As things stand it looks as though the new league structure for scottish football isnt going to be put though, and imo quite rightly so! so below i suggest what i think would be an ideal structure for scottish football in future.
Top tier
16 teams
1st - champions league place
2nd - europa cleague place
3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th - playoff for the 3rd europa league place, final to be played at Hampden
15th, 16th - automatic relegation
14th - playoff to remain in the top tier
total of 30 games
Bottom tiers
2 regional leagues comprising of 15 teams each
1st place teams in each league enters the top tier directly
2nd place teams in each regional league enter into a playoff against each other, with home and away fixtures. The winner of this playoff plays the 14th place team in the top tier for a place in the top league, to be held at Hampden.
The teams finishing in the top 8 in each regional league are entered into a premier cup competition along with the rest of the top tier teams next season.
The bottom two teams in each league are relegated to be replaced by teams from amateur leagues directly below them within each region
Premier cup
consists of the top 8 teams from each respective regional division and the top tier teams. These teams are split into 8 groups of 4 with home and away fixtures in each group. Each group would have two regional teams and two SPL teams. This would generate 6 extra games to help compensate for the lost fixtures in the league. 1st placed team from each group goes through to play in subsequent knockout rounds. The winner of the competition would receive the last europa league place.
scottish cup
Remains the same format as it is now
Regional cup
comprises only teams in the regional leagues in straight knockout competition, could include top ranked amateur teams as well
Proposed format for scottish football
posted on 8/4/13
Agree with much of what you say and the benefits of regional leagues shouldnt be ignored.
More derby games resulting in larger crowds and reduced travel costs for smaller clubs.
How much does it cost a club like Annan to travel to the highlands six times as a year as a % of their income?
Would have the 13th and 14th from the top flight joining 3rd,4th and 5th from the regional leagues in an expanded play off system.
The holy grail is trying to make sure as many clubs as possible play meaningfull games for as long as possible each season.
posted on 8/4/13
Why not? they do it in holland, except in involves to teams from the top division and two from the second division
posted on 8/4/13
fair point about meaningful games at a stretch id do something similar the dutch format, 13th and 14th in the top tier in a playoff with the two second placed teams in the regional leagues. The top 8 concept in the regional leagues does also offer financial incentives and offers more 'meaningful games'
posted on 8/4/13
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posted on 8/4/13
Get rid of the cups and just have 3 leagues of 12.
posted on 8/4/13
Top tier of 20
Second tier of 22
4 up and 4 down each season with promotion, relegation and Europa League playoffs
Pyramid system below this so there is promotion and relegation from the second teir also
Joab done
posted on 8/4/13
switch the regional leagues for two standard leagues of 15, the only way i can see around the issue tbh!
posted on 8/4/13
Also a national training and scouting centre which takes in players from all around the globe. Get teams to invest into it and they get a share of the talent coming through it. That way Scottish sides have players of ability. rather than the dross that most Scots players are.
posted on 8/4/13
I'm honestly sick of hearing this meaningless games $hite.
If a club has meaningless games at the end of the season, it is through their own doing!!
If a club has won the title with games to spare, every game from then on in is a party.
If a club is relegated long before the end of the season, its their fault for being pi$h
If a club is sitting mid table and wont be relegated or wont be chasing any european places, they are at least secure in their league, they should be looking to improve the following season, they can give young players a chance and it's their own fault if they don't have a cup competition to keep their season going.
The meaningless games argument, from my point of view, is moot!!
People buy a season ticket at the start of the season, whether they attend at the end of the season or not, the ticket is bought and paid for, sure meaningless games wont attract mega crowds, but just about every league structure there is will mean games like this for some teams at some point, its going to happen.
We should be maximising variety AND competition, not just competition.
Every cup final is a meaningful game
Its less of an occassion and far less appealing if your team were to play a cup final every week tho.
Old firm fans of all people should be able to see how much more of an occassion a cup final is for teams that dont play them as often.
If you keep the leageus small, play the same teams all the time, and copete in the same competitions every season, it gets monotounous, boring and tiring.
In a big league, one season you might be safe, the next fighting relegation, the next safe, the next fighting for europe, the next something else, its not the same boring old $hite every year and you are competing against different teams every year into the bargain which adds more variety also
posted on 8/4/13