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Eighteen?


BowenBoys
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So, the play-off final was a poor spectacle or, more accurately, pair of spectacles. One goal in 180+ minutes ensured that Hamilton's place amongst the elite twelve is secured. But just how much better are they than Dundee United? Or Falkirk? Or Morton?

 

Dunfermline are rising. Queen of the South had a poor season but will possibly be better next time. How will Inverness do against those two next season?

 

Is it time for a revolution, two leagues of eighteen?

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While I like the idea of a top league of 18 the problem would come from the new formed championship where there would be a considerably drop off in size of clubs apart from St Mirren, Raith, Ayr and Livi (Maybe). The rest of the clubs are part time and have very small fanbases . This may not be a bad thing but I just cant see teams like Dumbarton or Alloa competing in the top division any time soon.

 

The premiership would though be very strong and certainly very interesting if you promoted the top 6 sides from the championship to the top tier. Lots of clubs similar in size with ourselves that have generally good away supports and are good away days also. I think if we did go 18 team top league that 2 up 2 down system should be employed with 3rd bottom playing 3rd top final a final spot in the league.

 

I assume for the 2nd tier of 18 that we would have to get rid of a few teams or expand the lowland/highland leagues to accommodate these teams with a decent pr0motion relegation set up to stop the league stagnating.

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While I like the idea of a top league of 18 the problem would come from the new formed championship where there would be a considerably drop off in size of clubs apart from St Mirren, Raith, Ayr and Livi (Maybe). The rest of the clubs are part time and have very small fanbases . This may not be a bad thing but I just cant see teams like Dumbarton or Alloa competing in the top division any time soon.

 

The premiership would though be very strong and certainly very interesting if you promoted the top 6 sides from the championship to the top tier. Lots of clubs similar in size with ourselves that have generally good away supports and are good away days also. I think if we did go 18 team top league that 2 up 2 down system should be employed with 3rd bottom playing 3rd top final a final spot in the league.

 

I assume for the 2nd tier of 18 that we would have to get rid of a few teams or expand the lowland/highland leagues to accommodate these teams with a decent pr0motion relegation set up to stop the league stagnating.

 

I think there's two defined groups, full time clubs and part time clubs. The top division will always be weighted towards full time clubs and those aspiring to be. The lower division will be predominately part time clubs.

 

As I see it you rarely hear of part time clubs in financial peril whilst the majority of full time clubs will go thru difficult financial periods every now and again. Think then it's fair to say there will be two sets of agendas. For instance I think it absolutely crazy that with leagues of ten Stranraer have had to visit Peterhead twice a season when a larger league would require only one such trip. At the same time I haven't heard these or other lower league clubs complain. For all we know they might be happy with the status quo.

 

So if there was to be a top division of 18 clubs I see no reason why there can't be two smaller divisions below, if that's what the clubs in the current Div One & Div Two want. If they want to regionalise leave it up to them.

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While I like the idea of a top league of 18 the problem would come from the new formed championship where there would be a considerably drop off in size of clubs apart from St Mirren, Raith, Ayr and Livi (Maybe). The rest of the clubs are part time and have very small fanbases . This may not be a bad thing but I just cant see teams like Dumbarton or Alloa competing in the top division any time soon. The premiership would though be very strong and certainly very interesting if you promoted the top 6 sides from the championship to the top tier. Lots of clubs similar in size with ourselves that have generally good away supports and are good away days also. I think if we did go 18 team top league that 2 up 2 down system should be employed with 3rd bottom playing 3rd top final a final spot in the league. I assume for the 2nd tier of 18 that we would have to get rid of a few teams or expand the lowland/highland leagues to accommodate these teams with a decent pr0motion relegation set up to stop the league stagnating.

 

With the current set up, the problem for many of the smaller, part time clubs is that they are only a couple of league places away from a play-off spot or worrying about relegation. Very hard to judge whether to stick or twist. If the system doesn't change, these clubs will just continue bumping along. A larger league will provide more stability and allow the more ambitious ones to, slowly, grow.

