How long will it be before Scottish football sinks to the levels of Welsh and Irish domestic football?
There’s no denying that Scottish football has undergone a rapid decline over the last few years. And now with the Scottish League dropping below the Belgian League, Rangers and Celtic are now facing the fact that in reality, Scottish football probably won’t have a Champions League representative from 2011 onwards.
Can Scottish football recover from this? Or is it just a matter of time now before lack of finances and skill takes its toll and the level of football drops down to the level of the Welsh and Irish leagues?
May 26th, 2010 at 11:23 am
I think in this day and age and technology, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have an integrated football league in the uk. Of course it won’t happen, but you’re probably right that scottish football will continue to sink. If there’s no real challenge for the top two, and the best scottish players keep getting sold to the premier league, the quality will only get worse.
May 26th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Probably not long (I’m actually surprised that the SPL is ranked as high as 16th – I thought it would be at least ten places lower!)
I’ve said this before, but it seems a good time to bring it up again. The SPL should be scrapped completely and we should link up with Wales and Ireland to form a “Celtic League” (it works reasonably well for rugby). Eight teams from Scotland, six from Ireland (probably four from the Republic and two from the north) and four from Wales – or thereabouts, depending on the standard of applicant clubs. Not sure who’d be in it, but my (highly unrealistic) wish list would include Aberdeen, Bohemians, Cardiff, Celtic, Cork City, Hearts, Rangers and Swansea. This would provide for 34 games a season, thus eliminating the stupid league split (if it was such a great idea, other countries would have caught on by now). It would of course mean some longer journeys for away fans, but just a few months back there was talk of the Atlantic League, which would have meant away fans having to travel to Portugal, the Benelux countries and possibly Finland on a regular basis; also talk of Celtic and Rangers joining the (English) Premier League, and the resulting round-trips to London etc.
The Celtic League would be played during the summer season (March-October) like the League of Ireland is now, avoiding a repeat of the shambolic widespread cancellations we saw a few weeks back. There would also be a reserve league (why the SPL ditched theirs I don’t know) and a youth development league alongside the main league.
Automatic promotion and relegation would be ditched in favour of three-year licenses – I know relegation battles are exciting for neutrals but this would be to avoid clubs going bankrupt like Gretna when they can’t keep up; it would also mean that newly-promoted clubs don’t have to panic-buy second-rate English players when they get promoted (professional football would, unfortunately, almost certainly be unsustainable in the remaining national leagues). Three-year licenses would provide the benefits of a fixed league membership while also providing a means to relegate persistant underachievers.
National cup competitions (the FAI, Irish, Scottish and Welsh Cups) would be retained, but the League Cup would be ditched in favour of a post-season play-off between the top eight teams, ending with a Grand Final (which would alternate between Hampden Park and the Millennium Stadium).
I think the Celtic League would be a much better business model than the SPL etc (basically do we want one of the best leagues in Europe or four of the worst?) It would be a better package to take to Sky – well look at what else is on offer during the summer (cricket, Super League, Wimbledon and the Lewis Hamilton show – sorry Formula 1) and to other prospective investors. This in turn would attract a better class of players and managers, rather than the Championship cast-offs we’ve come accustomed to over the past couple of years. In turn, better players and better weather would entice more fans to matches (without having to dress like for a polar expedition), and in turn spend more money on shirts and assorted crap in the club shop. This would provide more money for better players, and so the cycle continues…
We would probably even get clubs other than Celtic and Rangers winning the title all the time (especially if Bohemians, Cardiff and Swansea were interested)!
Unfortunately the Celtic League is probably too controversial to ever become a reality… 🙁
May 26th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Nae chance as long as both the Old firm teams are in Scotland.
May 26th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
I think over the next 5 – 10 years or so we will see a change in the financing of football in europe as the current level of spending is not sustainable. There is too much borrowing of money happening and it has inflated the game in europe to disproportionate levels so I don’t think it will ever be about us catching them but a restructuring of the game in its entirety so it can function at a more realistic pace. Anything in the future that regards heavy borrowing is going to go through major changes. Football realistically does not need that level of investment to function and it can only be inflated so much. Just like a balloon, it will burst eventually.
May 26th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
its a hard question, its all down to the transfer market and all the money getting pumped into england. plus the economic climate aswell. but to be honest i think outside the old firm the standard has got better and more organised. but on European terms we’ve kinda stood still. i remember goin to watch the likes of st’mirren, motherwell, aberdeen, dumfermline and so on and it was 10 men behind the ball and the quality was absolute dire.. the old firm had good sides but we still get the same money.. its just the market ( because of england and spain ) has blown us out of the market due to heavy transfer prices. but european country’s like Belgium, austria, swiss, Ukrainian, russian have all had big investors in there clubs, they’ve caught up and even went past us. so on that front, i dont think we will get as bad as the welsh or irish leagues.. go and watch a game there and i think you would change your mind
May 26th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Yes
May 26th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
our league will never sink as low as the Irish or Welsh. we’re just going thro a bad patch
May 26th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
No disrespect to both those great countries but, i don’t think we will drop to that level. This has been the scenario for a number of years now and i don’t see it change in the forceable future. The money is just not there we have no real TV money to talk about. We cannot compete for the best players and any good young players coming through the ranks don’t stay too long.
May 26th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Although Standards have dropped there could still be a champions league representative as the champions of Scotland qualify through the champions path meaning they would avoid the big teams from the top nations and play another champion from a country ranked between 14th and 53rd.
The level will never drop down to the level of the Irish or Welsh leagues which I think most clubs in their top flight are part time. The large fan base of Celtic and Rangers will be enough to ensure a decent standard is maintained.
May 26th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
when?…you over rate the scottish league