It looks unlikely to happen now.
For years there’s been talk of Celtic and Rangers, Scotland’s most successful and widely supported teams, joining England’s lucrative Premier League.
No concrete plan was ever put forward, and current Premier League clubs were unlikely to be happy losing two spots in the division to their neighbours from the north.
One possible scenario involved the two Glasgow teams joining the lowest league in the English Football League, and working their way up the divisions to the top flight.
However, a meeting between the EFL and its 72 clubs appears to have ended any chance of that occurring.
The clubs have rejected any non-English clubs from joining the EFL in the future, and also ruled out Premier League “B teams” joining in the future.
The EFL consists of the Championship, League One and League Two, and they met to decide whether to expand to have another division, creating four leagues of 20 teams.
They would have needed another eight teams to make it happen – which potentially opened the door to Celtic and Rangers. However, they have decided that if they do create a League Three, the additional teams would come from the National League, the fifth-tier of English football.
An EFL statement on the decisions reads:
“Following a meeting of its clubs on Thursday (22 September), the EFL confirmed that the inclusion of Premier League B Teams, clubs from non-English leagues or those outside the English football pyramid will not form part of any ongoing discussions for the ‘Whole Game Solution'”.
Celtic and Rangers move to English football doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon, if ever.
