League Reconstruction – What Do You Think?
A press conference was held yesterday at Hampden to announce the latest reconstruction plans. Read the article on the BBC website for more information on the key points:
- SPL proposal is for a 12-12-18 structure
- Top two leagues to split into three leagues of eight after 22 matches then play a further seven home and seven away games
- Leagues will be called Premier Division, Championship and National League
- Top eight teams to play for title and European places; middle eight to contest promotion and relegation in and out of Premier Division; bottom eight to decide who drops into National League
- 11 out of 12 SPL clubs need to vote in favour of plans, while the proposal requires approval of 23 out of 30 SFL clubs
- One league body to replace SPL and SFL
We’re talking with the Raith Rovers board to find out their thoughts on the proposal, and would also like to know the views of as many of our members as possible. Use the comments area here, our Facebook page, or come and talk to us at the Trust table in the south stand on match days.
My own personal view is that some of the statements made yesterday betray a complete lack of understanding of supporters’ views on this. For example, Stewart Regan said “Fans have spoken about a 16-team league but one of the underlying points made after that is because they’d like to see more games. In reality, a 16-team competition delivers less games than the proposal that we’re examining at the moment for 12, 12 and 18.” The desire for a 16-team league is not so we have more games, it’s so we play a larger number of teams each season. The present system of seeing the same teams 4 times a season (or 15 times a season if it’s Airdrie!) seems to be one of the biggest issue for fans I’ve spoken to.
Neil Doncaster says “What’s vital is that we safeguard the existence of clubs who are relegated into a financial situation which is very difficult for them to manage at the moment.” If he thinks that the only clubs in Scotland who are struggling are those who get relegated he has his head in the sand.
There are some really tricky practical issues to overcome as well. I posted a link to a great article (http://splstats.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/a-split-decision/) to our Facebook page yesterday – in particular, the timing of the split is likely to be a real problem, and financial planning and budgeting will be very difficult for almost every club. How do you structure a player’s contract when you only know which level you’ll be playing at for the first half of the season?
Another good article: http://www.theawayend.net/articles/opinion/1405-new-league-split-may-finally-spell-armageddon
“There are three main things the majority of Scottish football fans want. An end to four games a season against the same opponent, fair promotion and relegation, and an all inclusive pyramid system. Sadly, all three wishes may never happen any time soon.”
I think the main issue for most fans is the pricing policy of scottish football, Alot of money for a poor product on the park, Has to be a 16 team league for me , SPL clubs are putting money before the good of scottish football if they cant budget for 32 games slash there costs/squads, Rovers have done it so why shouldnt others