The Premier League last night overwhelmingly rejected any suggestion that Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers should be allowed to play in the top sphere of English football.
A meeting of the 20 clubs also decided that there will be no Premier League Two, alternatively entitled the Phoenix League.
Chief executive Richard Scudamore said: "The Premier League can see no practical way nor any sound commercial reasons why Celtic and Rangers should enter the English system, certainly not that they should be parachuted into the Premiership.
Although no formal votes were taken Scudamore said that the clubs were 20-0 in favour of keeping Celtic and Rangers out of the Premiership and 19-1 against a Premier League second division
This is also a big blow to the Division One band of six clubs - Manchester City, Birmingham, Coventry, Sheffield Wednesday, Bradford and Wolves - who were in favour of the idea.
BRUCE: Steve Bruce was finally confirmed yesterday as manager of Birmingham City - and instantly set his sights on securing promotion to the Premier League.
The former Manchester United captain claimed he would quit management if he failed to make a success of his five-year contract with the St Andrews club.
Bruce has brought in Mark Bowen and John Benson as part of his backroom team.
GUARDIOLA: Brescia and Spain midfielder Josep Guardiola has tested positive for nandrolone in the counter-analysis to his second failed drugs test.
The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), who supervise dope testing in Italy, confirmed the result yesterday.
PETTA: Celtic manager Martin O'Neill is ready to offer Bobby Petta a lucrative new contract. The Dutch winger's current deal expires in June 2003.
O'Neill has been delighted with the 27-year-old's form over the last two seasons and will soon open negotiations with his agent Peter Harrison.
KACHLOUL: Aston Villa midfielder Hassan Kachloul will have a second brain scan next Monday to determine whether he can return to action for the festive programme. Kachloul has been sidelined since suffering severe concussion and a burst vein in his brain during the League Cup encounter with Sheffield Wednesday a fortnight ago.
CADAVID: Former Colombian international Norberto Cadavid has been shot dead in Medellin, the country's so-called drug capital. The 39-year-old former striker, who played for the national team until the early 1990s, was apparently shot by a professional assassin while standing at a bus stop.
