Are We Ready for A 16-Team SPL?

There have been many proposals put forward by Scottish football fans as to how to help Scottish football attract larger crowds. Each proposal put forward aims to make leagues more competitive and exciting. One of the most frequent ideas put forward is a 16-team SPL.

There are only a few national leagues across Europe which currently have 16-teams in their top league including  Portugal, Russia, Greece, Sweden and the Czech Republic. Most Football Associations prefer to have 18 or 20 teams in their top league.

With a sixteen team league structure, it would mean that teams would only play 30 games per season. This situation may mean the SPL would not have the current problem of extending the season and a winter break could also be incorporated into the season so there wouldn’t be situations like the debacle at Fir Park and its pitch. Domestic cup competitions should also be given more importance, as they could be played at weekends rather than midweek nights to give them a higher profile.

On the footballing side of things, an added freshness would also be introduced and most argue that the league would be more competitive. Most claim the league would be less boring, as teams will only have to play each other twice.  Pitches should be in better condition promoting a more exciting brand of football due to less games played.

However, it is the chairmen of the SPL who vote on changes and proposals, so the best interests for their respective clubs are key to every decision made. Decisions taken are usually income based so on this basis most chairmen would be against a 16-team SPL due to less matches and TV revenue shared around more clubs.

There have been suggestions on fans messageboards that the split could still be in operation in a 16-team SPL. It is their view that it would provide the league with a similar amount of games as is currently in operation. It is also seen as a way of avoiding meaningless games in the middle of the table. The split, however, could pose problems, with an uneven amount of home and away ties for all 16 teams (i.e. 37 games). It has also been widely condemned due to the simple fact that at the end of the season 7th place in the current SPL can have more points than the team finishing in 6th.

The debate will rage on for years until something is changed. SFA Chief Executive Gordon Smith has not yet made any moves to restructure the league but stated his own preference of two 12 team leagues which split into three 8 team leagues at the halfway point. Theories will continue to come from fans, pundits and officials alike, but one thing is certain – the appetite for change is across the board.

Hamilton Win 1st Division Title

Hamilton Accies won the 1st division title and promotion to the SPL on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Clyde. The victory was just the climax of a fantastic season for the club, who were in the 3rd Division as recently as the 2000-2001 season. The club have spent just four seasons in the 1st Division, as the Accies established themselves as a 1st Division club with 7th, 3rd and 4th placed finishes in the first three seasons.

This season, manager Billy Reid has put a squad together which has been full of mainly youth players and only a few old heads to guide the youngsters to the title. Richard Offiong has been in inspired form this season for the Accies contributing 19 league goals along with two young midfielders James McCarthy and James McArthur, who have each scored 6 and 5 league goals respectively.

Building on their youth development reputation, Hamilton Accies has had the lowest age squad in the division, helped especially by regular starters: 17-year-old James McCarthy, 19-year-old Tony Stevenson, 20-year-old James McArthur and 20-year-old Brian Easton. McCarthy caused controversy when he decided to play for the Republic of Ireland instead of Scotland. The midfielder has recently attracted interest from Chelsea and was subject to a £1m bid from Liverpool in the summer of 2007.

Chairman Ronnie McDonald has vowed to carry on their youth development programme in the SPL, and replace outgoing stars (potentially McCarthy and McArthur) with players from the Under-17 squad. He has also declared to the fans that he will not follow some SPL club’s methods in signing old pros who are looking for their final career pay-packet and instead concentrate on bringing through their own young players.

Accies will however, be counting the cost of being promoted to the SPL. A new stand will need to be in place by the start of the season to comply with the SPL’s minimum requirement of a 6,000 seater stadium. The Lanarkshire club will also need to replace their current AstroTurf pitch with grass and an undersoil heating system, again to comply SPL rules. The chairman and the board will be hoping however that TV revenue, increased attendances at games and increased sales in merchandise will balance out the expenditure for next season.

It has been Hamilton Acidemicals’ first 1st division title in 20 years and their first ever season in the newly formed SPL and they will be looking to make the most of it, following clubs such as St. Mirren, Inverness CT and Falkirk in establishing themselves as an SPL side. They will also be trying to avoid the situation which Gretna got themselves into, by getting their stadium ready on time and not lavishly spending out on contracts for ‘old-pros’. With Hamilton’s stadium, New Douglas Park, accomodating office space for local businesses, there is already an income flowing in even when there is no football on.

Accies will be confident of emulating the success of smaller SPL clubs, especially if they are able to keep a hold of their young stars. Most SPL clubs will welcome the freshness they will bring to the league and will also be happy with the current financial situation which Hamilton are in.

