Premier League tell Celtic and Rangers to forget about heading south

Premier League clubs have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to allow Celtic and Rangers to join the English top flight. A proposal by Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside to include the Old Firm clubs was rejected as neither "desirable or viable". Other suggestions put forward by Gartside including having atwo-tier Premier League will be fed into the league's ongoing strategicreview. Border battle: Celtic's Aiden McGeady and Kenny Miller of Rangers will not be coming head to head in England any time soon Plan: Bolton chief Phil Gartside The Premier League said in a statement: 'Bolton Wandererssubmitted a discussion paper detailing ideas concerning therestructuring of the Premier League into two tiers with the inclusionof Celtic and Rangers. 'The clubs welcomed the additional input into an ongoing process,however, they were of the opinion that bringing Celtic and Rangers intoany form of Premier League set-up was not desirable or viable. 'The other relevant ideas contained within Bolton's paper will nowbe taken forward as part of the wider strategic review being undertakenby the Premier League since November 2008 with the aim of providingrecommendations before December 2010.' Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore added: 'The clubs discussed this and, as far as Celtic and Rangers are concerned, it's a non-starter. 'The clubs constitutionally voted to say we are not going to take this any further. We have made a clear and unequivocal statement. No means no - Celtic and Rangers are not coming in.' Gartside has expressed concerns that too much money continues to flow into thecoffers of the top four clubs. Last season, champions Manchester United earned £52.3million inPremier League television money, compared to £31.6million for bottomclub West Brom. The fact that the four clubs in the Champions League also earnedbetween £20million and £33million on top of that from European TV andprize money - and benefit from huge ticket and merchandise revenue -has led to a number of chairmen of mid and lower-ranking clubs tobelieve the time has come for a review. Fresh rivalry: Bolton would like to see defender Ricardo Gardner facing Scottish opponents as well as Aston Villa's Craig Gardner (right) In his annual report, published last week, Gartside made it clearthat he believed addressing the big differences in income was theleague's greatest challenge. Gartside said: "Addressing this polarisation of clubs and theincreasing revenue differentials will, I believe, be the majorstrategic issue for the Premier League over coming years. "The Premier League is an exciting product for supporters and fortelevision viewers, but there is no doubt that as the years go by, andthe same few clubs continue to benefit from the huge additionalrevenues from the Champions League, the remaining clubs find itenormously difficult to challenge. "At the same time, the gap between Premier League revenues andthose of the Championship continues to widen and I believe a 'fearfactor' is beginning to emerge amongst Premier League clubs outside thetop few." The big clubs will oppose any major change to the status quopointing out they have already boosted income to the smaller clubs byagreeing to every club receiving payment of facility fees for at least10 televised matches totalling £4.8million, even if they only appear ina handful of live games on TV.  The next overseas TV deal - which is split equally among clubs -is likely to be close to £1billion, almost twice as much as the current£650million, meaning an extra £6million per club per season.  Rangers braced for triple whammy on crowd trouble, £30m debt and breakaway hopesEverton boss Moyes backs move for Celtic and Rangers to play in EnglandMARTIN SAMUEL: One problem with franchise idea, Phil. No place for BoltonCELTIC FC