Celtic's Nationwide League talks

Rangers' David Murray appears less anxious to move

Celtic have ploughed ahead with talks about joining England's Nationwide League, BBC Scotland understands.

It is believed that Celtic directors met in the last few days with club chairmen from south of the border without the participation of Old Firm rivals Rangers.

The Parkhead club are remaining tight lipped on claims they are about to depart Scottish football and head south.

According to newspaper reports, Celtic have reached an agreement in principal with the league that would allow both the Old Firm clubs to join.

But Celtic's chairman Brian Quinn said he had "nothing to say" on the reports.

And the Nationwide League's chief executive, David Burns, said he would be making no comment as his main concern just now was sorting out the mess caused by the collapse of ITV Digital.

Celtic do appear keen to leave the Scottish Premier League as soon as possible.

They seem anxious to find ways of circumventing SPL rules, which dictate that clubs leaving the set-up must give two years' notice.

Gamble

There have been suggestions that Rangers had wanted to wait until after Saturday's Scottish Cup before entering talks.

It is being interpreted by some that Celtic are now the more willing to gamble on a move out of their homeland.

Speaking before the Scottish Cup final, Rangers chairman David Murray told BBC Scotland that it was time for the bickering to stop between the Old Firm and Scotland's other top-flight clubs and for them to work more closely together.

Meanwhile, there were claims that some Celtic directors were conspicuous by the absence at the final between the Glasgow rivals.

But a Football League spokesman told BBC Sport Online that he knew nothing of renewed talks with either side of the Old Firm.

"Such matters went seriously on the back burner when we had the problems with ITV Digital," he said.

"We don't know what we can offer in the way of sponsorship at the moment as we have to find another TV deal for next season."

Celtic's Dermot Desmond could be more keen

Any replacement television deal would be far more valuable for the inclusion of the Old Firm.

Some estimates suggest that the presence of Celtic and Rangers would raise the rights' worth from their current £25-40m to £75-100m per season.

However, the League spokesman pointed out that there had been a meeting of Nationwide League clubs on Friday and that the Old Firm had not even been on the agenda.

"The idea of the Old Firm taking part in the Worthington Cup had been floated by chairman Keith Harris, but it never got beyond the informal stage," he said.

"We are always open to ideas and, if Celtic and Rangers approached us, we'd listen to what they thought.

"But Uefa is saying that we cannot have cross-border competitions, so it does not seem to be a starter."

The Old Firm's desire to play outwith Scotland was hastened by the decision by the other 10 SPL clubs to give two years' notice of their desire to leave and set up their own league with a different constitution.

They had been angered by the Old Firm's use of their block vote to scupper plans for the league's own television channel.