SCOTTISH football last night stood on the brink of revolution amid fears more than one SPL club is going to the wall.

 

Record Sport understands a move towards the restructuring of the SPL will start as soon as this season's championship and relegation issues have been decided.

 

Concerned chairmen have been holding emergency talks in secret for weeks. Matters are now coming to a head in advance of financial figures being released which will show the catastrophe that's on the way unless the Top Twelve is expanded into an 18-team league.

 

SPL chairmen met at Hampden yesterday as calls mounted for a change of direction and even the SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster has now publicly admitted the split isn't the answer to falling crowds and declining standards.

 

One concerned club spokesman said: "There are balance-sheet figures about to come out which are appalling.

 

"Clubs will go to the wall. unless there's change across the board, and soon.

 

"We can't go on paying salaries that the clubs just can't afford. Income must become relative to clubs' expenditure.

 

"Chairmen have been talking to each other in the background but it would be inappropriate to speak out before the major issues have been settled.

 

"Scottish football needs restructuring because the game is the big picture.

 

"If you sort out the product then the financial picture gets better in time.

 

"It might be sore to begin with, and income might drop by as much as 30 per cent, but if we don't take steps to find our true level then there will be serious consequences."

 

Rangers manager Walter Smith has already stated his preference for an 18-team Premier League, reducing the number of fixtures to 34.

 

That would take away the complaint that the same teams are meeting each other too many times during the season.

 

Support for that change to the current system was growing last night .

 

Formal moves to alter the structure of the SPL and redraw the remainder of the clubs in the Scottish Football League are now only a matter of weeks away.

 

Taken from the Daily Retard so may be utter bollocks, but I certainly hope not.

What, starting next season??

 

Im pretty sure they said it may be in place for the forth coming season.

 

edit, nope - but they will be playing for it from next season

 

SPL clubs could be playing for a place in a truncated top league from the start of next season, according to chief executive Neil Doncaster.

 

Doncaster met the members of Managers and Coaches Scotland at Hampden on Friday to discuss reconstruction proposals which would see the implementation of a 10-team top flight and a 12-team second division.

 

If the clubs vote in agreement, the 12 Scottish Premier League clubs could all start next season knowing that three of them could drop down to the second tier for the following year.

 

Doncaster said: "Next season is the earliest. I think it is important that when clubs start a season they know what they are playing for at the end of it.

 

"Potentially, if clubs want to go in that direction, if we get agreement from our clubs, there is no reason why that shouldn't be realistic.

 

"Looking at the good meeting with the clubs we had earlier this week, we will look to revise the document and re-issue that so potentially we are looking for a vote maybe in the next month or so.

 

"It was good to meet with the managers and coaches and I was impressed with the quality of discussion."

 

Doncaster confirmed all 12 SPL clubs were represented at the meeting, as well as managers and coaches from lower league clubs.

 

Alex Smith, chairman of Managers and Coaches Scotland, admitted he would have liked his members to have been consulted before the proposals had been formulated.

 

The former Aberdeen boss said: "They feel that they are a big part of the game and there is a general feeling that they should be consulted at club level when information comes out.

 

"Sometimes it happens at some of the clubs, at others the decision is made by their own chairman.

 

"But this has given us the opportunity to get our views over and there was a real strong group there today with vested interests and all giving various opinions.

 

"I'm quite sure if they had been asked at an earlier time they would have been able to contribute to the debate.

 

"Like most managers and coaches I would like a 16-team top league but it isn't financially viable at the moment.

 

"If we could get more sponsorship we possibly could do that."

 

The proposals got the approval of Celtic manager Neil Lennon.

 

"On that presentation, yes it does, because it looks to be the best way to increase the revenue, not just for the clubs in the top level but for clubs across the board," Lennon told STV.

 

"Neil (Doncaster) has obviously studied this meticulously, there were some very valid points. We're not over the line with it by a long way but it's nice to have an idea of where the powers-that-be see the game going."

 

However, another SPL manager hit out at the timing of the meeting after he was unable to make it.

 

Inverness boss Terry Butcher said: "It's absolutely stupid that they're having a meeting at Hampden at three o'clock.

 

"It's over three hours for us to get down from Inverness. Thursday is a big day in a football week. It's crazy.

 

"It's punished us in a way because I would have loved to have seen Neil Doncaster and put forward my opinions face to face."

well if neil lennon thinks it's a good idea then it must be a briliant one.

 

Bash on then. :hammer:

I see in the Daily Retard the SPL are claiming that the 10 team league will promote youth development. Pretty sure one of the reason given by the SPL for going to a 12 was to that a 10 team league  prevented teams form developing young players due to fear of relegation. Also Steven Pressley now saying he is backing the 10 team league.

I see in the Daily Retard the SPL are claiming that the 10 team league will promote youth development. Pretty sure one of the reason given by the SPL for going to a 12 was to that a 10 team league  prevented teams form developing young players due to fear of relegation.

 

Indeed they did

 

 

Having read the article on the BBC site, it does actually make sense. Providing its followed through properly.

Surprise surprise:

 

SPL postpones vote on league reconstruction

Page last updated at 16:02 GMT, Tuesday, 5 April 2011 17:02 UK

E-mail this to a friend Printable version BBC Scotland has learned that the Scottish Premier League is to postpone its scheduled vote on proposals for league reconstruction.

 

The 12 member clubs were due to vote on plans to reduce the current top flight to ten at a meeting on 18 April.

