Celtic were close to being offered a route into English football- for £100m.
Back in 2002 the Football League was left reeling after the collapse of ITV Digital threw the finances of many big name clubs into peril.
ITV Digital had promised to pay close to the amount of money that Sky was putting into the EPL but the plan lacked depth with the parent group abandoning ship in March 2002.
One solution for the clubs was a new look competition including two clubs from Glasgow with Celtic regularly making noises about trying to find a route south.
Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan discussed the issue on TalkSPORT this morning with the Daily Record listening in:
In 2002 when the ITV Digital deal collapsed and there was all this stuff going on, there was me, Manchester City, Birmingham, Wolves – all the clubs talking about a Phoenix League, a breakaway league to get away from the Football League, because the Football League was so intransigent and ridiculously unprofessional.
And part of those discussions were Rangers and Celtic coming down. I was in the camp for them to come down, but pay a bounty, pay a couple of hundred million quid; they can afford it on the basis of their share price and whatever else was happening because they would probably go into the Premier League as a result of it.
Clubs in the EFL are still seriously in debt with Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday under scrutiny after selling off their grounds to stay on the right side of Financial Fair Play, last season Birmingham City had a points deduction for breaching FFP.
Celtic pick up less than £4m for winning the SPFL which includes broadcasting money and sponsorship with virtually all away matches broadcast live on Sky Sports and BT Sport.
Would £100m be a price worth paying to join the EFL?
Yes, money well spent to fulfil potential
No, we are a Scottish club. End of
Almost 20 years after the proposals discussed by Jordan it seems that Celtic are no closer to finding a league set up that matches with their infrastructure and fan-base.
