League reconstruction?

[Joe DiMaggio]

As the SPL have now said they are open to league reconstruction what does everyone else think would be the best way forward?

I have heard people call for an 18 team league but I think that would kill the SPL as there be be so many meaningless games and teams having nothing to play for around the middle of the table who would happliy sit there year after year with no real danger of relegation or realistic chance of challenging. Also a 16 team league would only give 30 game which isn't enough and would be voted against be most if not all teams in the SPL as they would lose considerable income.

I remember hearing something that John Robertson put forward about a 14 team leage with a split. I can't remember exactly what his idea was but thinking about it there is a great idea in there. I always felt the split generated some excitment into the league and gave mid table teams something to aim for and with a 14 team league it could be done fairly as well. Each team could play each other twice giving 26 games then split into a top 7 and bottom 7 where they would play each other home and away once more giving 38 games, 19 home 19 away for everyone and each team would have played everyone home and away evenily in their section.

This would keep the interest of the split and do it in a fair way, also for relegation I would like to see 13th and 14th places relegated with the 12th placed team going into a playoff against the 3rd team in the 1st division. This would keep the relegation section highly competative and lead to a lot more important games where attendances would surely rise.

Also the 1st and 2nd divisons could follow the same 14 team format with a split and this would give many teams the oppertunity of making the top 7 and then possibly at least having a chance of getting the playoff position and the relegation section would again have the bottom 2 relegated and the 3rd bottom team in a playoff with 3rd from division 2. This again would make both section highly competative with most teams having something serious to play for. Furthermore I would like to see the oppertunity for non league teams to be promoted to the 2nd division and possibly regionalised leagues created in a type of pyramid system.

[Harry Chibber]

16 team SPL with a revamped League cup which includes regaional group stage to provide the additional games and revenue.

:)

[Kingsmills]

Top league of Rangers and Celtic inlicting their bile on nobody else 32 times a season with two leagues of 16 below that.

[FoolPhysio]

Top league of Rangers and Celtic inlicting their bile on nobody else 32 times a season with two leagues of 16 below that.

:025: :)

[Joe DiMaggio]

16 team SPL with a revamped League cup which includes regaional group stage to provide the additional games and revenue.

:)

The teams in the SPL would never go for a 16 team league as they would lose 8 games, even an enhanced league cup would never cover that as the attendances in them would be poor, even if it was regionalised, remember we played County in the semi final of the challenge cup and the crowd was below 3,000

[Johnboy]

16 team SPL with a revamped League cup which includes regaional group stage to provide the additional games and revenue.

:)

The teams in the SPL would never go for a 16 team league as they would lose 8 games, even an enhanced league cup would never cover that as the attendances in them would be poor, even if it was regionalised, remember we played County in the semi final of the challenge cup and the crowd was below 3,000

No, I agree with Harry... A premier league of 16 and a Div 1 of 16, with the bottom two SPL teams playing off for promotion and relegation with the top two Div 1 sides.

The idea of a regional league cup, with a group stage is a good one, and it would allow the OF more games against each other.

Forget about the Challenge Cup - that was organised by a bunch of Neanderthals who can't even speak English.

[Harry Chibber]

16 team SPL with a revamped League cup which includes regaional group stage to provide the additional games and revenue.

:)

The teams in the SPL would never go for a 16 team league as they would lose 8 games, even an enhanced league cup would never cover that as the attendances in them would be poor, even if it was regionalised, remember we played County in the semi final of the challenge cup and the crowd was below 3,000

If it was the league cup it would have been full attendance.. I know what you mean but the truth is there isn't an answer that will please everyone. With fewer games in a season it might have a positive effect because more people would attend the smaller pool of games... and each game would carry more relevance

[+Wanderer]

30 league games per season would make sense in Scotland. You aim to play all games at weekends, throw in a couple of 'free' Saturdays in the Spring to allow for the inevitable winter postponements, allowing squads to freshen-up. Most games will have meaning, each is unique because it's one home/away only.

