Celtic’s secret English Championship talks revealed 26 years later

The prospect of Scotland’s two biggest clubs moving south of the border has been debated for decades, but Harris has now disclosed just how advanced discussions became more than 25 years ago.

Speaking on the Keys & Grey Unleashed Podcast, Harris revealed that representatives from both clubs attended a meeting at former Rangers chairman David Murray’s home in Perthshire to discuss the proposed move.

He said: “I attended a lunch at David Murray’s house in Perthshire. The Celtic and Rangers boards were both there in the same house. David said, ‘I’ll invite them in, but I won’t host them. You can host them.’

“It was an interesting experience; it was certainly exciting. It was quite fast-moving. Between the SPL and the Scottish FA, and there was broad agreement that they would come into the Championship.”

He continued: “It was a triumph (getting them all to agree to it). I’d like to take praise, but it wasn’t that difficult. Because suddenly Hearts and Aberdeen weren’t playing for third or fourth place, they’re playing for first. There was an agreement that some of the extra £40m would go back into Scotland.”

However, Harris believes the proposed move ultimately collapsed after details of the negotiations were leaked to the press.

He explained: “I got stopped by a journalist who said ‘I’ve got the story.’ I think he was an Observer journalist. He said ‘we’re going to be running this.’ And that blew it, no question. You get some quotes going in and it died on the maypole. But it was that close.”