Ger'd your loins! Glasgow Rangers will be playing in England within FIVE YEARS

[ian1964 10,448]

says Ibrox chief

 

Charles Green says Rangers could start in the Conference and work their way up, Celtic are coming too â?? and he'll use EU law to force it throug

 

Glasgow Rangers will be playing in England within five years, the Ibrox chief executive has predicted.

 

And Charles Green insisted the inevitable arrival of the Old Firm will also benefit the game south of the border.

 

The most successful club in Scottish history are ready to start in the Conference and play their way up to the Premier League. And the outspoken *Yorkshireman is prepared to go to court to remove a rule he judges is a restraint of trade as blatant as Bosman.

 

But Rangers want to be wanted. And Green insists the Ibrox clubâ??s demotion to the Third Divison, a softening in UEFA attitude and the economic crisis have given fresh impetus to a perennial debate.

 

â??Whether it is next week, because the English authorities change their mind, or in five to 10 years, Rangers and Celtic will leave Scotland,â? Green stated.

 

â??I would like to think within five years. I say to English clubs: Donâ??t be afraid of the unknown. There will be cross-border leagues and that will change the face of European football. These doors are opening.â?

 

The financial benefits to *Scotlandâ??s big two are obvious. Celtic will earn £2.4million from TV for winning the SPL this year while Rangers, who can win the Third Division title this weekend, will bank only £10,000 for 15 live matches. And the impact on Scottish football is debatable, with Green offering to leave a colts team in the Third *Division.

 

But the problem is England does not want them. In 2009, when Bolton floated the idea of a two-tier Premier League to include the Old Firm, the proposal was quickly sunk. And new broadcasting deals are worth a staggering £5.5bn over the next three years. Why would Premier League clubs outside the elite want rivals for their top-flight place? Why would England want Rangers and Celtic?

 

â??Why would football clubs or football authorities not want Rangers and Celtic?â? responded Green, whose club sold 38,500 season tickets in the fourth tier of Scottish football. â??If they say: â??It wouldnâ??t add anything into the gameâ??, they are lying.

 

â??I watched Southampton play Wigan. The stadium wasnâ??t full â?? there were empty seats. Now there is no way on Godâ??s earth that any team that Rangers play will have empty seats.

 

â??That is what football wants â?? to bring the money in. Not just to keep banging Rupert *Murdochâ??s door and say we want some more money.

 

â??When you say the English FA and Football League donâ??t want us, when you look at some of these clubs, Portsmouth have gone bust three times in four years. Two English clubs have come to me and said: â??Buy us and close us down. Take us for free and take on the liabilitiesâ??.

 

â??I have spoken to a number of chief executives from Premier League clubs â?? and all of them would welcome Rangers. Of the people I have spoken to directly, or people on my behalf have spoken to, throughout the leagues â?? 20 â?? only two have said no.â?

 

Going bust and reforming in the Third Division has given an alternative route down south. After winning their 54th title or reaching the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, it would have been hard to argue for joining English non-league football. But after falling out with the Scottish authorities â?? Rangers still donâ??t know which division they will play in next season â?? that is now the plan.

 

â??I donâ??t want to go into the Premier League,â? Green claimed. â??It would be wrong. If the Premier League sent me an invite saying we could start next year, I would turn it down.

 

â??I donâ??t want to go into the Football League. But what I do want to do is to start playing football in England, and knowing that if I win that league, I get promoted to the next one and the next one. And no one can stand there and say we canâ??t get promoted because you are a Scottish club.

 

â??Could you imagine the income generation Rangers and Celtic would create in the Conference? Every Conference stadium would be full. And then to work through the leagues over the next three or four years would refresh English football because this staleness that is affecting Scottish football is prevalent here.â?

 

Ironically, as payers of taxes to the British treasury, Green insists Rangers have the right to play in England.

 

â??Under European law, *(stopping us) is categorically a restraint of trade,â? he claimed. â??It is clearly the same law as Bosman. If people think that is right, they are in cloud cuckoo land because it is not right. I am an outspoken *Yorkshirman, I call a spade a spade and I say it. Others whisper in corners and I think it is wrong.

 

â??Now if we are not good enough, and the Football League clubs vote that they donâ??t want us in, I accept that. That is fine. But donâ??t tell me there is a law that is outside of the laws of this country and outside of the laws of the EU.

 

â??I donâ??t ever want to go to court. The club secretary is in contact with the FA to try to fix an *appointment for me to meet them. This is not Cheryl Cole v Ashley Cole. We want to talk face to face.â?

Greatest bargain ever in football

 

As a striker for Barnsley, Gainsborough Trinity, Goole Town and Cheltenham, the Glasgow Rangers chief executive Charles Green never went full-time for financial reasons.