End of season play-offs, proven entertainment.

16 team top flight for me.

[Joe DiMaggio]

16 team SPL with a revamped League cup which includes regaional group stage to provide the additional games and revenue.

:)

The teams in the SPL would never go for a 16 team league as they would lose 8 games, even an enhanced league cup would never cover that as the attendances in them would be poor, even if it was regionalised, remember we played County in the semi final of the challenge cup and the crowd was below 3,000

No, I agree with Harry... A premier league of 16 and a Div 1 of 16, with the bottom two SPL teams playing off for promotion and relegation with the top two Div 1 sides.

The idea of a regional league cup, with a group stage is a good one, and it would allow the OF more games against each other.

Forget about the Challenge Cup - that was organised by a bunch of Neanderthals who can't even speak English.

You couldn't have play offs involving the bottom 2 and top 2 as that would leade to the possibility of no teams being relegated which would be a joke. The league is a joke regarding relegation already and that would make it 10 times worse. If you win the 1st division would deserve automatic promotion as well as relegation for finishing bottom.

2 up 2 down as well as a playoff match for 3rd bottm/3rd top would be better

[TSTtiger]

i think theres room for a 14 or 16 team spl and scenarios where both could be workable and successfull, whether it be with two legged matches after a split, or changes to one of the cup set ups . also scope for the winter break to be reintroduced, although if that happens you could probably guarantee mild winters!

gotta change it regardless, the spl is a joke as is the state of scottish football in general just now.

[ICTCM]

I'd like to see an 18 team league with 3 up 3 down,

Bottom goes down, second and third bottom have a play off with second and third in the 1st dev and the top

two stay up or go up.

also i'd like to see the third devision have relegation which will give more teams a chance. :)

[EWS]

Two leagues of 16, each playing home and away called Scottish A League and Scottish B League

30 games reduces a congested season especially with call-offs, and with games meaning more then prices will be more conductive to the smaller teams, and it should hopefully drive larger attendances.

2 up, 2 down, with the 3,4,5 and third bottom going into a playoff (semi's over two legs, final over one leg at a neutral stadium).

3 go out of Scottish B League

Below the two leagues will be a conference style regional system (Scotland North and Scotland South), with the team from the top of each league going into the Scottish B League, and the second teams playing a cup final to take up the third spot up for grabs.

The 6500 thousand rule all seater stadium rule would be thrown out, but with League Finance available if clubs wish to upgrade their stadium.

A few kinks to think about and work out, but that is my idea.

[Renegade]

I quite like the idea above, but I'd also switch to summer football (start in say February and end in about November, with obvious changes being made in World Cup/Euro years, but I doubt that'll happen any time soon ;) ).

Edited April 14, 2010 by Renegade

[TopSix]

I'm in agreement with EWS and Renegade on this one. I think there should be more mergers of clubs to facilitate a shift away from emphasis of the green and blue huns. One Dundee team, one Edinburgh team etc...

[EWS]

Edinburgh, Glasgow and even Dundee can easily support 2 teams each, they are large enough so I wouldn't have any problem with that. Obviously, no club should be forced to merge - we would probably have to merge with Ross County and I am sure none of us would want that.

The Alloas, Cowdenbeaths, Stennys, Elgins, Peterheads, Stirlings have as much right to exist as Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hibs and Kilmarnock.

[Johnboy]

I think there should be more mergers of clubs to facilitate a shift away from emphasis of the green and blue huns. One Dundee team, one Edinburgh team etc...

That will never happen.

Maybe you're not old enough to remember when a certain Wallace Mercer attempted to merge Hearts with Hibs.

[TopSix]

IF we had a merger of county and ICT, what would the potential crowds be like? 10 -12k if the highland club was doing well? European football perhaps? I say this purely from a hypothetical point. A merged Edinburgh club would be able to compete for the title. The dundee clubs should at least do a groundshare. Having both those stadiums - especially so close geographically is crazy.

[Stevie]

I think 16 is definately the ideal number but there is no way that 30 games is going to generate enough revenue.

