Time for 18 team Scottish Premier League

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18 team league is the way forward for SPL

By Gary McDaniel

Familiarity breeds contempt is a popular saying and it’s an apt description for the current state of the SPL.  For decades our top flight league has moved from a 10 team league to a 12 and back again. Then we had the current madness of the split.  During this period there has been the odd cry of a 16 or 18 team league.  It has generally been ignored.

Our game has been neglected for years, not just in terms of youth development, but in terms of a league format that works.  Attendances are dropping at a rate that makes the Greek economy look healthy.  Our broadcast rights, well lets just say we should be thankful to both Sky and ESPN for taking pity on us after the Setanta debacle.

Now the question of increasing the SPL’s league size has been raised again. Previously there has been evidence for this question to be answered with a flat no. Not now. The question is will the smaller teams in the SPL favour it?  Will a club like Hibs except two less dates with the old firm coming to town and one less Edinburgh derby at Easter Road?  Clubs have to think of mind over money.

The SPL needs a revamp and in my view an 18 team league would be the answer.  Why stop at just 16?  With 34 games a season it would be ideal for having a couple of weeks break maybe during January. 

The lower leagues would also be restructured to two twelve team leagues which would be regionalised as a cost saving measure for clubs.  Play-offs to the SPL should also be introduced as well as relegation, which would allow clubs from the likes of the Highland league and Junior sides to compete for entry to the new format.  I would go as far as only having one governing body for the leagues.

Summer football has been presented as an ideal alternative as well, especially from SFA Chief Executive Gordon Smith.  For me it wouldn’t work as our broadcast rights are structured for a winter sport.  Broadcasters would highlight their commitments to summer sports such as tennis, cricket, golf and also major sporting events such as the Olympics and World Cup Finals. To offset this though I would like to see the League Cup introduced during the summer.  It could be structured into sections, as it was many moons ago, and played as a round robin tournament in its early stages.  This could be used by clubs as adding a competitive element to pre-season.  Also helping clubs prepare for early qualifiers for Europe which will become the norm for our clubs.  The final of the tournament should also be played before Christmas.

UEFA have been constantly restructuring the Champions League and UEFA Cup, maybe too much, but the Champions League has been a massive success for Europe’s governing body. It has had to move forward to keep the massive interest it has from a worldwide audience.  It will probably see more changes in the future to meet the needs of the bigger clubs in Europe.  This maybe against Michael Platini’s wishes but the demand from broadcasters and sponsors will be too great.

In Scotland we have allowed our game to become tiresome and an unattractive product. Delay in taking action soon could have disastrous consequences for the game we all love.

This restructuring could only take place though after the current broadcast rights come to an end.  It will be interesting to see if the likes of Sky and ESPN would be relaxed by such a move to an 18 team league.  Let’s remember the only reason Sky got involved with live broadcasting rights for the SPL was with the guarantee that they had exclusive rights to all 4 old firm matches.  Something that wouldn’t apply in the new 18 team league.

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