Celtic and Rangers youth teams look set to get the go ahead to compete in the Scottish Lowland League after an indicative vote revealed that there was an appetite to include the B Teams from the big two in the Scottish Football pyramid.
The SLFL said that the move would be beneficial to the whole of the Scottish game, giving players the opportunity to play at a competitive level whilst improving to be the future of the game. A question remains, however, as to whether the clubs will vote in favour of expanding the league to allow both teams in.
As reported by Glasgow Times, SLFL Chairman George Fraser was full of praise for the decision but admitted that it was the members that made the decision based on facts.
“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.
“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.
“Since the start of this pandemic the SLFL has operated with a view that no club should be adversely affected by the decisions we make, and we believe that this is the case with this proposal.”
This would likely give young players the opportunity to play competitive football, something that has been missing for Celtic’s best talents with the reserve league being shelved and friendlies replacing them. This might mean that Celtic can offer meaningful development to players going forward and a more competitive pathway to the first team.
However, there are also concerns that the players would likely benefit more from playing on loan, such as Luca Connell at Queen’s Park or Ewan Henderson at Dunfermline.
