The festive season is the time for gifts and the plans for the new leagues and the combining of the SFL and SPL to one governing body could be the best gift giving to Scottish Football in years.
Although not every point in the plan is a new one and a few like the SPL 2 have been floating around for years, these plans if they are passed will be a great move for Scottish Football.
There are many positives in the plans that will improve the current state of Scottish Football:
-Changing to two top leagues of ten and making the First division the SPL 2 will increase revenue in Scottish Football. It has been said that the teams could earn up to ten times more money than they do right now which would be a great thing for the teams and will lead to more competition to get into the SPL or even the SPL 2 and this will be exciting for the fans with teams doing all they can to get promoted and who doesn't like watching exciting football?
-Regionalised leagues will be financially beneficial to the teams in the lower leagues as they won't have to spend crazy amounts of money travelling every week and regionalised lower leagues would lead to more local derbies which will lead to bigger turnouts.
-Colt teams or top teams playing their reserve sides in the lower leagues will also lead to bigger turnouts as Stranraer vs Rangers B woule attract more fans than Stranraer vs Annan Athletic with no offence to Stranraer and Annan intended.
The Winter break is a must for the Scottish game again and would be a great away to avoid so many call offs. It would also help let teams try and make more money by going to different countries or inviting teams over to play glamour friendlies. The Old Firm will try and play big teams like Rangers did a few years ago against AC Milan, however what would stop other teams going over to do a mini tour of countries and play a few games to make a bit of money as well as keeping the players in top condition.
These are just a few positives in the plans however there are some other things that could be done to help increase revenue or even the quality of the Scottish game:
-Friday night football would be possible if Friday night Rugby is. Even if it is not the Spl 1 the SPL 2 or the regionalised leagues would easily be able to host at least 1 game on a Friday and STV's sports centre could show it live and would increase attention to the SPL 2 as well as giving more money.
-Tv deals should be looked for for all divisions of Scottish Football. STV in the past had a highlights show for divisions 1-3 and If the SPL stays with Sky and ESPN the SPL 2 could easily try and look to have a highlights show on BBC or STV.The lower leagues highlights could also be on this show like the Football League show for England's lower divisions.
The outcome of the vote on Scottish Football is important for the game to improve and if they are done properly, the plans put forward by Neil Doncaster and later( which was convenient ) in Mcleish's Scottish Football report would definetly pave the way forward and could one day lead to a top tier with 14,16 or even 18 teams in it.
Lets hope the plans are given a chance and are not just thrown on the scrap heap like many other proposed changes.
Friday night football is a good idea, however they tried to introduce it a few years ago and were rejected by the police. Both BBC Scotland and STV are skint, but on of them should definitely be showing highlights. Totally agree with the Colt teams
ReplyDeleteI know but that was the SPL. I doubt there would be problems at lower league games. If they showed the highlights after the SPL show and maybe there was a Sunday lunchtime show that discussed the leagues like their used to be on STV. Another thing they could add would be a deal like BBC has for the Football League Show and the Scottish version could show 10 games or something a season. The Colt teams as i have blogged on before and i definetly think they would be a great addition to the Scottish leagues.
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