Scots to study league remodelling

[H18sry]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scot...medium=twitter

[HibeeMG]

Can't see a down side to this at all.

The Scottish leagues have been crying out for a pyramid structure for the ages.

Anything that starts to strengthen lower league clubs is a plus.

Play-offs would mean less meaningless games.

[Sergeant Hibs]

Finally no 10 league though

[El Gubbz]

Next to increase the size of SPL meaning no relegation this season to keep the hibees up

[SteveHFC]

SPL
SPL First Division
2nd Division

Scottish Conference
Scottish Conference North&South

Please

[SmokieJoe]

14 team spl, play each other home and away (fresher for european games and national games and finantially helps the cash punters to see more games/buy season tickets)

3 divisions of 10 teams as is in the sfl.

2 up 2 down in all or 1 up 1 down and playoffs.

1 conference north and 1 south, the winner of each get promoted to the sfl.

this would only require 2 new teams being promoted to make up the 44 teams required.

p.s. No league split crap either

[HibeeMG]

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14 team spl, play each other home and away (fresher for european games and national games and finantially helps the cash punters to see more games/buy season tickets)

3 divisions of 10 teams as is in the sfl.

2 up 2 down in all or 1 up 1 down and playoffs.

1 conference north and 1 south, the winner of each get promoted to the sfl.

this would only require 2 new teams being promoted to make up the 44 teams required.

p.s. No league split crap either

As much as playing each other twice a season sounds like it's rational, it will NEVER happen. The financial implications of playing the OF at home 4 times a season means the clubs will never vote for anything but.

The rest I agree with.

[SmokieJoe]

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As much as playing each other twice a season sounds like it's rational, it will NEVER happen. The financial implications of playing the OF at home 4 times a season means the clubs will never vote for anything but.

The rest I agree with.

I thought about 16 team top tier, but i dont think there are 4 teams that could make the grade quick enough. Dundee, Falkirk Hamilton maybe, but that would make the 3 leagues of 10 look pretty rediculous.

Without researching it, there was a time when we didn't play the of 4 times a league season, it sounds daft, but would that let teams pick up better form/comsistency and gain in comfidence ergo bring out a better home support more regularly instead of the relliance on the of.

just a thought beacuse the 4xOF per season i think stifles the rest.

[HibeeMG]

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I thought about 16 team top tier, but i dont think there are 4 teams that could make the grade quick enough. Dundee, Falkirk Hamilton maybe, but that would make the 3 leagues of 10 look pretty rediculous.

Without researching it, there was a time when we didn't play the of 4 times a league season, it sounds daft, but would that let teams pick up better form/comsistency and gain in comfidence ergo bring out a better home support more regularly instead of the relliance on the of.

just a thought beacuse the 4xOF per season i think stifles the rest.

Playing everyone home and away once a season would make for a more competitive league. Teams would drop less points to the OF due to playing them less. Teams would also be able to put together good runs without having to visit Glasgow and change the way they play.

But..... all that goes out the window when club owners have £ signs in their eyes.

As for not having teams able to make the grade, they don't need to straight away. They could get humped for the first year but they would still earn more money than sitting in the First Division. That would then allow them to come back stronger. In England, sometimes teams are better getting relegated from the Premier League because it allows them to regroup.

[offshorehibby]

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SPL
SPL First Division
2nd Division

Scottish Conference
Scottish Conference North&South

Please

Hopefully Hibs will be fighting for some sort of system that will enable us to enter a reserve/colts team in the lower divisions. Hibs desperately need this to get our fringe players playing regularly.

[scuttle]

Weve had this before ,I remember going to Broadwood to se Hibs beating Airdrie 3-1 I think it was, in a two legged playoff so its not exactly radical. the only new thing would be the pyramid system for the lowest league

[The_Exile]

SPL of 14 team, top and bottom 7 split (don't like the split but you need to keep it as there wouldn't be enough games) = 32 league games a season. All SPL teams enter the cup competitions at the 1st round unless in Europe, that gives more opportunity for smaller clubs to gain a big draw and get some much needed cash.

