Radical shake up of Scottish Football?

[sunshine1875]

Scottish Football is going no-where. Well it is, it is continuing on a downward spiral!

Bit harsh, maybe! But in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, we had teams getting to Euro finals and semis. The 80’s, standards began to slip but Aberdeen won the Cup Winners Cup and Dundee United got to a Euro final. The 90’s and 00’s saw a partial improvement in Euro competitions with the Old Firm getting an ever increasing share of the available money. Now even Celtic and Rangers are struggling against teams from some of the lesser leagues. A key reason IMO has been the Old Firm’s continued growth within Scotland and the decline of the others teams. It has been mentioned many times that that cannot be healthy for Scottish Football as there is not enough competition!

Oh, it would be great to go back to the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s when other teams put up greater resistance and sometimes won trophies, including the league.

So is now the time to do something radical and really shake up Scottish Football. Here is one option:

Disband all top league teams and create 'local' teams aligned to the local authorities. So in a top league of 16 we could have:

Aberdeenshire (442,000 pop)
Angus (110,000)
Ayrshire (378,000)
Dumfries & Galloway (148,000)
Dundee (154,000)
Dunbartonshire (110,000)
Renfrewshire (354,000)
Edinburgh (440,000)
Forth Valley (410,000)
Fife (350,000)
Glasgow (624,000)
Highland (206,000)
Lothian & Borders (270,000)
Perthshire (130,000)
Lanarkshire (633,000)

The eagle eyed will spot the first problem with this – there are only 15 teams mentioned, but with re-jigging of boundaries we could get 16 teams.

So would this work – is something radical needed?

Negatives – What structure below this league? How would you deal with promotion / relegation? Would fans just gravitate to the winning teams in any case? Did not work with Scottish Rugby!

Positives – Clean sheet! Remove links to the past (i.e. sectarianism, Wallace Mercer etc). More fans likely to support their local team (i.e. why would someone born and bred in Arbroath want to support Glasgow?)

I know, this is a total non starter, but would you support your local team.

[WindyMiller]

Scottish Football is going no-where. Well it is, it is continuing on a downward spiral!

Bit harsh, maybe! But in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, we had teams getting to Euro finals and semis. The 80’s, standards began to slip but Aberdeen won the Cup Winners Cup and Dundee United got to a Euro final. The 90’s and 00’s saw a partial improvement in Euro competitions with the Old Firm getting an ever increasing share of the available money. Now even Celtic and Rangers are struggling against teams from some of the lesser leagues. A key reason IMO has been the Old Firm’s continued growth within Scotland and the decline of the others teams. It has been mentioned many times that that cannot be healthy for Scottish Football as there is not enough competition!

Oh, it would be great to go back to the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s when other teams put up greater resistance and sometimes won trophies, including the league.

So is now the time to do something radical and really shake up Scottish Football. Here is one option:

Disband all top league teams and create 'local' teams aligned to the local authorities. So in a top league of 16 we could have:

Aberdeenshire (442,000 pop)
Angus (110,000)
Ayrshire (378,000)
Dumfries & Galloway (148,000)
Dundee (154,000)
Dunbartonshire (110,000)
Renfrewshire (354,000)
Edinburgh (440,000)
Forth Valley (410,000)
Fife (350,000)
Glasgow (624,000)
Highland (206,000)
Lothian & Borders (270,000)
Perthshire (130,000)
Lanarkshire (633,000)

The eagle eyed will spot the first problem with this – there are only 15 teams mentioned, but with re-jigging of boundaries we could get 16 teams.

So would this work – is something radical needed?

Negatives – What structure below this league? How would you deal with promotion / relegation? Would fans just gravitate to the winning teams in any case? Did not work with Scottish Rugby!

Positives – Clean sheet! Remove links to the past (i.e. sectarianism, Wallace Mercer etc). More fans likely to support their local team (i.e. why would someone born and bred in Arbroath want to support Glasgow?)

I know, this is a total non starter, but would you support your local team.



Correct.

[R'Albin]

Scottish Football is going no-where. Well it is, it is continuing on a downward spiral!

Bit harsh, maybe! But in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, we had teams getting to Euro finals and semis. The 80’s, standards began to slip but Aberdeen won the Cup Winners Cup and Dundee United got to a Euro final. The 90’s and 00’s saw a partial improvement in Euro competitions with the Old Firm getting an ever increasing share of the available money. Now even Celtic and Rangers are struggling against teams from some of the lesser leagues. A key reason IMO has been the Old Firm’s continued growth within Scotland and the decline of the others teams. It has been mentioned many times that that cannot be healthy for Scottish Football as there is not enough competition!

Oh, it would be great to go back to the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s when other teams put up greater resistance and sometimes won trophies, including the league.

