't think it would make a material impact especially given the additional European money that would be more evenly spread between clubs every season.

It's not going to happen but it would be great for everyone involved if it did happen.

 

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It was just to highlight that it wasnt super hard to find a slew of teams that have been dominant over an extended period in their own countries. Perhaps not to the extent of Celtic, but not that far off. Obviously no, I didn;t go rabbiting around looking at Cups, partly because most countries only have the 1 Cup competition anyhow, but also I wasn't doing a deep dive into them all, just a bunch that were off the top of my head from back when I was researching them for the Champions League previews this season.

Oh, and there is another reason why on a more global scale singular teams are not likely come to completely dominate, because unlike here there are conditions that help to balance competition, such as drafts, salary caps etc. Obviously that doesnt account for everywhere, but even still, there is no such regulation or condition here in Europe. But that lack of regulation is also why certain teams in certain countries and certain leagues in general have come to dominate over leagues such as ours, to create monopolies or duopolies.

 

20 teams in epl only 3 have realistic chance of winning it
20 in la liga only 3 have a realistic chance of winning it
18 in bindesliga only 2 have a realistic chance of winning e
18 in Ligue 1 only 1 has a realistic chance of winning it

Champions league has 32 teams in it and only 3 or 4 have a realistic chance of winning it

I dunno why people think spfl being a 2 horse race is uncommon and a problem solely in Scottish football

 

Would be out of this shithole backwater league in a nano-second!

 

If we left fans would need to come to terms with only winning a fraction of the trophies we do now. Would the fan base still be as engaged/big 20 years down the line with maybe half a dozen trophies in those years. Maybe even less.

 

If possible could Celtic not keep a team in Scotland, a team of prospects mixed with youth and use our league as a pathway to the main team who would represent us in the Euro style league.

 

I don't think anyone thinks it's a problem solely in Scottish football at all. Champions league money and dodgy foreign investment has made it easier than ever for big teams in small leagues to completely monopolise them. You can see it in even the bigger leagues now.

The extent of the duopoly (becoming a monopoly) in Scotland is very unique though. No team has won the league outside of the duopoly since 1985 and that's including a period of one of the two horses falling, between shot in the head, and then making a miraculous comeback! That's a ridiculous set up that isn't comparable to any other nations league set up. Winning a domestic treble in most nations, even in those you list, is still a relatively rare achievement. Celtic doing a quadruple treble is just unheard of outside Scotland. Sure its fun if you are a celtic fan but hardly creates excitement when you start a season knowing pretty much who is going to win it.

Nobodies fault of course. But the set up is broken and I think it would be beneficial to the league if celtic and rangers did leave. All hypothetical of course as I don't think they will, at least not for a long time.

 

Scottish football would downward spiral to the point of turning * again. That wouldn't be too far down the line. Cause I don't see where the money is going to come from to keep it functioning in a professional manor.

Small clubs rely on playing celtic and rangers 4 times at home so they can have their stands full for a change and gate money coming in. Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen would be your biggest clubs and they don't bring nearly as big a crowd to away fixtures.

Celtic and rangers would surprise people by what they can achieve when given access to bigger money. The size of the clubs would dwarf a lot of other clubs in Europe.
I don't think Celtic and rangers MUST come as a pair. But u want and need the rivalry. It's part of who Celtic are.....hating rangers and vice versa.

It's a spectacle for Scottish football when Celtic play rangers. It's the only game the English actually show an interest I'm. We can't separate Celtic and rangers from each other as they want the Glasgow derby, so do their fans and it's part of our identity to be anti-rangers, as its there's to be anti-Celtic. Separating Celtic and rangers would be like separating Liverpool and Everton while they still play in the same city.
We might not like to admit it, but we are in a stronger position when we have rangers in our league

 

It's a fair question, but surely there comes a point when the interest wanes because of the opposite reason. 10 in a row would feel like a great achievement, but would it really be as exciting to win 12 or 15 or 20? As long as rangers are close there's a banter factor, but if they shrink to become almost irrelevant I think it will become pretty dull for even celtic fans.

And 6 trophies in 20 years would still be a very ambitious target if we moved to England or a Euro league set up! 1/2 in 20 is probably more realistic

Compared to most small nation leagues, crowds would still be decent. Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen and Dundee Utd would be well supported to a level that would be comparable to the better teams in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia, etc. You'd also see renewed interest in other clubs if they start a season with a genuine outside chance of challenging for a league title. I think they would operate fine.

 

I’d be delighted to see Celtic move to a more financially rewarding league.

Today’s/this season’s officiating (like previous others) particularly with the use of VAR, looks deliberately set to continually hamper our efforts, or even worse hurt and injure our players.

Let the SPL then lie in the festering bed they've created. Without us, the remaining pathetic rabble would financially collapse in months.

 

The only way I can see that shower of * leaving is through another liquidation tbh

I mean who the * would want that mob?

Think cross border leagues is inevitable at some stage. Most leagues are becoming stale as is the champions league. New group stage was better but doesn't really change the fact that at start of the season you could confidently pick 6 of the 8 quarter finalists every year.

 

What would happen? Couldn’t give a * to be honest

 

We wouldn't win any more Scottish Cups.