The entry of Rangers and Celtic Colts teams into the Scottish Lowland League is expected to be confirmed at the league’s AGM in two weeks, according to the Daily Mail‘s Stephen McGowan.
The Old Firm clubs have been campaigning for some time for B teams to be permitted entry to the SPFL.
However, when the most recent proposal to that end failed, entry into the Lowland League emerged as a potential alternative.
A proposal was put to members and on Monday night, the Lowland League announced that clubs had voted in favour of Rangers and Celtic B teams playing in their competition for next season only.
“As a league, we have allowed our clubs to decide based on facts, and not several pieces of misinformation being actively disseminated across many social media platforms,” said League Chairman, George Fraser.
“Our league is fully committed to the integrity of the pyramid and we have shown this time and time again, so any suggestion we are not is ill-judged and misplaced.
“The majority of our clubs have voted in favour of this proposal, and we need to respect that, therefore we will progress this and have further discussions with all parties in the coming days.”
The Daily Mail’s Stephen McGowan released some specifics on Twitter around the same time as the announcement, asserting that eleven clubs had voted in favour, five had voted against and one had abstained.
The vote is described as ‘indicative’, with confirmation expected at the AGM in ‘two weeks’.
Rangers and Celtic will each have to pay a £25k entry fee, while 22 players will need to be registered before the season starts and the age limit – with a few exceptions – is 20.
The Lowland League isn’t the level that Rangers chiefs initially wanted their Colts team to be playing at and with an agreement only set to be in place for a solitary season, it’s something of a short-term fix.
However, while there has been a negative reaction from other regional league bodies, it’s a step forward for the B team concept in Scotland and a big boost for the Gers.
For the first time since the club’s withdrawal from the sub-standard SPFL Reserve League at the end of the 2018/19 season, Rangers’ youngsters will have set competitive fixtures within a league structure, with the need to go out on loan greatly reduced for those players in the earlier stages of their development.
In other news, a Rangers hero has reportedly snubbed an approach from an SPFL club regarding their managerial vacancy.
