November Change for Scottish Football?

Those charged with running Scottish Football have until November to change the landscape of our game or the SFA have said they'll do it for them, its a change that's been needed for a long time yet one that has always been shunned because of a deep rooted fear that it won't be financially viable to entertain the thought of a League season without potentially 4 home games a season against Celtic and Rangers, however, with Rangers now gone clubs have had to cut their cloths accordingly and half the League will probably only get 1 home league game against Celtic now so never has a time come that change to the League Set-Up isn't as drastic as what was once feared.

Also, there's no point ignoring the issue, the only reason we're likely to get change is due to The Rangers being in the Scottish Third Division, clubs, sponsors and financial backers of the game seemingly want the club incorporated into the top league as soon as possible and a change in the League set-up should see that happen within two years instead of the three it will take without any League reconstruction.

Whether it's done to help push The Rangers up the League or not for me isn't the issue though, if they benefit from it then so be it, the point is that we do need a change to the whole set-up and if The Rangers predicament helps speed up the change we as fans are craving for then at least some good will come of that whole sorry mess.

Underneath I'm going to write about a System I'd like to see incorporated and one I've also tried to promote to those in charge although so far I've failed to arrange a meetinting.

I'll also add a few popular Q&A's to it that I've received on another forum

• 3 Tiers of Scottish Football instead of four
• 16 Team SPL
• League Split into 4 sections of 4
• SPL Play-Off's
• European Play-Off's
• 3/4 week Winter Break
• Super Cup
• League Cup concluded before Shutdown
• SPL clubs enter the Scottish Cup immediately after Shutdown

• How do we get from 4 leagues to 3 for the start of season 2013/14?:

Well starting with the SPL, in order to get from 12 clubs to 16 clubs the simple solution would be to just promote the first 4 clubs from the Scottish First Division and be done with it but in order to preserve some interest and competition in the bottom of the SPL for the remainder of the 2012/13 season, the bottom club at the end of the season should enter a Play-Off with the club that finishes 5th in SFL1

Now after the Play-Off the remaining 6 clubs in the SFL1 will be joined the top top 9 clubs clubs in SFL2 and the Champions of SFL3, the bottom club of SFL2 will enter the Play-Offs with SFL3 clubs 2,3 & 4

That will leave us with two top leagues of 16 and a third tier of 10

Underneath that I'd like to see an introduction of a Pyramid system and have North, South, East and West Leagues with the winners of each league entering an end of season Play-Off with the winners replacing the club at the bottom of the new SFL2

• A 16 Team League will provide only 30 League games, that isn't enough is it?:

No, 30 league games simply wouldn't be enough, however this is where we have to be creative and progressive in our thinking regarding League reconstruction

• How do we get more games from a 16 Team SPL then?:

After 30 games the League will split into four sections of 4 in descending order of League positions:

1st-4th
5th-8th
9th-12th
13th-16th

Each team will play the other teams in their section twice, once Home and once Away that will take the final total of League games per team to 36

• Will that not mean more meaningless games between the clubs in the 2 middle sections?:

Hopefully not, the new structure would be designed to keep the League as competitive and as entertaining as possible for as long as possible, every section would have a consequence, the second section would see teams fight to finish top of it (5th overall) which would see them qualify for the European Play-Off with the team that finishes bottom of the Top section (4th overall)

The third section would see teams fight to avoid finishing bottom of it (12th overall) which would see that particular team thrown into the SPL Play-Off's with SFL1 teams 4,5 & 6

• What happens to the European Play-Off if Scotland lose a European place and are only granted 4 places instead of 5?

If that happens then the Play-Off would be contested between the team who finishes 5th and the team who finishes 3rd, unless one of the top 3 sides win the Scottish Cup, then it would revert back to Team 4 vs Team 5

• So what happens with the last section then?:

The last section would I believe be really intriguing, the bottom club (16th overall) would be automatically relegated, the team that finishes second bottom (15th overall) would enter a one off Play-Off tie away to the team the Runners Up of SFL1, the team that finish third bottom (14th overall) would enter into a two legged Home & Away Play-Off against the team that finish third in SFL1, the team that finished top of the bottom section (13th overall) would escape relegation by virtue of being 'best of the rest'

• Would clubs buy into that structure given it would mean only 1 home game vs Celtic for 12 of the 15 clubs?:

I'd like to hope so, at the moment there is the possibility that only 6 of the other 11 clubs could have 1 home game against Celtic so the potential change would create a fairer balance, also, games against Celtic and Rangers were much hyped but away crowds have dwindled a lot in recent years, with only one away tie at a particular ground all season I'd say it would more likely encourage away fans to attend more games

• This structure will mean less high profile games, will that not effect the attendances?:

It's a fair assumption, for me though I'd hope that less games against Celtic/The Old Firm would mean the likelihood that clubs could win more points which in turn could see a better challenge for the title from a club outside of Celtic/The Old Firm, and with that in mind you'd have to hope that crowds would be boosted all through Scotland's top flight as well as at Celtic Park as crowds flock to see a title race, I also think that with more potential for possibility in the lower leagues due to 5 Play-Off places as well as an automatic Promotion place, fans would be more interested in going because there would be a realistic opportunity to be successful

• How will the end of Season SPL Play-Off's work?