 

â??There was no money in those days,â? said the Yorkshireman, 59. â??If I had gone full-time I would have been £60 a week worse off.

 

â??I was a fantastic goal scorer. I wasnâ??t like Messi but there was no-one in England who could catch me. I was so quick.â?

 

After retiring at 28 to start his business career â?? and including a spell as chief executive of Sheffield United â?? Green led a consortium which took over Rangers last May and formed a new club.

 

It is now debt free and valued at around £50million â?? with Green owning eight per cent.

 

â??Buying the players, the assets, the history for £10m is the best deal that has ever been done in football,â? he said. â??Ever.

 

â??When I first went there, it was purely a business opportunity. Buy it for X, sell it for Y, make Z. But then of course I found it wouldnâ??t be that simple.

 

â??Stayed longer. Now it has taken over my life and I feel a huge responsibility to the clubs and the fans and the wider community.

 

â??And if we look at values in England, Manchester United â?? the worldâ??s biggest sporting franchise â??, is valued at £3bn, Arsenal at £1.5bn.

 

â??Rangers in the Premier League would be worth a minimum of £500m and arguably why not £1bn. Where would we sell? Why would we sell?â?

Could Rangers and Celtic move happen?

 

The English football authorities have repeatedly stated they are not interested in importing the Old Firm.

 

In March 2012, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: â??Our rules are simple. It says weâ??re a league formed for clubs that play in England and Wales. I donâ??t see that ever changing. I donâ??t see that changing on my watch, not that my watch may last for long. Thereâ??s more in it for them than there is for us.â?

 

A Football League spokesman: â??It is not an issue that is currently on our agendaâ?.

 

But the Scottish Football Association would not oppose cross-border leagues played under UEFA.

 

In January, president Campbell Ogilvie said: â??The current Rangers scenario, or certain clubs maybe wanting to play elsewhere, I can understand that. The slight change this time is with UEFA, there has been a softening.

 

â??They are opening up more to this cross-border idea. I donâ??t know where thatâ??s going to go but even if it goes somewhere itâ??s not going to move forward significantly in the next two or three years. We embrace looking at that though.â?

 

Aticle 51 (1) of the UEFA statutes states: â??No combinations or alliances between UEFA member associations or between leagues or clubs affiliated, directly or indirectly, to different UEFA member associations may be formed without the permission of UEFAâ?

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/exclusive-glasgow-rangers-celtic-playing-1783049#.UU-UmQZaoZU.twitter

[blueflag 378]

if the epl offered me a free pass tomorrow I would refuse it.

 

 

 

nearly fell off the couch trying stop sniggering at that moonbeam

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[GovanAllan 0]

............shut up Charlie.

[Bluedell 5,356]

I guess he's just saying this to ramp up pressure on the reconstruction vote but I'd rather hear about specific plans to improve scouting and youth development.

[der Berliner 3,286]

Gersnet is a strange place at times. One day, we could not leave the SPL-creeps and Scottish football behind quickly enough. The next day, when our CEO talks about it and actually has some back-up, people decry his opinion and call it e.g. moonbeams. It must be the weather ...

[Bluedell 5,356]

Gersnet is a strange place at times. One day, we could not leave the SPL-creeps and Scottish football behind quickly enough. The next day, when our CEO talks about it and actually has some back-up, people decry his opinion and call it e.g. moonbeams. It must be the weather ...

 

I can't speak for anyone else but I'd prefer if he'd concentrate on improving the internals within the club for a while and speak about that. He's already talked about joining England a few weeks ago. There's no need to repeat it. Stuff like that does have its place but not all the time.

[djbroxybear 0]

Charles why do you keep mentioning the Savile Dome they don't give a fuck about us so fuck them.

[der Berliner 3,286]

Ain't that part of his job, especially if the press comes calling? IMHO, people should relax somewhat in this day and age. You are being pounded by information from every angle and it is only natural that some of it is becoming repetitive. That does not tell you much about Green's daily routine or work though. And if he gives an interview every other week, so be it.

[Bluedell 5,356]

Ain't that part of his job, especially if the press comes calling? IMHO, people should relax somewhat in this day and age. You are being pounded by information from every angle and it is only natural that some of it is becoming repetitive. That does not tell you much about Green's daily routine or work though. And if he gives an interview every other week, so be it.

 

What's frustrating is that he doesn't have an answer for the question on youth development or scouting. That's also part of his job. When asked a few weeks ago about it he just spouted out something wooly about never being satisfied but could not highlight one single initiative or plan as to how things will improve in that area.

 

That does tell you something about his daily routine.

 

He should consider not making a comment on occasions. He should be trying to charm the SFL clubs to try get them not to vote in favour of 12-12-18 and not annoying them with this talk about moving to England talk.

[aweebluesoandso 290]

Charles What league are we going to be in next year? That's our main concern imo.