After giving it much thought I think that perhaps the best option is in fact going back to a top ten with 36 games. One team automatically goes down and 9th place plays off with 2nd place in league two.

League two has ten teams too.

League two would be extremely competitive, more so than now obviously, because the top league is currently 12.

I think the fear of dropping down to the second tier wouldn't be as bad as it is at present because it would be so competitive. We know ourselves that dropping down isn't as bad as feared, in fact some fans actually don't want our club to go up. With an even stronger 2nd tier it would be better still.

Leagues 3 and 4 the same format top team up and 2nd in a play off.

Not ideal, Iknow playing each other four times but we're a small country and there is no perfect way.

WE MUST, THOUGH GET RID OF THIS SPLIT SITUATION, IT'S A JOKE

[PullMyFinger]

16 tems and remove seeding from all cup competitions.

All teams start at round 1 giving the smaller teams a boost in revenue and the bigger teams a run out with an occasional upset. Make the cups interesting with a Europa cup and Intertoto cup place up for grabs.

[bauhaus]

Change will happen, but priority will be to protect the number of games, as income is king. Imagine 30 games, average crowd 5000, thats got to be a loss of ? 70,000 per home game x 8 games = half a mill. Its not just ticket sales that effect, as for less games the season tickets have to cost less too, partly why Motherwell are rightly up in arms.

Best is most likely the 14 team league, home and away then split in half and home away again, 38 games, 2 up 2 down, possible play off aswell. League cup the way it was for years with initial local mini league, leading onto last 16 maybe, and possibly include best non league teams. Attendances would nt be great but it games, less travel, local interest, ie County, ICT, Elgin, Clach, Nairn and Forres. Peterhead, Broch, Dons, Cove, Locos and Huntly etc Although it would be like a bye for Aberdeen most years

[Joe DiMaggio]

16 tems and remove seeding from all cup competitions.

All teams start at round 1 giving the smaller teams a boost in revenue and the bigger teams a run out with an occasional upset. Make the cups interesting with a Europa cup and Intertoto cup place up for grabs.

The Intertoto cup was scrapped 2 years ago.

[Joe DiMaggio]

Change will happen, but priority will be to protect the number of games, as income is king. Imagine 30 games, average crowd 5000, thats got to be a loss of ? 70,000 per home game x 8 games = half a mill. Its not just ticket sales that effect, as for less games the season tickets have to cost less too, partly why Motherwell are rightly up in arms.

Best is most likely the 14 team league, home and away then split in half and home away again, 38 games, 2 up 2 down, possible play off aswell. League cup the way it was for years with initial local mini league, leading onto last 16 maybe, and possibly include best non league teams. Attendances would nt be great but it games, less travel, local interest, ie County, ICT, Elgin, Clach, Nairn and Forres. Peterhead, Broch, Dons, Cove, Locos and Huntly etc Although it would be like a bye for Aberdeen most years

It wouldn't be a league cup if it included non-league teams it would just be a 2nd Scottish Cup then which would be a bift daft playing it twice a year. 16 teams just wouldn't give enough game and the clubs would never accept it, also I think 18 teams is to many for the top league in Scotland and teams would again want self preservation as they would lose out on more games against the OF and the OF would not want to lose 2 games against each other. Thats why I think 14 is perfect as you play the same amount of games, 38, and the OF will play each other 4 times and if you finish in the top 7 you get 2 more games against them and there is no uneveness in the split.

[PullMyFinger]

The Intertoto cup was scrapped 2 years ago.

Really? :D

I blame the Rocket Man! :D

[starchief]

It'll never happen I know but I'd prefer a 10 team SPL but only play each other twice a season. How? Cut the current season in half with a winter break, so you have two championships a year. No meaningless matches, more trophies, more excitement. Teams in the First would have an instant chance of bouncing back, so it wouldn't be so crippling for finances. Currently that falls outside UEFA guidelines for how long a season must be so there would be no European qualification...

...so no annual embarrassment there either!