By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – A revolutionary blueprint has been agreed to revive Scottish football and make it more meaningful and competitive.
Under the plan, the Scottish Premier League (SPL) – currently comprising 12 teams – will be expanded to two divisions of 12 teams each.
These will then be split into three leagues of eight midway through the season.
The model, which it is hoped will boost attendances and create more revenue, will be presented to the Scottish Football League (SFL) and Scottish Football Association (SFA) on Thursday (December 6).
“What we aim to have is a consensus model that cares for all of Scottish football,” said SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster.
The SPL would invite clubs to enter based on their league positions prior to the start of whenever the new format kicks in, possibly even next season.
“Unanimity among SPL clubs has sometimes been difficult to achieve when talking about reconstruction,” said Doncaster.
“We are in a position where we have that unanimous in principle agreement from the 12 clubs about their preferred way forward.
“We now have the opportunity to sit down with the rest of Scottish football, with the remaining 18 Scottish Football League clubs, in fact all the Scottish Football League clubs, with the Scottish FA and how we might try to agree a package that works for everyone for the benefit of Scottish football.
“We understand that there needs to be a lot of redistribution from the biggest clubs and that is something the clubs in principle bought into today.”
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