Elgin consult with fans on Old Firm colts proposal
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ELGIN City are seeking their fans’ views on proposals to bring Celtic and Rangers youth teams into League 2 next season.
The Glasgow clubs want to introduce a two-year pilot scheme which would see their development ‘Colt’ teams join the SPFL and play in a 12-team bottom tier.
See the pilot proposals here.
The proposals state that if accepted, Celtic and Rangers would buy 250 tickets at £10 per head for every league game played against their colts, guaranteeing each League 2 club £15,000 extra income per season from the six extra games.
Both Old Firm sides say they would be willing to play all their matches away, and a 33-game league could mean two more home games and five less away fixtures for clubs like Elgin, the plan suggests.
Celtic and Rangers colts could not be promoted or relegated, must register a squad list from window to window and cannot bring players down from their first team to play as part of the pilot.
An Elgin spokesperson said the club was recently given a copy of the proposals by a Celtic representative and asked to give their feedback.
“The chairman (Graham Tatters) asked if he could go public with the document but was asked to refrain from doing so until further notice.
“He was extremely disappointed it had been made public by other parties before it was released exclusively by the club.”
Elgin have now issued a copy of the full proposals on their website, and plan to hold a public meeting with their fans before deciding their next move.
Celtic and Rangers’ development teams already play in the Irn Bru Cup competition along with all other Premiership club’s colts.
Opponents to the SPFL pilot scheme say it is not the responsibility of lower league clubs to help develop Old Firm youth talent.
Both Old Firm clubs point to the success of B teams playing in lower leagues in countries like Holland, Spain and Norway and the development of young players as a result.
And they claim that 84% of the German national ‘A’ squad have played in ‘B’ teams during their development years.
It will need a substantial majority of the SPFL’s 42 clubs to vote in favour of the pilot for it to be approved, but if rubber-stamped it would come into force at the beginning of next season.
Elgin City are asking for any comments on the proposals to be made by email to elgincityfc@btconnect.com or in writing to the club chairman at Borough Briggs.