Has the Fairytale Ended?

Gretna Football Club look to be hanging over the edge of the cliff as a crisis seems to have set in at the youngest senior Scottish football club.
On Monday it was unveiled that staff and players had not been paid by the SPL side as bizarrely owner Brooks Mileson is the only person who has the authority to pay employees of Gretna FC. The players were also told not to report to training on Tuesday.
Mileson, 60, is currently at a hospital in Newcastle as his health has deteriorated over the past couple of years, suffering from ME and having two stomach operations.
Then on Tuesday morning it was unveiled that manager Davie Irons and assistant manager Derek Collins had left the club to take over at 1st Division side Greenock Morton – it all has the analogy of the abandonment of a sinking ship.
Rumours are currently circulating that Director of Football and Caretakor Manager Mick Wadsworth will leave his post to take a job as Technical Director with the Canadian FA. There is also speculation the club will enter administration on Wednesday – which will result in a ten point deduction from their current SPL total that will leave them 19 points adrift of safety and, miracle-barring, certain relegation to the first division.
Gretna FC entered the Scottish Football League in 2002 and created history by achieving 3 consecutive promotions in 2005, 2006 and 2007 to the SPL. In 2006 the club also reached the Scottish Cup final and only lost out to Hearts on penalties.
Mileson is estimated to have a personal fortune of £75million according to the Sun through insurance construction and property businesses. The problem for Gretna FC is that the heirs of his fortune are not keen on their inheritance going to a struggling football club. Gretna FC will now have to find a way which they can be self sustaining in a bid to keep the football club alive and avoid following the likes of Third Lanark, Meadowbank Thistle and Clydebank to extinction.

Chief Executive a success?

Eight months ago Gordon Smith was the surprise appointment by the SFA as chief executive. “A positive step” the then Scotland boss Alex McLeish claimed. Many said that David Taylor’s successor was a fresh start for Scottish football and were glad that a “football man” was appointed compared to the usual businessman who has ample experience in running an organisation.

Many of his proposals have captured the imagination with bold plans to make the Scottish game more appealing. Before the job even became vacant he submitted a paper to the SPL regarding a winter shutdown which would see no games played in January and February and the season extended into June. However, the SPL are opposed to the idea and read out a statement to clarify that no winter break would be incorporated into the 2008/2009 SPL fixture list.

His next bold proposal was to re-introduce alcohol into Scottish football grounds. This was after a successful trial at Scotland international rugby matches at Murrayfield. Smith plans to have a voucher system at the turnstiles where spectators over 18 attain “two or three” vouchers so they can buy a limited amount to try to avoid problematic situation. Of course, the vast majority will undoubtedly be responsible with the new proposals – as seen with international rugby matches. However, there is a massive difference between rugby and football – crowd wise. At all international rugby games, the crowd is encouraged to integrate and there is a friendly atmosphere, even between fans of fierce rivals England and Scotland. The culture of football is somewhat different. Unfortunately there will never be a time where Celtic and Rangers fans will be encouraged to sit together. Football is already tainted with violence from a minority of fans and alcohol will only fuel it, even if it is only a few pints.

Gordon Smith also wants referees to be able to review matches after the game so that cheating and diving can be punished. Video has already been used for reviewing red card appeals and off the ball incidents. From this video evidence then bans can be rescinded for unjust red cards, handed out for tackles or incidents which were missed by the referee or extended for violent incidents worth more than a red card. The calls were renewed for video evidence to ban cheats when Saulius Mikoliunas won a penalty for Lithuania against Scotland with a blatant dive, which at the time, could have been very crucial to potential hopes for Euro 2008 qualification. However this was quickly shot down by world governing body Fifa who said it would “contravene the rules”.

Arguably his boldest plan is for the league structure of the SPL and the 1st division in Scotland. Under his proposals Smith wants to see two leagues of 12 teams. After each team has played each other twice in their league the leagues then splits. The bottom four of the SPL and the top four of the 1st division form a new league and start again on zero points. The top eight of the SPL and the bottom eight of the 1st division will carry on with their leagues with their respective points which they have already gained in the previous two rounds of games. The new league will be a play-off-esc league with each team has played each other twice. The top four of the play-off-esc league will start in the SPL and the bottom four will start in the 1^st division the following season.

Gordon Smith has adventurously tried to reignite the home nations competition between Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The English FA however did not react positively to the proposals which led Smith to contact the FAI (Football Association of Ireland) to participate in a Celtic Cup between Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The four nations have agreed in principle to start the tournament in 2009 with the door still open for England to participate.