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Green would turn down Prem offer

Charles Green wants to move Rangers into English football © PA Photos

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Rangers chief executive Charles Green has vowed to take the club into the English league set-up within the next five years and he expects Old Firm rivals Celtic to follow his lead.

Green has spoken before about his desire to take Rangers out of Scotland since the club were demoted to Division Three last summer due to financial regularities, yet it seems as if he is about to step up his campaign to make the move a reality.

The outspoken Green has insisted the Ibrox giants have no future in the Scottish league and has stated his intention to re-launch the club south of the border sooner rather than later.

"Whether it is next week, because the English authorities change their mind, or in five to 10 years, Rangers and Celtic will leave Scotland," Green told the Daily Mirror.

"I would like to think within five years. I say to English clubs: Don't be afraid of the unknown. There will be cross-border leagues and that will change the face of European football. These doors are opening.

"I have spoken to a number of chief executives from Premier League clubs and all of them would welcome Rangers. Of the 20 people I have spoken to directly, or people on my behalf have spoken to, throughout the leagues, only two have said no.

"Why would football clubs or football authorities not want Rangers and Celtic? If they say: 'It wouldn't add anything into the game', they are lying. I watched Southampton play Wigan. The stadium wasn't full. There were empty seats. Now there is no way on God's earth that any team that Rangers play will have empty seats."

Green insisted he will not attempt to fast track Rangers into the Premier League or even the Football League, as he is targeting a spot in the lower leagues as a starting spot for his revolution.

An imminent restructuring of the Scottish leagues may be about to ensure Rangers' bid to drag themselves out of Scotland's lower leagues becomes an even more complex challenge, so Green is willing to adopt a patient approach to his ambitions of taking the club into the English league set-up.

"I don't want to go into the English Premier League," added Green. "It would be wrong. If the Premier League sent me an invite saying we could start next year, I would turn it down.

"I don't want to go into the Football League, but what I do want to do is to start playing football in England, and knowing that if I win that league, I get promoted to the next one and the next one.

"Could you imagine the income generation Rangers and Celtic would create in the Conference? Every Conference stadium would be full and then to work through the leagues over the next three or four years would refresh English football because this staleness that is affecting Scottish football is prevalent here."

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