By Andrew Warshaw
May 8 – The cloud of doom that has hung over Scottish football all year has finally been lifted with an agreement to restructure the leagues, hopefully in time for next season. Under the deal there would be single merged governing body to oversee the domestic professional game, with improved financial redistribution.
The new proposals, which are still to be put to the Scottish Football League, would retain the current four divisions on a 12-10-10-10 basis but, crucially, include a playoff system at the end of the season.
Last month Scottish football was plunged into total disarray when Premier League clubs failed to reach a consensus on a groundbreaking deal designed to re-invigorate the game, prompting widespread anger and in-fighting. Ross County and St Mirren vetoed a new model which needed the support of at least 11 of the 12 top-flight clubs. The plan would have involved three divisions of 12, 12 and 18 with the Scottish Premier League, in its current guise, disbanded. The two dissenters were unconvinced by the merits of a system that would have split the top two divisions into three after 22 games. That has now been dropped in favour of playoffs between the team finishing 11th in the top division and those finishing second, third and fourth in the tier below. The new package is as follows:
• Single governing body for all 42 senior clubs
• New promotion/relegation play-offs between top two divisions
• Revised financial distribution model
• Pyramid structure below the fourth tier
A statement from the top-flight clubs said: “The SPL looks forward to working with the Scottish FA and Scottish Football League [SFL] to deliver vibrant change for the game as a whole.”
SPL Chairman Ralph Topping said the new deal was not a fait accompli but would finally end the impasse. “Much work needs to be done in a short space of time to achieve our objective of a single merged league this summer,” he said. “But, where there is a will, there is a way. The time for action is now.”
SPL clubs will gather again this month to formally vote. The 30 clubs in the SFL’s three divisions would then need to approve the plans. Chief executive of relegated Dundee, Scott Gardiner, said: “Hopefully, Scottish football is on a pathway to sort out the shambles it has become.”
SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster (pictured), who spent several painstaking weeks fine-tuning the original blueprint with all the various stakeholders, warned some weeks ago that the Scottish game risked falling into the abyss unless it embraced financial reality.
A clearly relieved Doncaster said: “To have achieved unanimity is quite a breakthrough. We have got to a point where the 12 SPL clubs have agreed a way forward. Hopefully we’ll get the same level of endorsement from SFL clubs. There has been a lot of compromise and there are huge benefits for the whole game.”
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