The news broke late on Wednesday evening, Celtic’s plan to get a reserve side in Scottish football is back on.

After it was reported, an official statement was dropped by the Lowland League to lay out their position

Statement Below from the SLFL:

The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL) can today confirm that it has entered into discussions to invite Rangers and Celtic ‘B’ teams to enter the league for next season (2021/22) on a one-season basis.

The discussions, which are at an early stage, have come following an invite to open talks from the Lowland League to both clubs to help solve the gap which exists in the player development pathway in Scotland, helping some of the countries best young players for a year, and also bringing significant benefit to the Lowland League and our clubs. Discussions have been productive and will continue over the coming days. We share a common consensus with Rangers and Celtic that player development and the importance of the pyramid system need to be priorities for the game in Scotland.

The SLFL Board made it clear at the outset that no current member club would be adversely affected in any way by the proposal, in fact the opposite, and ultimately as a member’s organisation the clubs would need to vote in favour of this. All of our clubs have the exciting proposal and consultation will be with them first and foremost.

Mail Sport’s Stephen McGowan has added more meat to the bone this morning by reporting Celtic and their Glasgow rivals would put 25k each to the league which would be distributed among the rest of the lowland league.

Celtic have been trying to years to get a reserve side into the system. Originally, they wanted a side in League 2 in Scotland but the proposal has gotten so much opposition over the years it’s never been a viable option.

There’s a genuine concern about how the club can develop talent at the moment. The Celtic youth side train with the odd bounce game but their development is not what it should be.

Going into the Lowland League for the pilot scheme would give the league and the club an opportunity to see if it was worth their while.

A Celtic youth team playing the same system as the first team so players making the step up can fit in much easier has to be the incentive.

This arrangement could be in place for the start of next season. As the statement says, talks are at an early stage. It might yet come up against opposition now the cat is out of the bag.

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