There appears to be a new front opening in the war between the Scottish Football League and the Scottish Premier League. Both parties have failed to agree on a ‘joint working party’ over league reconstruction.
The Scottish Football League has set its stall out early and declared that it will go solo on its plans without any discussion. This brave move by David Longmuir, CEO of the SFL, took the SPL by surprise and has left them wrong-footed in the opening salvo over the future of the Scottish game. It appears that all 30 clubs in the SFL are united behind David Longmuir and have sent out a clear message that the status quo is no longer an option and that a fairer system needs to be in place for Scottish football to move forward.
The proposal by the SFL will have one organisation running the game, with three divisions of 16, 10 and 18 teams, play-offs for promotion and relegation and a new format in the League Cup. There will also be changes to the way the clubs are paid, with a fairer method of wealth distribution put in place – sensible
Trying to regain its composure, the SPL returned fire, but it was more smoke than gunpowder. Their bright idea was to expand the SPL to 16 teams with no further changes. Not exactly radical thinking there, though their second brainwave would be to set up two-tier SPL, with two groups of twelve.
After playing 22 games, they would merge, then immediately split into three separate groups depending on league place – still following this? Then, the top eight teams would fight for the title and a European place, the middle eight would have four teams contesting for a place in SPL1, with the leftovers staying in SPL2, and the rest would battle against relegation into the SFL – still with me? None of the SPL proposals mention a fairer spread-out of the money this new league would generate.
So why has this sudden outbreak of hostilities occurred? Well, because the SFL has always wanted more influence and a bigger say in the running of the game. There is also an aspiration to get a more even payment arrangement in place. This could never happen with the two big Glasgow clubs in the SPL. Now with Rangers, the biggest team in the country, in the trenches with the Scottish Football League clubs, the SFL must feel that the battle can be won.
This will be a war between 30 clubs who want to evolve, give a better, fairer product back to the paying customer and 12 clubs who are slowly losing their grip on power and influence and are desperately trying to sell a product that nobody wants.
The SPL is dead to Rangers; of that there can be no doubt, but this is a real problem for the other teams in the SPL. The SFL has a new found confidence and appears ready to challenge for the future of the game. The question is; can we say the same thing about the Scottish Premier League? Will it be able to evolve or will the forces that have brought the game in the top flight close to ruin be able to show some common sense, put aside the personal bigotry that stunts its growth and learn to grow?
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