Former Celtic hero Joe Ledley has questioned whether Scottish football would survive if the Old Firm went to England as Rangers boss Michael Beale admitted the prospect of the Big Two in the Premier League would be “very interesting”.
Welsh star Ledley spent four years at Parkhead and cited the example of one of his other former clubs, Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham playing in the English league set-up as an example of how it could happen with the Hoops and Gers.
It’s a topic that has been debated for years with the two big questions how the pair would fare and what would happen to the clubs left behind. Ledley, 36, told Grosvenor Sport: “It would be fantastic to see the two of them in the Premier League, and it would enable everyone to see just how big they are and the atmosphere they create not just at home but at every away ground too. Of course, my old club Cardiff along with Swansea and Wrexham, have been in the Football League for decades.The negative question is would Scottish football survive without these two because they bring so much in terms of revenue?
“They would probably have to come in at the bottom and work their way up, but it’s definitely something to talk about because it would be a massive positive for the Football League and, of course, the clubs themselves.”
Beale was asked about the same topic on a BBC Scotland interview and has plenty experience of English footballing having worked at giants Liverpool as a youth coach before assisting Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa and managing QPR before returning to Rangers.
The Londoner said: "What I would say is that you can't see the size of a club down to the finance they are given by TV companies. The size of a club is the fan base and the potential of the club to grow. Here in Scotland, our finances that we get is much smaller however I think we have two super-clubs in the size of their fan bases and the expectation is absolutely huge.
"That's comparable to very few in the Premier League and certainly it's comparable to the teams in the top ten. The Championship is a very competitive league having worked in it because it's very, very equal but there are no teams in the Championship that compare to the size and statue of Rangers and Celtic that's for sure.
"In the top division, I would say anyone in the top ten. I think they have had ten or 15 years most of those clubs in the top ten of Premier League money. If you were to give two or three years of that money to Rangers and Celtic I think it would be very interesting. I would love to see a day that it happens but I think if it was going to happen it would have happened by now."
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