SPL2 = 12 teams same as above but play each other 3 times with a split = 38 league games

SFL North = 12 Teams as above, which can include reserve teams if a club wants to field one, but the reserve teams can't get promoted
SFL South = as above, 1 relegated in a "superbowl survival" type match

Juniors = Keep same set up but have a "superbowl promotion" type tournament/match at the end of the year for promotion into the league proper

[alfie]

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I thought about 16 team top tier, but i dont think there are 4 teams that could make the grade quick enough. Dundee, Falkirk Hamilton maybe, but that would make the 3 leagues of 10 look pretty ridiculous.

Yep, 16 team premier division, but then two 15 team divisions, with play-offs and a regional pyramid (with play-offs?) underneath that. It's the only way we are going to see any variety in the scottish game.

[Keith_M]

Surely any league or split with an odd number means one team being idle every weekend (15 team division or 7/7 split).

[alfie]

Alternatively a 14 and 16 team divisions (I knew there was some reason for even numbers!), or three 16 team divisions (promote another two from the lower teams)

[MyJo]

SPL - 14 team league
Scottish Championship - 16 team league
Scottish League - 16 team league

Scottish Conference 1 (regionalised) 16 team league
Scottish Conference 2 (regionalised) 16 team league

Highland League / EOS league etc right down to juniors in a pyramid system.

Each league has a round of games home & away against each other team in the league 26 games in SPL, 28 games in lower leagues.

Spl splits into SPL1 (top 8 teams from first round of games) and SPL 2 (bottom 6 plus top 2 teams from championship) and play another round of games home and away - 14 games. European places and Titles awarded to top teams in SPL1 and bottom 2 teams from SPL 2 automatically relegated to championship.

Same format in the Championship with the winners of Championship 1 at the end of the season playing against 3rd bottom from SPL for promotion.

Same format in League 1 but after first round of games the top teams from each of the conferences join the bottom half of the league.

And so on.

[Andy74]

Great, another review. Been hearing this for years now and nothing ever gets done.

[Big-Si-1875]

Not a mention of summer football, i think this needs serious consideration.

[down the slope]

Will the review ask the fans what they would like ?, surely we have to have the largest say in what happens .

[Dr What If?]

I simply do not believe that the Scottish football authorities will do anything to improve the structure of the league. We've had 10-12 teams since the 70s and it has suited the bigger clubs (us included) fine. What we need is a top division of 14/16 and a lower division of 20. Lots of variety and plenty of promotion / relegation from both divisions. The regional system below would be perfect.
Problem is that for far, far too long the 'authorities' have known better than the fans what the fans want to watch (more likely they simply just haven't cared). The slow death of Scottish football has been painful, part of we wants our assocationpt so we can start again without the SFA, SPL or the SFL.

[Eyrie]

Said it before, and I'll say it again

SPL and Div 1 - 12 teams in each playing home & away (= 22 games played between August and the New Year derbies) .

First weekend in January = Scottish Cup
Two week break in the middle of January

Leagues resume at the end of January with three leagues of eight (= 14 games) as follows
SPL - top eight clubs retain their points and play to decide the title and European places
Championship - bottom four SPL clubs and top 4 Div 1 clubs play for the Championship title. Top four go into next season's SPL and bottom four into Div 1. Everyone starts with zero points.
Div 1 - bottom eight teams play for the Div 1 title. Bottom team relegated and second bottom into a playoff.

Div 2 is the remaining 18 teams playing home & away for 34 games. Winner gets promoted to Div 1, next three play off with the second bottom Div 1 team for the remaining Div 1 spot in a straight knock out. Bottom team goes into a playoff with the regional structure.

Below Div 2 is a regional structure merging the Highland League, East of Scotland League, Juniors etc. Probably have three divisions (North, East, West) with the winners of each entering a playoff with the bottom team from Div 2.

This results in a 36/34 game season, no imbalance of home/away fixtures, a fluid situation between the SPL and Div 1 and keeps the top teams playing each other rather than having easy games against weak opponents.

[steviehibsleith]

The current premier league format has each team playing 38 games - 33 before the split 5 after. So in general 19 home gates with which the home team keeps the money.
We all want a bigger league playing each other once home and away but the money men know that if its a 14 team league thats only 26 games so 13 home gates and 16 team league is 30 games with 15 home gates.
What does Rod and other money men want - the cash from 19/16/13 games. We all kow the answer and they dont lsten to what the fans want.

