THE Old Firm leaving Scotland, specifically somehow to the English leagues, is a story which has been recycled more often than a Bob Monkhouse joke.

The reasons why Celtic and Rangers would like to find a split in the space-time continuum, which would allow them access to operate south of the border are obvious. Why any of the four senior leagues, who are doing rather nicely as it is, would want either club, however, is more difficult to fathom.

Those at the top don’t need the likes of Real Madrid to make ridiculous amounts of money.

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A quick glance at how much has been spent so far in the transfer window – over £800m and counting in the Barclays Premier League – suggests they don’t need a helping hand from Glasgow or anywhere else for that matter.

And those in the bottom two leagues would surely not fancy the idea of two big clubs with more money than them getting a VIP pass to the party, as it would likely hamper their own chances of promotion and progress.

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However, here we are again. There is more talk, and perhaps this time it is more than just idle chat, of Celtic and Rangers being given a glimmer of hope about one day being Premier League clubs who in about ten years’ time will have a television package worth close to £20bn.

Shaun Harvey, the English Football League chief executive, put a familiar cat among the pigeons on Monday, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, by revealing a new fifth division was being planned for the start of the 2019/2020 season.

According to Harvey, the present 72 clubs in the EFL – those currently outside the Premier League – will be asked what they think of the prospect of three leagues becoming four leagues of 20, which would mean eight clubs being promoted from the National (Conference) League at the one time or they look outside of England for their new members.The Herald: Shaun Harvey believes the abolishment of the transfer system will harm Football League players

“We have recently gone out to our clubs to elicit their further views in relation to any different number of areas from the proposition that was first put forward. Once we have their views we can move forward,”

said Harvey. “One of the simple questions is, if this is to proceed, where should the [new] teams come from? So the only ones who will decide that are the clubs themselves, so we will see what they say. I don’t want to pre-empt anything.”

The article made it clear he meant Celtic and Rangers.

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Of course, Rangers have other things to concern themselves with right now, such as re-establishing themselves in the Ladbrokes Premiership, which might take more time than some would want. However, those who back the idea of both Glasgow clubs flitting view Rangers not as a club placed into administration and then liquidation, and in financial terms nowhere close to where they want to be, but rather as a brand which can attract 50,000 fans to every home game.

But it is difficult to come to any conclusion other than this is merely pie in the sky. A notion to be put alongside that of the North Atlantic League, first proposed at the end of the last millennia, a ridiculous flight of fancy which suggested the average football fan has spent their life wondering what it would be like if their team left the domestic scene to spread their games across the smaller countries in Europe.

This, too, has resurfaced in the wake of UEFA last week offering the top four clubs from the four biggest leagues; England, Germany, Spain and Italy, automatic entry to the group stages of the Champions League.

But there remains no real appetite for a pan-European league. That might change but it probably won’t, unless the Champions League becomes the one Super League which includes only the biggest clubs with nobody else allowed in.

That is the dream of many in football, although the vast majority of, say, Manchester United supporters, would rather play Stoke twice a season than Schalke, and they see Celtic and Rangers as clubs they have played in Europe a few times and are good for bringing down punters for a testimonial.

As things stand, nobody is going anywhere. The EPL clubs might vote the way of the Old Firm and turkeys may opt for an extra Christmas in the summer but Scottish football, Celtic and Rangers are stuck with one another.