The English Premier League (EPL) dominates the club game in Britain. While Scotland's equivalent may have a similar title, that is where the similarity ends.
Launched in 1992 on the back of a five-year £191 million deal with Sky TV, the EPL is now the richest and most attractive club football competition in the world, reaching more than 200 countries and half a billion people.
The most recent television deal brought the staggering announcement that Sky and Irish broadcaster Setanta had agreed to pay £1.7 billion for the right to screen EPL matches until the end of the 2010 season – and this at the time of a global financial crisis.
The Scottish Premier League (SPL), in stark contrast, can only dream of such wealth - and of attracting the cream of world football talent, as its English cousin now does.

The Old Firm giants Celtic and Rangers command the game north of the Border, having won every SPL title between them since 1985 largely due to greater spending power than their rivals.

However, it comes nowhere near the wealth EPL clubs can boast, with total revenues hitting around £1.8 billion in the 2007-8 campaign.

This money has enabled EPL clubs to rule the roost in the UEFA Champions League as well in recent years, much to the chagrin of FIFA and UEFA, world and Europe's football governing bodies.

That reign, which has brought Champions League success for Liverpool and Manchester United since 2005, seems set to continue as well, with no sign of the cash well drying up.