Jardine and McGarvey in favour of Old Firm flit

Published on Wednesday 22 April 2009 23:21

OLD Firm legends Sandy Jardine and Frank McGarvey are right behind proposals for Rangers and Celtic to play in England.

The recurring issue came to the fore again earlier in the week when Bolton chairman Phil Gartside revealed he had formulated a plan for two 18-team Premier divisions, the second of which would initially include the Glasgow giants.

Jardine, who now works for the Ibrox club following a successful playing career with Rangers which spanned three decades, said: "I am not speaking on behalf of Rangers, but, personally, I would like Rangers and Celtic to play down there. That would give them the chance to get to their true level.

Rangers and Celtic have huge fan-bases, but, because of the constraints of Scottish football, they can't get to their true level. But I stress, that is a personal opinion."

McGarvey, who played at Parkhead between 1980 and 1985, also believes the Old Firm moving to England would help both the Glasgow giants and Scottish football. He said: "I think it would be a great move for the Old Firm clubs to move to England. They would get more money, their value as clubs would grow and they would be able to attract better players.

"It would take Rangers and Celtic about five years to get in to the top four or five in England, although it would be interesting to see which one would get there first. Scottish football would thrive without them. The money may be less from the sponsors, but I believe the fans would come back if they thought their team had a better chance of winning trophies."

Meanwhile, McGarvey believes Andy Dorman can clinch a dream move to one of the Old Firm clubs by knocking Rangers out at Hampden on Saturday.

The former Celtic and Scotland striker believes Dorman has a platform during Saturday's live televised match to impress any potential suitors.

He said: "If any good players come to the fore in Scotland then Rangers and Celtic are always interested in them.

Dorman scores goals from midfield and that's something that neither Rangers or Celtic really have at the moment. He has scored a quarter of all St Mirren's goals this season and that's commendable. And any club that takes Dorman aren't buying potential, they are buying a proven scorer."