The Scottish game has been declining for a while now, trapped in a catch 22 situation where the money isn't coming because the quality is declining as a result of the lack of money. The best highlight of this is the Old Firm derby, used to be a big game for people in England but now it barely gets a mention and isn't even that heavily promoted by Sky. The only time it warrants more than a passing mention of the score is if there has been some violence. This isn't helped by the moronic situation where they play each other 4 times in a season.
The decline in interest which started that spiral was probably a combination of the dominance of the Old Firm and the lack of large fan bases to support decent sized clubs around Scotland. It's a small league and simply doesn't get the attendances required. Meanwhile the other leagues around Europe have grown exponentially, increasing the disparty between them and Scotland. This was likely as a result of the aforementioned quality of league meaning it missed out on the influx of Sky money.
So then Celtic and Rangers no longer compete for the top players, quite soon after that they couldn't even compete for the decent Premiership quality players. It wasn't that long ago that the Old Firm would be a test for the top English sides, now the Championship sides would face them with confidence. It's been a remarkable and rapid decline.
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Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu
Clubs are taken over by rich owners, and then dumped. What has happened at Rangers FC could happen to any club in the UK, wages are far too high, and if people say it won't happen to Celtic, it can - no one is out of the question.
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Rangers also overextended themselves with lavish wages and transfer fees which helped them to some titles. Fans are partly culpable for this for prioritising success over the long term health of the club. Too many fans are concerned only with glory rather than finances and need to be more vocal and attentive to how their club is run.
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Ie PL is extended by 6 clubs, then a PL2, (The Championship) Ist Div (The Championship ) 2nd and a Third.
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The Premier League has enough games. We can't make the league bigger unless we add another tier.
There are quite a few problems with taking Celtic and Rangers anyway, UEFA won't like it and the English teams have no need for them. Celtic and Rangers might want it but that doesn't mean the English clubs will allow it.