 

However, clubs pushing for change have failed to gain the necessary backing, meaning any motion would fail.

 

It is understood the lobbying for change will continue with another ballot pencilled in for the summer.

 

The SPL has been pushing a proposal that would see the league reduced from 12 to 10.

 

There was broad support for the switch at a meeting at Hampden Park in February, but 11 of the clubs would need to vote in favour in order for the changes to be implemented.

 

More to follow.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/12970538.stm

 

There is also a survey up on RedWeb regarding a TV Channel:

 

http://kappa.ecommzone.com/lz/AFC/0058BZ/06056b4d69e180b617a7c376954aae8775/story1.htm

 

Cannot beleive they are back on about SPL tv again. It will never get off the ground as very few are going to spend money on top SKy/ESPN for SPL games.

It's almost like someone's stuck us all into a Delorien and zapped us back to 2001. League reconstruction and SPL TV? Yawn

We were talking about this at the weekend (again, again....)

Without the split there is and would have been nothing to play for in the league for weeks.  True top 6 is an artificial construct and no real achievement but nobody can deny it adds a bit of interest to games at this time of the season.  Equally it makes it a far better run in to the season finale for the top sides to be playing each other rather than seeing who can score the most vs Hamilton.

I say keep the split.  I enjoy it, I believe some others have/are copying the idea so it can't be that bad and reducing to 10 will certainly make no difference to tv money, crowds, excitement, ability, skill or achievement.

Get the split to fuck.

Get the split to fuck.

This

Get the split to fuck.

No

No

 

Why?

 

It's never worked IMHO.

Neil Doncaster in the Retard today claiming that the falling attendances are down to fans being fed up of the 12 team set up and that they will come flooding back once we move to the 10 team set up he wants. Man is delusional if he thinks changing to 10 team league will bring the fans back. If anything it will drive more away.

I'll deny it - it's nae increased anybody I knows' interest levels this season.

 

 

Yep

 

The split is an absolute joke, and it's never been anything else.

Folk can disagree with me about the split, I understand it is derided by many but it does add excitement to an extent and improves the season run in as there are no (less) one sided miss matches.

 

However I don't believe that the alternative of a 10 team league will improve the league from what we have now, see the change as totally pointless and will reduce crowds further

The split is nothing more than a guide to just how mediocre your team is

I see that people generally want a 16 or 18 team league which would of course mean there are less games in a season. Would the season ticket price remain the same? Would we be willing to pay the same (or more) for a season ticket if there were less games?

The split is an absolute joke, and it's never been anything else.

 

Spot on.  I've never liked it from day one.

 

I'm all for increasing the league to 16 or 18.

I agree that the split does add a little excitement around this part of the season, but I would not miss it if it were to go.

This /\

Neil Doncaster in the Retard today claiming that the falling attendances are down to fans being fed up of the 12 team set up and that they will come flooding back once we move to the 10 team set up he wants. Man is delusional if he thinks changing to 10 team league will bring the fans back. If anything it will drive more away.

 

How thick is Doncaster - the falling attendances are down to the quality of football on display being shit! 

I just love that he has the cheek to wonder why fans are not going, then says part of his action plan is making the game more appealing to broadcasters. Its the daft kick off times that are responsible for a lot of the poor crowds this season, even discounting the awful quality of football.

Vote now expected in May:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13119567.stm

 

Things take a turn for the bizzare.

 

The Scottish Premier League will explore the creation of a British League Cup if plans for a major shake-up of the game are ratified.

 

BBC Scotland has gained access to the SPL's 100-page strategic plan, which includes plans for a 10-team SPL.

 

It shows a desire to merge with the Scottish Football League in the summer - and a cross-border competition.

 

Clubs met at Hampden on Monday as they seek a consensus on a number of issues including league reconstruction.

 

A new league set-up has been driving the change among the SPL's members, but there are a number of other objectives that clubs are being asked to back in a bid to turn around the fortunes of the Scottish game.

 

The document makes specific reference to unification of the SPL and SFL with an attractive reason being to "enable the SPL to explore the possibility of cross-border matches (potentially British Cup matches) via the Scottish League Cup".

 

The idea of a British club tournament has been proposed in recent years, with a 2001 proposal backed by Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne, which was ultimately rejected by the Football League in England.

 

In 1902, a British League Cup competition raised money for the Ibrox Stadium disaster and included the winners and runners-up of the Scottish and English Football Leagues.

 

Several other official and unofficial cross-border competitions have also taken place over the decades, including the Empire Exhibition Trophy in 1938, the Coronation Cup in 1957, the Texaco Cup and the Anglo-Scottish Cup.

 

Some other proposals included in the SPL's strategic plan include:

   

• 
     
• The national team's Fifa ranking to improve from 66th to 15th within five years
     
• The SPL's coefficient ranking to improve from 16th to 10th in five years
     
• Broadcasting revenues to increase by 50% in five years
     
• The Scottish Football Association to make payments to clubs when players are on international duty
  

A draft of the document was discussed at a meeting on 7 January but has since been re-drafted after prolonged deliberations over a number of months.

 

BBC Scotland has learned that a vote on the proposals should finally take place in mid-May.

 

Ambitious stuff, certainly to be filed in the 'believe it when I see it' pile.

 

Personally, my support for the British League Cup is conditional on it being called the Empire Exhibition Trophy again