Celtic and Rangers in £40m plot to join EFL as private meeting emerges
A former EFL chairman has revealed how a secret £40m plan to bring Celtic and Rangers to the English Championship was on the verge of completion. The Old Firm have ruled Scottish football for the past four decades. Envious of the riches south of the border, they have often been linked with a move to English football, starting in the EFL. Former Rangers striker Michael Ball once disclosed that the prospect was used as a carrot to lure him to Scotland from Everton. Now, former EFL chief Keith Harris has revealed that an agreement was signed and very nearly sealed. Harris, who chaired the English lower leagues for six months in 2002, says a private meeting was held at then-Rangers chairman David Murray's home, where representatives from Celtic, alongside the SFA and the SPL, struck a £40m deal which would have placed the Old Firm in Division One (now the Championship)
TL;DR
- A £40 million plan to transfer Celtic and Rangers to the English Championship was on the verge of completion.
- The deal was negotiated at a private meeting at the home of then-Rangers chairman David Murray.
- Representatives from Celtic, the Scottish Football Association (SFA), and the Scottish Premier League (SPL) were involved.
- The plan involved a financial payment to the SPL and promised increased competition for other Scottish clubs like Hearts and Aberdeen.
- The deal collapsed after a journalist discovered and threatened to publish the story.
- Keith Harris, former EFL chairman, revealed the details on the Keys and Grey Unleashed podcast.