Celtic and Rangers given approval for B teams to compete in Lowland Leagues

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Celtic and Rangers have been awarded approval for their B teams to compete in the fifth tier of Scottish football following a vote with Lowland Football League officials.

The Daily Record report that 11 of the 17 clubs voted in favour of Celtic and Rangers competing in the Lowland League for next season, with five teams against the proposition and one abstaining from the vote entirely.

There were rumours that Celtic and Rangers Colts were interested in competing in League Two of the Scottish football pyramid, however, these reports were downplayed with the two clubs quickly shifting directions to playing in the Lowland Leagues, with the two teams said to be paying £25,000 each to facilitate such a decision.

The news has already been met with backlash, with a joint statement from the three divisions below the Lowland League criticising the idea and that there was ‘no sporting integrity with this proposal’ as per the Daily Record report. Former SPL striker Gordan Parks also wrote in the Daily Record that the idea was ‘nonsense’, and that the proposal will have long-standing effects on the Scottish football pyramid.

TBR View: Celtic and Rangers Colts have no place in the Lowland League

B teams in professional leagues is nothing new around Europe, with Bayern Munich II winning the 3. Bundesliga last season and the likes of Real Madrid B and Barcelona B being mainstays in the second tier of Spanish football, yet the idea is yet to catch on in British football, and this decision from Celtic and Rangers could spark a revolution across the island.

Indeed, the idea behind B teams makes sense from a developmental perspective, but it also severely damages lower league football and costs clubs with aspirations of making it to the top a place in a division for a side that are just the youth sides of bigger institutions in the country.