Well this would be interesting, I'd like to put three promotion places up for grabs via the SPL Play-Off's, I'd also like to reward/ punish clubs on their respective League finishes

*1) So for the team that finishes second bottom of the SPL they would enter a 1 leg tie away to the team that finished runner up of the Scottish First Division, that would reward the Runner Up of SFL1 and also punish second bottom of the SPL - Winner is granted access to the SPL

*2) The second play-off would be a two legged tie between Third bottom of the SPL and Third top of the SFL1, again this is designed to reward/punish the teams for their respective league finishes - Winner is granted access to the SPL

*3) The third Play-Off would be more traditional Play-Off's, the team who finishes bottom of the third section (12th overall) would enter the Play-off's against the 4th, 5th and 6th best placed teams in SFL1 - Winner is granted access to the SPL

1st Semi SPL Team 12 vs SFL1 Team 6
2nd Semi SFL1 Team 4 vs SFL1 Team 5
Winner of 1st vs Winner of 2nd

*4) Europa League Play-Off

This would be pretty straight forward, the club that finishes bottom of the top section (4th overall) would enter the Play-Off with the club that finishes top of the second section (5th overall), each of these teams would only have faced each other twice in the league that season so I don't think it would be repetitive, particularly if its specifically for an award

• How will the Super Cup work?

This will be played in the opening weeks of the Season between the League Winners and the Scottish Cup winners, if the team who won the League wins the Scottish Cup then it would be replaced by the club that wins the League Cup, if a Club wins the Domestic Treble then the team who finish 2nd in the SPL would become the new participate

• When could we fit in a Winter Shutdown

For me I'd have a 4 week break in the last two weeks of December and the first two weeks in January, money is extremely tight during that period and on average its usually a peak time for poor whether, giving fans and players an opportunity to spend this period with their families will hopefully rejuvenate both players and fans for the second half of the Season

• What would that do to ticket prices?:

I've got no idea, you'd think that pricing needs to be more realistic at the present moment regardless of change but with less high profile games it would have to drop, that's not something I can determine though as I've got no say on what clubs charge, I would like to see common sense prevail though

• So what will the leagues look like then?:

The New SPL would look like this

Team 1 Champions CL
Team 2 Runners Up CL/EL qualifier
Team 3 Europa League qualifier
Team 4 Europa League Play-Off
----------------------------------
Team 5 Europa League Play-Off
Team 6
Team 7
Team 8
----------------------------------
Team 9
Team 10
Team 11
Team 12 Play-Offs w/ SFL1 Teams 4,5,6
----------------------------------
Team 13
Team 14 2 Leg Play-Off w/ SFL1 Team 3
Team 15 1 Off Play-Off w/ SFL1 Team 2
Team 16 Automatically Relegated

The New SFL1 would look like this

Team 1 Champions Promoted
Team 2 1 Off Play-Off w/SPL Team 15
Team 3 2 Leg Play-Off w/SPL Team 14
Team 4 SPL Play-Off's
----------------------------
Team 5 SPL Play-Off's
Team 6 SPL Play-Off's
Team 7
Team 8
---------------------------
Team 9
Team 10
Team 11
Team 12 2 Leg Play-Off w/SFL2 Team 4
---------------------------
Team 13
Team 14 2 Leg Play-Off w/SFL2 Team 3
Team 15 1 Off Play-Off w/SFL2 Team 2
Team 16 Relegated

The New SFL2 would look like this

Team 1 Champions Promoted
Team 2 1 off Play-Off w/SFL1 Team 15
Team 3 2 leg Play-Off w/SFL1 Team 14
Team 4 2 leg Play-Off w/SFL1 Team 12
Team 5
Team 6
Team 7
Team 8
Team 9
Team 10 Relegated

I hope I've managed to explain a possibly complicated formula easily enough and I would like to hear your thoughts on it and also possible other ideas of your own

Great Post Gaffer

Like the idea of a 16 team SPL.

Not fan of splitting leagues and think 30 games would be enough to be honest,

I would also have 2 up via league placing and one up through playoff. By doing this can extend season for fans, but pro ore the smaller teams and hopefully help them improve through possible TV revenue.

Cheers mate, the thing is though if we just have 30 games I don't think that's financially viable for clubs or attractive for TV, I'm also not sure how many teams we have in the second tier that would be good enough to go up automatically, that's why I'd have only 1 guaranteed Promotion/Relegation spot with potentially 3 other Promotion places available, so that teams who go up at least pprove they're better than the teams they'd be replacing

Still, that's just my thinking behind it, thanks for the reply mate

I was just thinking that likelihood of proper money flowing down the divisions isn't very high, so we still end up with a situation of the same old teams.

