Old Firm missed out on the chance to play in the European Golden League
Reports in Spain suggest Celtic and Rangers were at the forefront of establishing a European Super League themselves 19 years ago.
The details were revealed by former Deportivo La Coruna President, Augusto Cesar Lendoiro.
The football world was rocked last week after a dozen clubs, including six from England, outlined plans to launch their new breakaway league.
All English teams, and all but three clubs, eventually bowed to fan pressure, and withdrew from the league, which appears dead for now.
However, while the Old Firm weren’t part of the project, it was a different story almost two decades ago when a plan was hatched to launch the European Golden Cup.
It was the brainchild of ex-Deportivo chief, Lendoiro, whose club had stunned Spanish football by winning La Liga in 2000, before a disastrous few years that now see them playing in Spanish football’s third tier.
And Celtic and Rangers would have been two clubs in an 18-team league that would have quit their domestic competition to play in it.
Lendoiro said: “The Super League proposal might not have happened, just as it didn’t happen when we first proposed a very similar idea in 2002.
“But be in no doubt, it will happen soon.
“The idea we had almost 20 years ago was very, very similar to this latest idea.
“It was open to clubs in Europe, who had been historically successful, and not just those with the most money.
“From Spain, we had Real Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and ourselves, Deportivo.
“There were fewer English teams involved because their Premier League didn’t carry as much weight as it does now.
“There were three Italian clubs and Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund from Germany.
“We had Celtic and Rangers from Scotland ,and clubs like PSG, Ajax, Benfica, Spartak Moscow, Marseille, a Greek team and a Turkish club.
“The idea was for promotion and relegation in a homeand-away league competition. It was more open than the European Super League.
“Our problem was that we didn’t have a charismatic leader like ESL spokesman, Florentino Perez, and we didn’t have a financial guarantor behind us like JP Morgan.
“We promised to double the income of all the clubs involved. The clubs were all in favour because they would have benefitted enormously.
“Then, as now, those clubs complained that UEFA kept too much of their money.
“But I have no doubt that this is where football is heading. The power of European football is going to pass to the clubs, that is for certain.
“The future is irreversible. European football will be designed by the clubs themselves, which is the logical thing to do.
“They failed this time because they were in too much of a rush because they wanted to reveal it before the reform of the Champions League by UEFA was announced.
“But they will be back – and they won’t fail the next time.”