Rangers rule out England move

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Rangers chairman John McClelland says he cannot see his club and Celtic joining the English Premiership in the near future.

Celtic director Dermot Desmond said last week that the two Old Firm clubs should be allowed to play in the English leagues.

But McClelland said on Sunday that it was unlikely to happen and that Rangers were happy to stay in the Scottish Premier League.

"I don't see any prospect of it," he told BBC Radio Five's Sportsweek programme.

"I don't think it is anywhere on the medium-term horizon, never mind the short-term horizon."

"It was something that was touted around a year or two ago and it is not something that from a Rangers standpoint that we are actively involved in pursuing. We've committed ourselves to the SPL."

McClelland also cast doubt on the widespread assumption that Celtic and Rangers would benefit from a move to play in England.

"One aspect of this that is very important is that Scotland and the SPL now has two Champions League places," he said.

"So a successful European run by Celtic or Rangers can bring in quite a bit of income.

"Being in the English Premier League and not being in Europe would be nice from a TV money point of view but there would be no European income if we were not in the Champions League.

"So it's not just a straightforward comparison between the two more obvious alternatives."