So is now the time to do something radical and really shake up Scottish Football. Here is one option:

Disband all top league teams and create 'local' teams aligned to the local authorities. So in a top league of 16 we could have:

Aberdeenshire (442,000 pop)
Angus (110,000)
Ayrshire (378,000)
Dumfries & Galloway (148,000)
Dundee (154,000)
Dunbartonshire (110,000)
Renfrewshire (354,000)
Edinburgh (440,000)
Forth Valley (410,000)
Fife (350,000)
Glasgow (624,000)
Highland (206,000)
Lothian & Borders (270,000)
Perthshire (130,000)
Lanarkshire (633,000)

The eagle eyed will spot the first problem with this – there are only 15 teams mentioned, but with re-jigging of boundaries we could get 16 teams.

So would this work – is something radical needed?

Negatives – What structure below this league? How would you deal with promotion / relegation? Would fans just gravitate to the winning teams in any case? Did not work with Scottish Rugby!

Positives – Clean sheet! Remove links to the past (i.e. sectarianism, Wallace Mercer etc). More fans likely to support their local team (i.e. why would someone born and bred in Arbroath want to support Glasgow?)

I know, this is a total non starter, but would you support your local team.

Sorry but IMO this is an awful idea..

[iwasthere1972]

Scottish Football is going no-where. Well it is, it is continuing on a downward spiral!

Bit harsh, maybe! But in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, we had teams getting to Euro finals and semis. The 80’s, standards began to slip but Aberdeen won the Cup Winners Cup and Dundee United got to a Euro final. The 90’s and 00’s saw a partial improvement in Euro competitions with the Old Firm getting an ever increasing share of the available money. Now even Celtic and Rangers are struggling against teams from some of the lesser leagues. A key reason IMO has been the Old Firm’s continued growth within Scotland and the decline of the others teams. It has been mentioned many times that that cannot be healthy for Scottish Football as there is not enough competition!

Oh, it would be great to go back to the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s when other teams put up greater resistance and sometimes won trophies, including the league.

So is now the time to do something radical and really shake up Scottish Football. Here is one option:

Disband all top league teams and create 'local' teams aligned to the local authorities. So in a top league of 16 we could have:

Aberdeenshire (442,000 pop)
Angus (110,000)
Ayrshire (378,000)
Dumfries & Galloway (148,000)
Dundee (154,000)
Dunbartonshire (110,000)
Renfrewshire (354,000)
Edinburgh (440,000)
Forth Valley (410,000)
Fife (350,000)
Glasgow (624,000)
Highland (206,000)
Lothian & Borders (270,000)
Perthshire (130,000)
Lanarkshire (633,000)

The eagle eyed will spot the first problem with this – there are only 15 teams mentioned, but with re-jigging of boundaries we could get 16 teams.

So would this work – is something radical needed?

Negatives – What structure below this league? How would you deal with promotion / relegation? Would fans just gravitate to the winning teams in any case? Did not work with Scottish Rugby!

Positives – Clean sheet! Remove links to the past (i.e. sectarianism, Wallace Mercer etc). More fans likely to support their local team (i.e. why would someone born and bred in Arbroath want to support Glasgow?)

I know, this is a total non starter, but would you support your local team.

This is a non starter.

I'm not investing and I'm out.

[SRHibs]

I refuse to believe that you thought this was a good idea whilst writing this thread.

[Gatecrasher]

If Scottish football had started out like that then yeah its probably a decent idea. you cant just erase 140 years of history, as others have said its a complete non starter

[CFC]

Lack of competition is indeed killing Scottish football. Its no coincidence that the NFL has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world and is also one of the most evenly matched. Anyone can beat anyone, the Bundesliga is not a million miles away from this model either. Both leagues are profitable and run fiscally responsibly and are even enough to be unpredictable and thus exciting. Unless this lack of competitveness is actually addressed nothing will change and as such your proposal is not to be scoffed at, anything to break the duopoly that has stifled the Scottish game for far too long.

[stoneyburn hibs]

Scottish Football is going no-where. Well it is, it is continuing on a downward spiral!

Bit harsh, maybe! But in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, we had teams getting to Euro finals and semis. The 80’s, standards began to slip but Aberdeen won the Cup Winners Cup and Dundee United got to a Euro final. The 90’s and 00’s saw a partial improvement in Euro competitions with the Old Firm getting an ever increasing share of the available money. Now even Celtic and Rangers are struggling against teams from some of the lesser leagues. A key reason IMO has been the Old Firm’s continued growth within Scotland and the decline of the others teams. It has been mentioned many times that that cannot be healthy for Scottish Football as there is not enough competition!

Oh, it would be great to go back to the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s when other teams put up greater resistance and sometimes won trophies, including the league.

