Old Firm giants may be heading south

Rangers and Celtic will be invited to play in the Nationwide League next season, according to reports.

The Observer newspaper claims the Old Firm giants will be invited to join Nationwide Division One by a Football League club on Thursday.

If the plan succeeds it would create a 26-club First Division for at least one season.

However, it is dependent on securing a deal with a television broadcaster to take the place of ITV Digital.

The Scottish Premier League's TV deal has already fallen apart, leading to Rangers and Celtic being cast aside by their SPL rivals, who have given notice that they will not play in the same competition as the Old Firm clubs in future.

The Observer claims talks took place between Celtic's biggest shareholder Dermot Desmond, Rangers chairman David Murray and Football League chairman Keith Harris in Perthshire.

There was no comment from either the SPL or the Football League.

The BBC report:: "The invitation will be made on Thursday by a Football League club friendly to the deal and put to a vote by all member clubs at a meeting in London on Friday."

The financial carrot is that both the Nationwide and the Premiership would be able to get a better deal out of broadcasters if the Old Firm clubs, with their huge support and big overseas viewing audiences, were part of the package.

That would be attractive for Nationwide clubs, some of whom face financial crisis if they cannot replace the ITV Digital funding in time for the coming season.

However, European governing body UEFA are loathe to allow clubs from one country to play in another's domestic set-up.

The move could also raise issues concerning allocation of places for European competitions should Celtic and Rangers gain promotion to the Premiership and qualify for the Champions League or UEFA Cup.