There has been a lot of speculation in the press lately about the old firm leaving the current set-up to play in a North Atlantic league. Many of the interested clubs on the continent have expressed their keenness in recent weeks. Roger Mitchell of the SFA has said he would welcome the move if it was good for Scottish football. MacDonald at Celtic is keen whereas Murray at Rangers would require to do some repositioning after often stating he would never take Rangers out of the Scottish set-up. I think it may well happen - the only question is the timescale.

If they do leave, then it raises a number of issues :

The old firm hordes

I don't think the old firm supporters will like it much and for several reasons.

Firstly, Scottish Football will go on, will still be in the papers, will still be on TV and will still be talked about in the workplace and the pubs. The old firm supporters will be excluded from this and, let's face it, a lot of them support these teams so they can lord it over their friends and workmates.

Secondly, the old firm masses are used to a constant diet of success which will not be so easy to come by against the likes of Ajax and Anderlecht. So the glory seekers may have to get used to supporting a team that are average in their chosen league.

Finally, the vast majority of them better get used to being armchair supporters. The season ticket price will soar and the cost of an away game on the continent will be pretty prohibitive.

So, in summary, no more travelling round Scotland on a constant celebration bandwagon, no more easy superiority, no guaranteed glory, and exclusion from much of the daily workplace banter. So is the North Atlantic League an exciting prospect for them ? Only for those who can afford big bucks to really be a part of it. For the rest, and let’s face it there are a lot of them, they better put the supporter’s bus into early retirement and park the replica strip by the fireside because that’s where they will be spending most of their time.

The image of Scotland

The Tartan Army are rightly lauded for their behaviour abroad and for the great good they do for the reputation of Scotland.

What will the old firm’s supporters do to that reputation ? What will the Swedes and the Danes make of their rancid repertoire of sectarian hatred anthems ?

Who do you think will best promote Scotland - the English supporters or the Irish supporters ?

I guess the rest of the North Atlantic League may well be just bemused, like the rest of us, as to what relevance their religious intolerance and fascination for seventeenth century history has in the twenty-first century.

The rest of Scottish football

Would it damage the remaining Scottish clubs if the old firm did leave ? I don’t think so, although it is very hard to predict.

Firstly, the Premier League would be an extremely open competition with most of the clubs in with a very serious chance of winning it. Who, for example, predicted that Dundee United, Motherwell and Hibs would lead the eight at the half-way stage this season. No-one if I remember correctly - the leading pundits all went for Hearts, Kilmarnock and St. Johnstone.

That kind of unpredictability and openness leads to an exciting competition and keeps the fans of many clubs fully involved. I think this may generate bigger crowds.

The size and potential of many of the remaining clubs is also very similar, so that the league should be able to develop in its standard and appeal without leaving anyone behind.