So is now the time to do something radical and really shake up Scottish Football. Here is one option:

Disband all top league teams and create 'local' teams aligned to the local authorities. So in a top league of 16 we could have:

Aberdeenshire (442,000 pop)
Angus (110,000)
Ayrshire (378,000)
Dumfries & Galloway (148,000)
Dundee (154,000)
Dunbartonshire (110,000)
Renfrewshire (354,000)
Edinburgh (440,000)
Forth Valley (410,000)
Fife (350,000)
Glasgow (624,000)
Highland (206,000)
Lothian & Borders (270,000)
Perthshire (130,000)
Lanarkshire (633,000)

The eagle eyed will spot the first problem with this – there are only 15 teams mentioned, but with re-jigging of boundaries we could get 16 teams.

So would this work – is something radical needed?

Negatives – What structure below this league? How would you deal with promotion / relegation? Would fans just gravitate to the winning teams in any case? Did not work with Scottish Rugby!

Positives – Clean sheet! Remove links to the past (i.e. sectarianism, Wallace Mercer etc). More fans likely to support their local team (i.e. why would someone born and bred in Arbroath want to support Glasgow?)

I know, this is a total non starter, but would you support your local team.

Yes a non-starter , but something radical does need to happen in scottish football , its oan its erchie and maybe no teams in europe after august , national team not likely to qualify for the euro's /world cup for a good while , those who can change it really need to wake up

[CFC]

The most depressing thing of late was the widespread dismissal of the playoff idea mooted by the Dundee United chairman. Scottish football needs refreshing, innovation and progression but too many dinosaurs happy to be hamstrung by tradition. Tradition does not bring punters through the gate.

[magpie1892]

Tradition does not bring punters through the gate.

Neither does £22 for Hibs v. St Mirren.

[madabouthibs]

The fanbase of each team would be much more evenly matched if there wasn't the Sectarian/Religion thing going on. IMO of course. :agree:

[Sioux]

Exactly!

[CFC]

The fanbase of each team would be much more evenly matched if there wasn't the Sectarian/Religion thing going on. IMO of course. :agree: 100 percent correct, the infirm are very aware of this which is why they pander to it, bigotry sells unfortunately

[sunshine1875]

I refuse to believe that you thought this was a good idea whilst writing this thread.

We always say at work when considering new options, "there is no such thing as a bad idea"!

The question I would ask is "where do you see Scottish Football in 25 years"? Well, my crystal ball says no-where!

How sustainable is a model that has 410,000 people around the Forth Valley, yet no top division team? Or 345,000 and 633,000 people in Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire respectively, of which, only around 5,000 watch the only local top division team. Yet, in a single city of 624,000 we have two teams that play in front of 50,000/60,000 every other week. Or a model where the 110,000 in Angus have no hope of ever reaching the standard of neighbouring City of Dundee that has a population of 154,000.

[CFC]

Something similar to this was done in Irish rugby it used to be a club game but since the sport professionalised their teams now play as provinces (Ulster, Connacht, Munster and Leinster) in the Celtic league and Heineken cup. It went against tradition but captured the imagination of the Irish rugby public.

[Jack]

Scotland is already has one of the best supporter to population ratios in Europe but the likes of the capital clubs play to an average 13/14,000 crowd.

TV money is also an issue as money from the European super leagues filters down to their lower divisions meaning clubs with similar crowds to us are much wealthier than we can be meaning they can attract the better players.

The marketing of the SPL is also abysmal - sorry non-existent. In my opinion the SPL should be marketed as a group; SPL shops, co-ordinated radio and TV advertising etc.

[R'Albin]

Scotland is already has one of the best supporter to population ratios in Europe but the likes of the capital clubs play to an average 13/14,000 crowd.

TV money is also an issue as money from the European super leagues filters down to their lower divisions meaning clubs with similar crowds to us are much wealthier than we can be meaning they can attract the better players.

The marketing of the SPL is also abysmal - sorry non-existent. In my opinion the SPL should be marketed as a group; SPL shops, co-ordinated radio and TV advertising etc.

Agree with all this:agree:

[bob12345]

We always say at work when considering new options, "there is no such thing as a bad idea"!

The question I would ask is "where do you see Scottish Football in 25 years"? Well, my crystal ball says no-where!

How sustainable is a model that has 410,000 people around the Forth Valley, yet no top division team? Or 345,000 and 633,000 people in Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire respectively, of which, only around 5,000 watch the only local top division team. Yet, in a single city of 624,000 we have two teams that play in front of 50,000/60,000 every other week. Or a model where the 110,000 in Angus have no hope of ever reaching the standard of neighbouring City of Dundee that has a population of 154,000.

I think you have arrived at your point, the 'new league' suggestion is just to attract attention. With the geographical spread, how have we let the supporters desert their local teams, all over the country. The question is how do we fix it and the answer is not this.