THE credit crunch pummelling the Premiership will not open the door for the Old Firm to make a break for England.

Hopes had risen among Celtic and Rangers fans that an invite to move south could be a spin-off from the financial problems currently afflicting some Premiership outfits.

The combined debt of the 20 clubs is over £3 BILLION. West Ham are one of those under extreme pressure, having lost their shirt sponsor XL Airlines and with their Icelandic banking backers also feeling the heat.

But, while the lure of a minimum £30million per season from TV revenue would be an obvious attraction to the Old Firm, SFA chief executive Gordon Smith believes the route to those riches remains barred for Scotland's big two.

Even if some Premiership clubs went to the wall, Smith does not believe the major obstacles preventing Rangers and Celtic realising their long-held ambition to move south would come down.

He believes that window of opportunity has now closed and said: "I don't think there's any doubt the Old Firm would want to go given the opportunity.

"It would put them on a different footing. They would get the massive money that goes along with it. But we are happy to have them in the Scottish game and I don't see any change.

"I thought at one time it might be a possibility, but I don't think the English clubs will allow it. There might be teams who go out of business, but you look at the Championship where there are a lot of teams with thoughts of going into the Premiership, and they are not going to allow Rangers and Celtic to take that place."

Smith knows the value of the Old Firm to the Scottish game, and is content the financial meltdown which threatens to impact on big-spending clubs over the border will not have the same consequences for clubs in Scotland.

In recent years he has watched our clubs tighten their belts and learn to live within their means, a policy which is now keeping them safe.

Smith said: "Our clubs had to adjust sensibly a few years ago when the TV deal with Sky fell apart and the BBC took over.

"The football money was reduced greatly and I felt the clubs took on a different tack altogether.

"At that time we were bringing in a lot of foreign players who were paid big money.

"That changed. We've been through that period and have got a more sensible approach.

"What you find in England is a lot of people coming in from the outside. They are wealthy people anyway. They are getting a lot of profile from it.

" The Premiership gets a lot of money in the first place from TV.

"But the spending is at a much greater level than we can ever achieve here."

To add to the problems facing English clubs, Uefa have threatened them with losing the right to compete in Europe if their debt breaches licence agreements.

Smith explained the Sfa have a licensing scheme and all our clubs adhere to its rules.

But there is no prospect of the ultimate sanction - banning clubs from the European stage.