So, Neil Doncaster (SPL chief executive) has come out and stated that the SPL are looking at a possible expansion of the country’s top league. It seems that, once they have their proposals in order, they will then ask the twelve current SPL sides to vote on expanding the league to sixteen teams.
First and formost, I would like to applaud the SPL for at least admitting that they are looking into the possibilities of inviting more sides into their “Big Boys Club”. BUT! I must confess that I really don’t believe that sixteen is the right number here.
In my opinion, we should be looking to expand the SPL to, at least, an EIGHTEEN team league. Why? I’ll tell you why (no shock there eh?)
You have a sixteen team league and what? All of the teams play each other twice I assume? Giving you a season which only lasts thirty games. An immediate drop in revenue for clubs which are already buckling under the strain of massive debts. You also end up with an awfully long close season, winter shutdown or both!
So why NOT invite another two sides in to make up the numbers? You can then play each other twice and only lose four matches, which would be an ideal ammount to fit into a nice wee winter break and the clubs would lose much less revenue than they stand to if the numbers are only raised by four.
And it’s not as if the first division doesn’t have six teams that could make the step up is it? Have a look at the table in the current second tier. Dundee, Partick Thistle, Inverness Caledonian Thistle,
So why not just bite the bullet…wipe the board clean…and start again? Let’s have a look at Scottish football as a whole and start fresh from the ground up!
Oh wait a minute! Is that not what, former First Minister, Henry McLeish is supposed to be doing right now?
So why even change ANYTHING until all of his Scottish Football Review Committee findings are in? Why are we so bloody short sighted in the country ALL the time?
We’re talking about two, in fact three, Â groups of people who don’t even just work in the same city as each other…they work in the same BUILDING!! Go and walk down the damn hall and talk to each other!
And yet we wonder how on Earth our national game ended up in this state!
I agree! That means I will never work for the SFA – I suppose I support the wrong team anyway….
The 16 team league would help, but only if sharing income was brought in. Time indeed for two divs of 18, although this would lose clubs at the bottom end. One or two who do not deserve this. That needs some system to fix it.
I see what you’re saying about the possibility of losing teams from the bottom end of the Scottish leagues.
That’s why I feel that a complete overhaul of the entire Scottish game is in order. It’s time that the professional game, the juniors and the senior non-league sides were all brought in under one “Scottish League” umbrella which, in my opinion should simply be a part of the SFA as opposed to some seperate SFL type body.