 

I'm not one for slavishly following English models but I like their play-off system. Bottom of Division 1 clubs straight down and a play-off between Division 2 clubs. I would initially have two down, one automatically up and one through a play-off. This would happen for two seasons while clubs adjust to the new set up. A decision would then be made whether it should be increased to three.

 

The SPFL are the guardians of our league teams. They really should be looking into improving the lot of all teams in the league. Only in this way will the leagues become more competitive for the benefit of all.

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The more clubs in a division = smaller slice of pie from the £ pot.

 

I genuinely thought the 12-12-18 format that then changed to 8-8-8-18 in later stages was interesting, created excitement and different teams to play against.

 

Belgium have adopted it and seen improvement in European performance.

 

That isn't the system in Belgium. They use the most bonkers system ever created. 16 team league with playoffs for the championship and playoffs to qualify for a playoff to get in to the qualifiers of the Europa league. I have no idea how Relegation works but there is probably a playoff and a calculator needed.

 

Our system is good for entertainment at the top level. Generally there are teams with things to play for on the final match weeks, maybe not this season but you can say that about Sky's best league in the world TM too. I could not care much less about the potential home/away imbalance and the people who get upset about 7th place having more points than 6th place make me laugh, it is like claiming the team winning the championship should be given a European spot if they have more points than 3rd place in the Premiership.

 

Of course I would like a bigger league, but I don't think that would necessarily result in better entertainment. It would allow clubs to better plan as businesses and allow then to try out youth players potentially resulting in better player development.

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Ultimately we have too many teams. Resources and supporters are spread too thin.

*Devils Advocate* In Australia they scrapped all teams and restarted with franchises and the league is more successful than ever.

 

That's a very Australian thing to do. North Glasgow United? No thanks.

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I agree with 2 leagues of 18/20. Play everybody home & away once. 3 down/up and next four in playoffs for 1-4 places - means if you do get relegated, good chance of promotion next season. & summer football - best chance of better tv deal if we're only show in town for 2 months +.

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Yeah coz this season was brilliant after we tied up our mid table place and had nothing else substantial to fight for.

 

I don't get it. I'm in the minority, but I just don't get why everyone thinks a big league would be better.

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I'd go for 2 leagues of 16 bottom 2 relegated, 3rd bottom top league play off with 3rd top of league below. Start the season in August and play on Saturdays (Ross Co away again on Christmas eve anyone?). Bottom league of 10 top 2 promoted bottom two in play offs with winners of Highland & Lowland leagues. No chance of clubs in Premiership giving up 4 home games especially if they include the ugly sisters & the TV money they bring,or of the broadcasters giving up the ugly sister's 4 league games

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18 - Not if it was a return to the top 4 playing to be Champions/ for European Competitions, the bottom 4 fighting relegation, and the huge amount of clubs in the middle going nowhere. My memories of a large league were month after month of meaningless games. I accept that our current system is far from perfect but it does provide excitement and meaningful games nearly to the end. IMHO the consequences are that attendances would drop with a return to a basic 18 team league.

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18 - Not if it was a return to the top 4 playing to be Champions/ for European Competitions, the bottom 4 fighting relegation, and the huge amount of clubs in the middle going nowhere. My memories of a large league were month after month of meaningless games. I accept that our current system is far from perfect but it does provide excitement and meaningful games nearly to the end. IMHO the consequences are that attendances would drop with a return to a basic 18 team league.

 

Why is the Championship in England regarded as a successful league?

 

I much prefer a 16 club league, which would in all likelihood have less meaningless games than the current set up. To augment the loss of home matches I'd extend the current League Cup sections to home and away and/or add a second section round. As a by product the Scottish Cup would be more attractive as you wouldn't likely be matched against a club you repetitively play in the league. For instance we played both St Johnstone and Aberdeen five times this season. Instead of the boredom of repetition we'd be playing fixtures against a wider range of teams and in all probability making more use of our full squad.

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A bigger league played played in the old days manner wouldn't work but I don't think anyone has suggested that. Extending the play off system counteracts the problem of meaningless games to a great extent. Also a bigger league means money is spread around more and relegated teams have a better chance of quick re-promotion; in this way relegation is not so damaging to clubs as if often has been in the past. There would also be more top-level derbies.

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