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From: J.M.Ross@man0507.wins.icl.co.uk (J.M.Ross)
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Subject: Re: CHANGE THE LEAGUES IN SCOTLAND
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 17:47:42 +0000







In article <1993Jan8.144751.2699@dct.ac.uk> mcsdc1jpb@dct.ac.uk (john bell)
writes:

>there seems to be a chance that the SSL will not go ahead now. Thank christ for

>that. If it does though, the SSL would get no places in europe, and if Rangers
>and Aberdeen etc honestly believe that they can form a european superleague
>with the likes of milan, marseille etc, then they are kidding themselves. Milan

>are not going to leave the money-spinning italian league, same goes for
>marseilles etc. No chance.

Suppose the SFA doesn't recognise the SSL (btw, I agree that the SSL would
not be a good thing), they would have to throw Rangers, Aberdeen et al out
of the SFA, and then they wouldn't be able to call on those clubs' players for
Internationals. Would the SFA do this? I expect they'd grudgingly recognise
the SSL.

Milan would not leave the Italian League, what they and others would do is
effectively operate TWO first team squads, one for the domestic league and
another for a European league. 

> However, the SFA are missing a great chance to do
>some good in the game for once, providing the SSL doesn't happen.

The SFA have s.f.a. to do with it. SFA does not equal Scottish League, they
are two distinct bodies which adminster their own affairs. It's up to the
member clubs of the Scottish League to decide the size and constitution of
the divisions, and who they admit to membership.

> A 14-12-12
>set up again means no opening of the leagues to highland league sides etc,
>which, given the drubbings regularly handed out to Division 2 sides in the cup
>by these sides and the general standards in the highland league, is ridiculous.


Isn't "regular drubbings" overstating it a bit? I think Division 2 clubs
generally have the edge, but there's still enough "upsets" to suggest that
the top Highland clubs could do quite well in Division 2.

Does the proposed 14-12-12 setup involve playing other clubs 3 times?
I don't like the imbalance of home and away games in this system. The thought
of visiting places like Ibrox twice in a season and only getting one home game
back won't be too appealling to most clubs. I don't know why 1st and 2nd
division clubs have put up with this system for so long. I liked the proposal
last season of a 12 club Premier Division with a championship play-off.

>This is how i would have set it up.
>new premier league:    new first division   new second division
>16 teams               10 teams             16 teams (4 non league sides)

>it would work like this:

>this seasons bottom 2 don't get their asses saved and go down
>the top six from division 1 go into the premier.

So it's relegation for Dundee again  :-;

>Again the bottom 2 in div one go down to div 2.

Hang on, that means no promotion from Div 2, how about 4 down and 2 up?

> In div 2, the bottom 2 get relegated and four non-league
>sides come up, say 2 highland league teams and 2 from the south league or
>whatever it's called (the league that has gala etc).

Gala Fairydean play in the East of Scotland league based around Lothians
and the Borders. It's not as strong as the Highland League and general the
ground facilities are very poor, so there ought to be more clubs from the
Highland League, say 3 to 1. The other league is the South of Scotland
League based around Dumfries & Galloway. It's even worse, its clubs rarely
qualify for the Scottish Cup, Stranraer Reserves are currently about the
best club in it.

> The two that would be
>relegated go into whichever league is closest to them.

Except that there is no close Senior league for clubs in Tayside, Fife, Central
and Strathclyde. If you could get the Junior clubs involved then maybe
it might work.

> OR there could be a
>'feeder' league of non league sides, of which the top 4 go up, and thereafter,
>2 up, 2 down. The feeder league would itself be fed teams by North, South and
>Central and so on, making it possible for junior sides to make it to the top
>level, if they were ambitious enough. the theory being that, any club, no
>matter how small could get into the actual scottish league if they were
>ambitious enough.

I don't think many Junior clubs will be interested in that. They have their own
autonomous set-up and the top Junior clubs wouldn't want to jeopordise their
future by becoming just another average Senior club. Still, any that do
have ambitions of elevating to the Senior rank have no chance of getting
there under the current structure, so they might become more ambitious if
a "promotion" route was available to them. We could even see a Cambuslang
derby in a few years, if Celtic ever move there.

>The premier league sides play each other twice, so only 30 league matches a
>season, the first division play each other 4 times, so 36 matches for them, and

>the division 2 sides play twice so 30 games for them. The skol cup would be
>abolished so that even the most successful team would play no more than 45
>matches in a season.

Only 30 league matches - you must be joking. Which Premier league club will
condone losing the income from 7 home matches + all the cash that a decent
Skol Cup run can generate? That's why we're stuck with the ridiculous 12 club
Premier League, more games means more money and it reduces the chances of
clubs like Dundee being relegated.

>confused?

>you should be.....


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