Jose Mourinho would love to see Celtic playing in the Premiership.
The Chelsea boss has won titles in England, Italy, Portugal and Spain but knows that few clubs have the magic of Celtic.
With the second biggest ground in Britain Celtic are ideally placed to add to the ‘Premiership brand’ a unique combination of history, passion and drama, even though bookmakers like BitBet.com would have them as massive outsiders if they were to enter the league.
Stars such as Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Clarence Seedorf have gone on record with their admiration of all things Celtic with the Chelsea boss in no doubt that the hoops would bring a new dimension to the Premiership.
“Ive thought a few times over the years about Celtic moving down to England,” he told The Sun.
“When I have been in England I have asked my colleagues why Celtic are not playing in the Premier League. They are a big club, with a big support and a famous history.
“They had a strong run last season in the Champions League, but they will always be limited because competition does not seem to be there for them up in Scotland.
“It wouldn’t be easy to make it happen, the problem would be an agreement with teams who would not want to drop out of the leagues down here.
“Even if they started at the very bottom, I don’t know if it could work but it would be a great match home or away.”
Celtic have been looking at ways to play in a more competitive, and commercially attractive, set up for a number of years with most fans happy to trade off guaranteed European football for a weekly set up involving more competitive matches against other clubs capable of making an impact in the Champions League.
Joe,good article.
I would go as far to say,I would give up the prospect of ‘ 10 ‘ to play in England.
Sky losing the CL to BT in 2 years,could be
the dealmakers.Money talks.They would
not place us straight into the Premiership.But,I could see us starting just below, in the Championship.The financial benefits for clubs their,would be
enormous.I can see them agreeing.
But,if we get the green light,in the future.
We should go ALONE,with no hangers on.
Celtic Park,when in the Premiership,would
have to increase capacity to 80,000.
Our Irish friends,who go to Prem. games,
would be at CP every other week.
I live for the day,Celtic Park,is a focus for
the footballing world.
I totally concur with your comments Peter, I just wish it were sooner but hey I can wait.My only concern from a financial point is , do we really want premiership admission prices especially if we managed to qualify for the final stages of the Champions league? Imagine paying the prices such as Arsenal are demanding of season ticket holders, although it would be a nice problem to have.
peter,the support should be here every week
Could ye AYE…
Will absolutely never happen, especially when Scotland becomes independent! They wont just let teams from outside theur precious union stroll into their professional leagues! Celtics only chance of playing in england is through celtic nation, already an established lower league club based in carlisle
Chris,
I respect your view,but I disagree.
Cross-border leagues are soon to be implemented by UEFA.
In 2 years,Russia and the Ukraine are
amalgamating their leagues,with UEFA’s
blessing.
So, I don’t see why our famous club, cannot seek pastures new, in England.
Scotland has as much chance of independance as Celtic playing in the EPL…. zero to none! Nothing but a pipedream…
Just curious, but when the Lisbon Lions were smashing their way across Europe, during the 60’s & 70’s was there talk of Celtic playing their football in England?
It’s a lot of shite & will never happen, not because I have said so, but because EVERY single EPL chairman have said so!
Celtic should follow Jock Stein’s ethos, ” Build a side for Europe & Scotland will take care of itself”!
If we played in England we wouldn’t win anything & never play Champions League!
Why would any Celtic fan want that?
It doesn’t make any sense! HH!
Monti, I have to disagree with you regards Celtic not winning anything and never playing in the Champions League were Celtic in the EPL. Celtic would have access to the massive finances currently enjoyed by the current clubs in the EPL and would therefore be able to compete with them in attracting top players. In fact, Celtic has the potential to financially out-compete most of the EPL clubs. It may take a few years but I have no doubt whatsever that Celtic would become not only a force in the EPL but become a major force on the European stage.
@Lord Lauchlan,
It would be interesting to see us in the EPL & with the money available, maybe in time we could challenge.
The big hitters Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool & Man Utd would be too much for Celtic over a season though m8.
I agree Celtic would also have a far stronger appeal & team,however could we say to a prospective top signing, we will be in the Champions league, year after year? No.
In terms of maximising Celtic, it would be wonderful….but the English chairmen & FA, simply don’t have the will to involve us!
