http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/9359765.stm

I misread, the clubs have agreed to it.....now the SFA will be contacted.

Edited January 17, 201115 yr by Iain

So the 4 dissenters have capitulated, or been sweetened!

10? Well, thanks chairmen for listening to the fans. I give up.

If the second tier of 12 helps the clubs in it to be better off financialy then I guess it's a positive step.

Right, so if its agreed by all SPL clubs, the end of season 11-12 will see 3 clubs relegated and 1 promoted, so i'm assuming that the clubs that will be in the lower half of the SPL will have demanded some huge parachute payment to agree to this.

Have to wait and see the details now, although i dont see apart from fewer teams sharing the same pot of money how its going to help football.

I would sincerely like them to explain to the fans - 80/90% of whom were against this setup - how 10-12 will develop the game of football in Scotland. This is pure and utter bullshit and nothing more than a cash grab by those with their noses already in the trough. It will do nothing to develop the game other than allow TV companies the guarantee of 4 old firm fixtures per year.

If our club, who were quite vociferous in saying they were against this idea have capitulated, I will be very disappointed.

Right, so if its agreed by all SPL clubs, the end of season 11-12 will see 3 clubs relegated and 1 promoted, so i'm assuming that the clubs that will be in the lower half of the SPL will have demanded some huge parachute payment to agree to this. Have to wait and see the details now, although i dont see apart from fewer teams sharing the same pot of money how its going to help football.

Its not going to help football. I posted at length in the other thread but basically this plan is about 8 years in the making and is something thats been sitting on the back burner waiting for an opportunity to be implemented and has little to do with any recent reviews and nothing to do with fan opinion. Its also got nothing to do with development, and everything to do with money, money, money. Well done Scottish Football. RIP Scottish Football.

A discussion on a potential structure was put to the SPL AGM in 2006. The document was the result of several strategy meeting that took place between 2003 and 2006 and basically saw the league setup as follows:

* Setup 12 + 10 (SPL1 & SPL2) moving to 10 + 12

* Invitation issued from SPL to 10 teams in SFL to make up the numbers.

* No promotion for 2 years but 1 team relegated to move from 12+10 to 10+12

* SPL2 criteria - All seated stadia, minimum 3000 capacity, Pitch Protection (not necessarily heated). 1 year grace period to bring stadiums up to scratch at start of new structure.

* Once 10 team SPL established and 12 team SPL2 established, clubs in each league play each other twice home and away each season so 36 games in SPL1 and 44 in SPL2.

* Possible additional cup competition for 22 teams in SPL1/SPL2

* Regional structure below SPL2

* Automatic 1 up 1 down promotion/relegation between SPL2 and regional league

* Playoffs between 2nd bottom in SPL2 and 2nd placed team in regional league

* Pyramid structure below regional leagues allowing for progression based on merit

The rough figures worked out at the time showed an expected revenue in SPL2 of about ?1.6m from sponsorship, broadcasting rights, betting and cup competitions and a projected running cost of a bit over ?300K leaving a prize pool of about ?1.2m rising over time to about ?2m. (The equivalent projected prize pool for SPL1 was ?15.5m rising to ?16m).

The split of the money in SPL2 was to be fairly similar to current SPL model with the top two teams taking the lions share (17% / 15%) and then the 3rd team taking 9.5% with the share dropping by ? a percentage point each place after that.

Based on that model, the top team in SPL2 would receive around ?325,000 and the bottom team around ?86K. Parachute payment (from SPL1 to SPL2) was projected to be ?250K. By comparison, the top team in SPL1 would get around ?2m and the bottom team around ?535K in a 12 team setup rising to ?3m and just under ?1m in a 10 team setup.

Obviously things have moved on since 2006 ... we have seen movement in terms of sponsorship, the Setanta collapse, and probably other things so the financial numbers are probably wrong now but it seems the current suggestion still has its roots in this model ......... and as far as I can tell from reading and re-reading it, the #1 priority is maximising the money side of things rather than actually developing the game and revitalising it from the grass roots upwards.

Man Alive , this most likely means a lot of boring games as all teams will be playing not to lose.

So much for entertaining the fans.

The SPL is the Xtra Factor to the English Premiership's X-Factor. Hello Ljungbergs, hello Beatties. The fans are nothing to the SPL or to the chairmen.

God forbid we could change Scottish football by cutting our cloth, and being a serious league like on the continent. Nah, let's just suckle on the English Premiership's has-beens fame and hope the English tune-in.

