When you think of Scottish soccer, there are often two teams you think of. It just so happens that those two teams happen to be from the same city of Glasgow and are the biggest of rivals, they hate each others guts. The first of those two teams happen to be the three time defending champions Celtic FC. The second of those two teams is the Championship team Rangers FC.
That’s right, I said “Championship”. Rangers are not in the top tier of Scottish soccer right now even though they may be one of the best and most famous teams in their country. During the end of the 2011-2012 season, Rangers FC went into liquidation and were sent down to the bottom level league in Scotland. Ever since then, Rangers have run rampant over all competition, winning the fourth division and third division titles in back to back years.
More from Scottish Premiere League
- SPFL Matchday 8 preview: Four matches Saturday, two Sunday
- SPFL clubs hoping for better results on Matchday 2 in Europe
- All 3 SPFL teams competing in Europe lose convincingly on Matchday 1
- Scottish League Cup: Hibs, Celtic advance over Gers, Saints
- Hibs quartet put pen to paper ahead of Sunday’s semifinal
The year they played in the Scottish League One (third division), they even went undefeated in league play. Even though Rangers is still in the lower parts of Scottish soccer, the fans still show up to show their support, often setting records for attendances in the lower divisions of Scotland.
Dave King is a business man who is very keen on taking over Rangers. King says that if he can take over 51% of the club, he can take them back to the top tier and challenge Celtic for the Premiership Championship. If he is to get his way and own the 51% majority, he plans on dumping money into the club to help their title chase and challenge Celtic. However, right now Dave King has not been successful in getting what he wants. Even though his first attempt to take over the club was unsuccessful, King still believes that he can make another attempt and that he can still somehow get involved in the club financially.
Right now this season, Rangers are sitting in the playoffs to get promoted to the first division. There are 10 teams in the second division. The top team automatically gets promoted to the top division and then teams 2-4 have a play off with the 11th place team in the top division. The winner of that playoffs also gets promoted to the top.
Rangers are second right now, one spot behind Hearts. Celtic on the other hand are struggling. Before the season even started, everyone thought that Celtic would run away with the title, that is not the case. Surprising new boys Hamilton Academical are sitting in first place, and Celtic are down in 5th place. There is still a lot of time left to go in the season, but Celtic need to get it together quickly so they don’t fall too far behind.
Right now it seems as if Rangers will indeed come back to the Premiership next season. I can honestly say that I hope this happens. Being a Celtic fan, it would be good for both Celtic and the entire league if Rangers were back. If Rangers were back up top, attendances around the league would increase, money would go up, and hopefully they could make a push for more European greatness. It will also be great to see Celtic Rangers games again as they are without a doubt the highlight of a Scottish soccer season. It will be interesting to see what happens to the new Rangers FC.