The chief executive of Rangers and the coach of Celtic, the two Glasgow clubs that have dominated Scottish soccer for more than a century, have once again made clear their desire to abandon the Scottish game in search of more lucrative pastures.

Tony Mowbray, Celtic's manager, has joined his cross-city counterpart Walter Smith in calling for a move to the English Premier League, telling the BBC: "It's something our club would be interested in listening to of course. Glasgow Celtic, and indeed our city rivals would fit into the Premier League pretty well."

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Rangers chief executive Martin Bain, meanwhile, suggested to the BBC that a move to a European Superleague might be a better option than heading south of the border. "There are a number of big clubs playing in smaller leagues, and I think there will be a wind of change," he said. "I understand all the cross-border aspects but there are a number of like-minded clubs, who are currently hamstrung by the environment they are in. As that groundswell grows, I think Uefa will take note and maybe that will lead to other things.

"We are a huge club commercially. Our fans are the lifeblood. If you couple that with the additional media revenue that might come with a new opportunity, we certainly would be a club to be reckoned with in any league in the world."

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The club that finishes bottom of the English Premier League receives close to US$50 million, whereas Celtic and Rangers will receive less than US$5 million per season under the SPL deal with ESPN and Sky signed in the aftermath of Setanta's collapse.

Any invitation to the English Premier League would come as part of an expansion of the competition into two 18-team divisions, a move proposed by Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside. The reduced 34-game league seasons that would result would bring England's top division into line with the majority of Europe's leagues. That move would be favoured by Uefa, the governing body of European soccer, who it is believed would not oppose the move for the two Glasgow clubs.

English clubs will discuss Gartside's proposal in November.