The line will be "Unfortunately, a 16 team was not viable, and as chairmen we have to make decisions based on the best interests for the stability and future of the club." And it's based on complete disdain for the fans.

Looks like we've sold the fans wishes down the river , hope we've negotiated a large parachute payment as I can see us struggling to avoid being in the bottom 3 next season .

Only Scottish Football could go back to a system that has failed in the past. I hope it all blows up their faces!

I despair. You know I dont know why they just dont televise every game and we can all stay at home as the paying punters just dont seem to matter. I cannot see how this is in the interest of Caley Thistle.

Why was there such a dramatic u-turn from ICT, Hearts, Duundee Utd, Killie and St Mirren? This vote needed 11/12 to vote in favour of it. I have to say...I was quite pleased, as i thougght this LUDICROUS idea was dead in the water two weeks ago!

It's not been decided, there still has to be a proposal delivered and then voted on, but it would seem from this the 12 have said, "ok, write it up, that's fine"

The only thing that would de-rail it would be mass-fan protest and/or boycotts, starting from tomorrow or the weekend. I'd be happy but surprised to see that, it's a fractious group at best SPL fans.

Why was there such a dramatic u-turn from ICT, Hearts, Duundee Utd, Killie and St Mirren? This vote needed 11/12 to vote in favour of it. I have to say...I was quite pleased, as i thougght this LUDICROUS idea was dead in the water two weeks ago!

I was under the impression St. Mirren were in favour of a 10 team league from the off .

The SPL is the Xtra Factor to the English Premiership's X-Factor. Hello Ljungbergs, hello Beatties. The fans are nothing to the SPL or to the chairmen. God forbid we could change Scottish football by cutting our cloth, and being a serious league like on the continent. Nah, let's just suckle on the English Premiership's has-beens fame and hope the English tune-in.

Worse still .... Ljunberg is an MLS has-been

Massive sigh of discontent.

Why was there such a dramatic u-turn from ICT, Hearts, Duundee Utd, Killie and St Mirren? This vote needed 11/12 to vote in favour of it. I have to say...I was quite pleased, as i thougght this LUDICROUS idea was dead in the water two weeks ago!

I was under the impression St. Mirren were in favour of a 10 team league from the off .

Apparently they wanted a 14 team SPL. For them to vote for a 10 Team SPL would be like Turkeys voting for Xmas!

The only way I could see the fans scaring the powers-that-be would be to boycott Scotland games. Helluva thing to do, but so is ignoring over 80% of fans, reneging on statements, and being led by greedy, money-obsessed corporate suits with no vision in mind but pound signs. We get this from the bankers, why does it have to filter into football too?

I think these smilies are appropriate for today

: notlistening : (the SPL doing what it does best to fans)

: nanananana : (we're gonna do what we want anyway)

: bullshit : (what this is)

: slapme : (D'oh)

: shrug : (What can you say)

: oops : (what they will be saying in 2 or 3 years time)

: tosser : (fans' opinion on the decision makers)

: clown : :clown: (to be used in multiples to represent the SPL committee deciding this)

Why was there such a dramatic u-turn from ICT, Hearts, Duundee Utd, Killie and St Mirren? This vote needed 11/12 to vote in favour of it. I have to say...I was quite pleased, as i thougght this LUDICROUS idea was dead in the water two weeks ago!

One word SMEE- MONEY!

As I have said before.

If this goes ahead I stop watching any League football.

I will not support this, it is ridiculous and also quite arrogant in the way that supporter's views have been ignored.

Frankly I hope thousands throughout the country feel the same way and that crowds plummet.

Where has this come from, it seemed that 4 including ourselves were firmly against this and listening to the fans, a morning in a room being bullied by the OF & thrown some cash and its a done deal. I hope that since the voting had to be 11-1 or better, that we held our nerve and was the '1' with the otehr 11 making the majority - hate to think we have a jelly spine like the rest.

So 3 relegated next year, hope the genious's at Hamilton, St Midden, St J, ourselves and some others are happy because they are essentially voting themselves into SPL 2!!!

What a load of tommy tank this is going to be :(

Nothing is written in stone yet but it'll be intesesting to hear how they justify all this.

As we are more likely to be in SPL2 I'm intrigued how that's going to work? 44 games a season??

Edited January 17, 201115 yr by kencar

Attendances at games are already in decline and this bit of nonsense is not going to help things one little bit. As usual, the terrible twins get their way.