Dwindling crowds, financial difficulties, year upon year of crushing predictability – the recently retitled Scottish Premiership has not been in a healthy state for a long time, and things are unlikely to get better anytime soon. Trapped in a kind of football league purgatory – too small to be considered a major league like its English counterpart, yet too large to be relegated to the same status as the Welsh and Northern Irish Premier Leagues – the Scottish game has long been on a quest for its true worth. Yet with the recent absence of Rangers removing any credible competition from the Celtic-led monopoly of the Scottish Premiership, the league has become something of a joke, dismissed as nothing more than a Mickey Mouse competition where one can expect the same team to lift the trophy at the end of every season.

Though a separate Scottish league should certainly remain in place, consisting of the teams plying their trade in the lower reaches of the country's football pyramid (meaning the Scottish Championship and below), it's about time the Scottish Premiership called it a day, with its teams joining the English football league system instead. The upcoming Scottish independence referendum may make this proposal a tad difficult to realise; nevertheless, here are five reasons why an act of footballing union would be a good idea:

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CLICK ON CELTIC PARK TO REVEAL THE FIVE REASONS

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1. Merging would improve the quality of Scottish clubs immeasurably

At first glance, one can't help but be impressed by Celtic's constant success in Scotland – winning the title every season, going far in both domestic cup competitions, and boasting an impressive stadium in Celtic Park. However it is European football that exploits the glaring weaknesses of Scotland's best side, and therefore of Scottish football itself as a whole. Despite being drubbed 6-1 on aggregate by lowly Legia Warsaw in a recent Champions League qualifier, the team from Glasgow were sheepishly reinstated into the competition due to the Polish side's disqualification, only to be ignominiously knocked out again by Slovenian side NK Maribor, thus failing to make it to the group stages. In the long term, participating in the English football league against the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool on a regular basis would see Scottish football sides become far more competitive, and as a consequence, stronger.

2. The national side would benefit

As the clubs become stronger and more competitive, so do their Scottish players. Most clubs still retain a prominent Scottish identity amongst their playing staff, and if these players are given the opportunity to play in one of the best leagues in the world on a regular basis, that can only help the chances of the national side to qualify for major international tournaments. One could argue that Wales haven't benefitted from their two main clubs playing in English football, having failed to qualify for a tournament since 1958. However Scotland possesses a significantly greater number of medium-sized football clubs than Wales. If these clubs were to keep their Scottish identities, there would be an influx of Scottish players in the English league, giving the Scotland national set-up a wealth of players with experience of high-level professional football.

3. Financial issues would become less pronounced

With the possibility of Premier League football for Scottish clubs who make the trek down south comes the irresistible attraction of playing in a league awash with money. Record-breaking TV deals and increased exposure through association with a global 'brand' such as the Barclays Premier League would not guarantee permanent financial stability, but would certainly ensure that difficulties such as those experienced by Rangers and Hearts in recent times would be less severe.

4. The end of sectarianism?

The advent of Sky and the English Premier League in 1992 may have had unsavoury effects on the state of the game – the dominance of money, business coming before sport and a lack of mobility to name but a few. However it has also contributed to the modernisation of the sport, which has seen racism, homophobia and hooliganism become less and less pronounced, making matchday experiences generally more pleasant for the spectator. By incorporating Rangers and Celtic – Scotland's two biggest clubs – into English football, there would be added pressure on both sides to deal with the sectarian violence which so often dominates Old Firm derbies. It may not eradicate it completely, but exposure to a global audience would force the Glaswegian clubs to address the problem more effectively.

5. Dull football is no more

Most importantly, combining Scottish and English football would lead to the end of the derisory claims that the game north of the border is more boring than beautiful. The Old Firm may not come close to winning the Barclays Premier League; they may even struggle to stay in the top tier. But at least their fans would be guaranteed entertainment and unpredictability every season. Because being bored of victory, as some Celtic and (once upon a time) Rangers fans surely were, is evidence enough that the game is up in Scotland.