The future for Celtic is to play in a bigger league. Whether that’s some European lower league hybrid or the epl or some other yet to be seen invention. We simply cannot go on the way we are. Our fantasy football only happens against foreign clubs. Our domestic pursuits become less exciting every year. I’m sorry but I feel this is true. HH.
Cardiff? Swansea?
I certainly can’t see Celtic playing in the EPL. Not because we lack the ability, but because the EPL managers don’t want us there — and they’ve made that abundantly clear in the past.
We can talk about starting off in the Championship or an even lower English league, but if any English managers in lower-than-the-EPL leagues thinks that their team will be relegated or miss promotion due to Celtic being allowed entry, they’re going to vote against Celtic’s admission.
THAT’S why the EPL don’t want us. It would mean an EPL bottom half team would certainly be relegated — and turkey’s don’t vote for Christmas.
And by the way Thai Tim, Cardiff and Swansea were “grandfathered in” simply because they were ALREADY playing in the English league before the EPL came into existence.
I wouldn’t want Celtic playing in the EPL with some of the utter dross down south like
West Ham – Cardiff – WBA – Fulham – Stoke – Crystal Palace et al apart from the big 4 plus maybe Spurs & Liverpool the rest are not worth bothering about.
With the imminent removal of cross country borders, I would much rather go for a Euro league…while I don’t see Celtic being a top 20 European side even a Euro 2nd division would offer better entertainment / competition with such as Ath. Madrid – Spurs – Monaco – AC Milan – Sport Lisbon providing a greater attraction than the perennial fixture fillers of the EPL.
Why would we play in England?
In footballing terms it’s as foreign as Spain.
It’s bad enough having anglophiles across the city, never mind within our own support.
If a European league – with access for all clubs – is not the answer then we need to concentrate on improving our own league.
We need to STOP buying foreign duds like Murphy, Stokes, Bangura, Juarez, Pukki etc and concentrate on bringing through young talent from the youth side.
Any players we buy should be from other Scottish clubs in order to keep money in the country and to make the prospect of better players wanting to sign for Scottish clubs.
Totally agree Michael I would loved to see us signed the likes of Gauld and Armstrong from Dundee United they would’ve been awesome for us
Maybe I am mistaken but I thoughtn it would be against UEFA rules for one club from one country to play in another countries league. Obviously I know of the Welsh clubs playing in the English leagues, but I do not know how this came to be.
Another thing I noticed this posted on Facebook and the reaction of the English supporters was disgusting to say the least. I truly believe they think we still live in the dark ages and are all a bunch of troglodidites it is a disgrace
Never going to happen time folk realised this and simply moved on as it is not in the interest of the smaller sides in that Division.
If David cameron is serious about scotland being an integral part of the United Kingdom then he could prove it by bringing pressure on the e p l to include at least one scottish team, worth a thought !
Who cares wot that minger says the anglish leeg will go pop soon so wits the point wae folk still harpin on wae this guff. Scots fitbaws no the best but we wer once a power in europ & will again wen Fitbaw becomes a fair game & the cheetin stops(ie-clubs wae haff billion £ debts). It awe revolves in circles a new dawns comin ask the sevconians ther experts????
A complete none story, A SHAMEFUL LOAD OF CRAP.PS ANY HOOPS FAN WHO VOTES FOR ANY UNIONIST PARTY………SHAME ON YOU FFFFFFFFRRRRRREEEEEDDDOOOOOMMMMMMMMM
“but they will always be limited because competition does not seem to be there for them up in Scotland.”
Trouble with posting. I wanted to comment on this statement. The lack of competition has a big impact but the real spoke in the wheel, Jose, is the gross imbalance of cash available in England from TV money.
H H
I think the Scottish league is getting better, and by the time the old firms are back we could have Aberdeen and Dundee utd challenging us.
See if the good players right now stayed within this league and teams strengthened then in a few years we could have 3 or 4 teams regularly in Europe until new year and beyond.
Get a few quid back into our game and make it a great league again.
That’s my dream anyway HH
Hey Kiddo,
Has nobody told you,there is NO OLD FIRM !!!
CELTIC is a real club built to last and not rely on just tv money
only way the Scottish league will become more competitive is iif celtic go backwards …time we moved