Premier League Nixs Old Firm Move

Representatives of the 20 Premier League clubs met last week to discuss a proposal brought forward by Bolton Wanderer's Chairman Phil Gartside which would have seen the two Old Firm clubs join the lower of a new two-tiered league.

After the meeting, in which the move of the Scottish teams was overwhelmingly rejected, the League released a statement saying: "Bolton Wanderers submitted a discussion paper detailing ideas concerning the restructuring of the Premier League into two tiers with the inclusion of Celtic and Rangers.

"The Clubs welcomed the additional input in to an ongoing process, however they were of the opinion that bringing Celtic and Rangers into any form of Premier League set-up was not desirable or viable."

According to Britain's Independent newspaper, one source said: "In a vote, the clubs came up with an emphatic 'no' to the idea" while Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said that the Old Firm would "never" be welcome.

The Premier League did say that they had not discounted the idea of a two-tier league structure though, explaining that the matter will be looked into further in the coming year: "The other relevant ideas contained within Bolton's paper will now be taken forward as part of the wider strategic review being undertaken by the Premier League since November 2008 with the aim of providing recommendations before December 2010."