Hostilities between the likes of United and Celtic could become more regular. (GaryMPrior/Allsport)

The latest initiative to involve the two Scottish giants in an English competition involves the merging of the later stages of the Worthington Cup with its equivalent north of the border, the CIS Insurance Cup.

The impetus for such a radical change in two traditional knockout competitions comes from the Football League, which last year floated the idea of Celtic and Rangers being invited to enter the English League Cup.

Now Football League chief executive David Burns has revealed a plan to throw the four English semi-finalists into the hat with their four Scottish counterparts.

'It's a great idea,' said Burns yesterday. 'If we can finalise our plans by the end of March there is no reason why we can't have it by next season.'

The proposed competition has the working title of the British Super Cup, and Burns added: 'The permutations are endless. I think the clubs in England, Wales and Scotland are interested in anything which will derive more commercial income for them - but the competition must have sporting relevance.'

Burns insists the UEFA Cup place for the winners of the Worthington Cup is 'sacrosanct" even if it means shelving plans for a British Cup.

'I must be honest and say the UEFA Cup place for the competition is sacrosanct,' Burns told www.football-league.co.uk. 'At this stage my belief is that should a Scottish team win the competition they would forfeit any right to that UEFA Cup place.

'But should that denigrate the competition and lead to any prospect of the competition losing that UEFA Cup place any plans for a British Cup would be a non-starter.

'At the moment we are working hard to try to put something in place for next season's competition, but there is a lot of work to do yet on this idea.

'Average attendances in this season's competition are up 18% on the same time last season, and once the final - which is expected to be a sell-out again - has been taken into consideration we expect the average crowds to be the highest the competition has had for 20 years,' he added.

'The Chelsea versus Tottenham semi-finals which were shown on ITV1 both pulled in audiences of more than seven million, comfortably beating the audiences for live FA Cup football on the BBC that week. It is clear to see that the competition is not irrelevant to those viewers and spectators.

'The Worthington Cup is worth approximately £90m in revenue each season to clubs in the Football League. That figure is made up from television revenue, sponsorship, gate receipts and commercial income.

'The most significant value is from the centrally-derived television rights which are estimated to be well over 50 per cent of the league's current television deal with ITV Digital - some £55m.

'I have to be honest and say it phasing out the Worthington Cup would have a devastating effect on many of our clubs, who may go out of business. The competition is that important.'

Scottish Football League secretary Peter Donald added: 'This could be another complication in the whole issue. I know the (English) Football League fought for many years to have a UEFA Cup place but I don't know if David Burns is muddying the waters here. Ultimately, it's a decision for UEFA.'

League bosses are anxious to give the Worthington Cup a boost. In recent seasons major clubs have devalued the competition by fielding under-strength teams, despite the incentive of a UEFA Cup place for the eventual winners - a perk not shared by Scotland's CIS winners.

While the League obviously views with relish potential clashes involving Celtic and Rangers with English giants like United, Arsenal and Liverpool, a look at this season's competitions throws up a more sobering prospect.

The last four in England - Tottenham, Chelsea, Blackburn and Sheffield Wednesday - would have entered a draw with Rangers, Celtic, Hibs and Ayr. There are no prizes for naming the odd club out from that octet.

Last night there were signs that Burns' revolutionary plan was not about to receive unanimous approval. The Scottish tournament's sponsor, CIS, hit out at the prospect and its stance was backed by the Scottish League, which said that no talks about a merger could be contemplated until the current CIS deal had been completed.

Russ Brady, CIS head of public relations, said: 'All the announcements have seem-ingly been made from the English Football League and we are not aware of anything similar from north of the border. As we see it, someone is trying to put two and two together without considering another two.

'Our job at CIS is to do justice to the Scottish League Cup and we think we have done that, and will continue to do so for the next year or so. We signed a four-year agreement and fully intend seeing it through.'

While Brady refused to rule out the possibility of being involved in sponsorship of a new competition in the future, Scottish League secretary Peter Donald insisted: 'We have not been involved in any discussions over this issue.

'We have a year to run on the sponsorship with CIS so we would not be free to contemplate in that direction until the sponsorship deal has been served.'

Scottish Premier League chief executive Roger Mitchell urged the Football League to contact its Scottish counterparts quickly.

He said: 'The idea of a British Cup is something we first floated almost four years ago and I'm delighted it is now on the agenda.