The opportunity of at least 2 up will hopefully allow enough money to flow down and improve the game from the bottom up.

Maybe through the higher liklihood of younger players going on loan, so playing better standard than reserve football and helping develop the national team.


One of Scotlands major issues is 42 clubs is far to many for a nation of 5 million people, so trying to keep it fair while trying to make the bigger teams semi competative at a European level.

Definitely agree, I'd hope the introduction of multiple Play-Off's would heighten interest from fans, TV companies and financial backers to the lower leagues, the biggest problem I see is a lack of opportunity, with the Play-Off's at both ends of the leagues you could have a First Division that has a consequence for 10 of the 16 clubs, you'd have to think fans would want to see that and TV companies and sponsors would want a piece of it too

Nice ideas. Summer football too. I think two tiers would be sufficient though.

Larger teams not asset stripping from other teams in the same division would help too.

Mind you, would a 16 team SPL not just create a whole lot of uninteresting and pointless games akin to Celtic v Famagusta in the CL, no one would really care about Falkirk v Raith or QOS v Livingston anymore than they do now.

Maybe, but having so called smaller clubs in the Division and only playing each other twice initially would give more clubs a better chance to at least initially mount a title challenge, look at Motherwell last season, they finished well off the pace but they performed well against 9 other clubs last season, unfortunately they gave up 24 points to Celtic and Rangers, with The Rangers starting in Division 3 this term it you could be talking about only competing for 6 points with Celtic next season, at least until the end of season splits

I wouldn't be so quick to right off other clubs though, remember Livingstone 11 years ago, they came from nowhere, a few astute signings and they where getting good crowds, managed to finish 3rd too and I'm sure their manager won Manager of the Year

Also, with the splits, I'd hope that these matches wouldn't be meaningless and would have interest in them from teams in their section and teams in the Promotion/play-off positions in the league below

There'll always be negative sides to any change though, we just need to find a change that will give us far more positives than negatives

Definitely agree a change is needed. However, the people in charge are too inflexible and self interested.

That they are always have been and always will be, however many clubs might now think having The Rangers in a new SPL in a year less than they will under the current format is the best interests for their own clubs, that's why I think and hope that a format like this could be pushed through

to make up to the number in division 3 up to 16, they could have a few U21 teams from the premier league team and/or maybe 3 teams made up of the top players from top non-league teams.

East of Scotland Football League Allstars
South of Scotland Football League Allstars
Highland Football League Allstars

You couldn't have an all stars team in a league format, that would totally dismiss their club teams

I personally believe having 42 clubs is already far to many, not sure I'd Champion introducing a further six into the mix


£100m per Season

● £86m - Premiership
● £10m - Championship
● £2.5m - League One
● £1.5m - League Two

Every Premiership club gets £4m Guaranteed = £48m then the rest of their payment is made up of bonus payments which are decided by on field success. 

1. £10m - Total £14m
2. £7m - Total £11m
3. £4.m - Total £8m
4. £3m - Total £7m
5. £2.85m - Total £6.85m
6. £2.6m - Total £6.6m
7. £1.8m - Total £5.8m
8. £1.6m - Total £5.6m
9. £1.5m - Total £5.5m
10. £1.4m - Total £5.4m
11. £1.2m - Total £5.2m
12. £1.05m - Total £5.05m

Championship Payout

Every Club gets a Guaranteed £500,000 which = £5m

1. £850,000 - Total £1.35m
2. £450,000 - Total £950,000
3. £375,000 - Total £875,000
4. £300,000 - Total £800,000
5. £250,000 - Total £750,000
6. £200,000 - Total £700,000
7. £160,000 - Total £660,000
8. £145,000 - Total £645,000
9. £140,000 - Total £640,000
10. £130,000 - £630,000

League One 

Every club is guaranteed £175,000 which = £1.75m

1. £225,000 - Total £400,000
2. £110,000 - Total £285,000
3. £95,000 - Total £270,000
4. £80,000 - Total £255,000
5. £60,000 - Total £235,000
6. £50,000 - Total £225,000
7. £42,500 - Total £217,500
8. £34,500 - Total £209,500
9. £28,000 - Total £ 203,000
10. £25,000 - Total £200,000

League Two

Every club is guaranteed £100,000

1. £95,000 - Total £195,000
2. £85,000 - Total £185,000
3. £75,000 - Total £175,000
4. £70,000 - Total £170,000
5. £51,000 - Total £151,000
6. £37,000 - Total £137,000
7. £28,000 - Total £128,000
8. £24,000 - Total £124,000
9. £20,000 - Total £120,000
10. £15,000 - Total £115,000