[leithsansiro]

Scottish National Championship 1; 16 teams (2 automatically down, next 2 in playoff with 3-4 from next div - top 2 from round robin competition play in top flight)
Scottish National Championship 2; 16 teams (2 automatically up, 3-4 in playoff with those outlined above, bottom 4 relegated)
Scottish Regional Leagues; 4 leagues of 10 (Northern, Central, East, West) with the winners gaining promotion
Lower Regional leagues feeding in

Keep the Scottish Cup as it is
League Cup for top two leagues (32 teams) - something along the lines of 8 U23's in each starting 11 or X number of Scottish players
Scottish Super Cup as season curtain raiser between league and Scottish Cup winner

Oh, and season running football between March and November please.

[7Hero]

Under the proposals for SPL play-offs, the bottom side would be automatically relegated and replaced by the winners of the league below, with the club finishing 11th involved in two-legged ties with those in second, third and fourth in the second tier.

Somebody care to explain how the above statement would work ?

[Eyrie]

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Under the proposals for SPL play-offs, the bottom side would be automatically relegated and replaced by the winners of the league below, with the club finishing 11th involved in two-legged ties with those in second, third and fourth in the second tier.

Somebody care to explain how the above statement would work ?

Two-legged ties wouldn't make sense since it would mean extending the season by four games. Only practical way is to make it two ties, with the winner of each on the day progressing to the play off final and the winner of that being in the SPL. Other three teams will play in Div 1.

[basehibby]

How about this for a radical suggestion - based on the play off system used by the Australian Rugby League amongst others - start off with a league of 16 teams - everyone playing each other home and away. The top placed team after 30 games will get an SPL Shield or something like that.

After that have the WHOLE league embark on a 5 week series of seeded playoffs based on league position with 4 sides eliminated each of the first three weeks followed by semis and then a GRAND FINAL. In my mind it would work something like this,,,,

Wk1 "qualifiers"
1 v 8
2 v 7
3 v 6
4 v 5
winners (A) through to wk3
losers (B) through to wk2

Wk1 "eliminators"
9 v 16
10 v 15
11 v 14
12 v 13
winners (C) through to wk2
losing 4 teams eliminated

wk 2 (knock out)
losers of the qualifiers (B) vs winners of eliminators (C)
winners (D) through to wk 3
losers (4 sides) eliminated

wk 3 (quarters)
winners of qualifiers (A) vs winners of knock out (D)
losers (4 teams) eliminated

wk4
semis - neutral draw - neutral venues

wk 5 - grand final - winner takes all! - SPL Title and top euro spot
Subsequent euro spot goes to highest placed team in the league table
Next one after that to beaten finalist
Grand finalists don't get relegated


It works a treat for the anti-podeans - with a series of gripping elimination ties (heavilly seeded by league position) building up to an exciting grand finale. I've tweaked it a bit so as every team would be involved in the first round of play offs along with a couple of ideas about europe and relegation - what do yeez all think?? Will the radical thinkers of Scottish Football buy into it ??? :

[Keith_M]

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Under the proposals for SPL play-offs, the bottom side would be automatically relegated and replaced by the winners of the league below, with the club finishing 11th involved in two-legged ties with those in second, third and fourth in the second tier.

Somebody care to explain how the above statement would work ?

I think it would be like a mini cup competition, starting with the four teams playing a 'semi-final' then the winner of the final gets the SPL place. A bit like the english playoffs.

[superfurryhibby]

TV demands 4 x old firm league games/season. THis is the most serious barrier to change in the SPL.

The SFL, below division one, needs regionalisation, pyramid structure and an incentive for ambitious, successful non league clubs to be rewarded for their good work. The current status quo is a joke. There are teams in non-league football with better players, stadium's and crowds than you will find in many of our Division three set-up's.

[jgl07]

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14 team spl, play each other home and away (fresher for european games and national games and finantially helps the cash punters to see more games/buy season tickets)

A 26 match SPL season? Are you serious?

Either the players would have to take a 30-50% wage cut or else ticket prices would have to go up dramatically.

[ancient hibee]

In the plans for a 10 team league those teams below the 1st Div.were to be regionalised-they didn't want it.