Ahead of former First Minister Henry McLeish’s eagerly anticipated Scottish Football review, Stirling University will this evening host a question-time style debate featuring the main men in Scottish football.
Although this particular panel has no authority, the opportunity to quiz some of the people who are involved with football in Scotland at a high level is certainly welcome, and their answers eagerly anticipated by this site.
Chaired by Jim Spence, the participants to this public debate are:
Henry McLeish (former First Minister, instigator of the latest review into Scottish football)
Gordon Smith (SFA Chief Exec)
Iain Blair (SPL Operations Director)
David Longmuir (SFL Chief Exec)
Fraser Wishart (PFA Scotland Chief Executive )
James Proctor (Supporters Direct Development Manager )
We’ve spent some time thinking about the issues we think need to be addressed, attached it to the nearest homing pigeon and sent it off to Stirling. Here are the questions we’ve forwarded to the panel.
1/ Does the panel admit that Scottish football is in a poor state and that it needs a complete overhaul?
2/ How does the panel think the task force led by Henry McLeish will make any difference when many previous attempts to reform Scottish football appear to have failed?
3/ Would the panel recommend the implementation of the same League structure and the same League management structure if Scottish football started from scratch today?
4/ Does the panel support the idea of a pyramid system with relegation from the SFL 3rd Division and promotion from the HFL/West of Scotland Premier League?
5/ We hear a lot about the youth systems in place in European countries such as The Netherlands. Does the panel feel that such systems actually work, and would similar scheme work in Scotland. If not, why not?
6/ The Old Firm have been dominating the league for many years. What does the panel suggest would bridge the gap between the Old Firm and the rest of the SPL?
7/ Although attendances in the SPL are reasonably stable, the majority of games are never sold out. What does the panel suggest should happen to encourage greater numbers back to the stadiums?
8/ What does the panel suggest should be done to stop clubs from overspending and potentially going into administration?
9/ On what grounds would the panel oppose moves by the Old Firm to leave the SPL and play in England?
10/ Does the panel support the idea of a longer winter break and a shorter summer break?
We’re interested in the answers the panel give, providing our homing pigeon make it to the venue of course.
If you think there are any other issues that need to be addressed or you have your opinions about the 10 questions we’ve posted here, feel free to leave a comment and we’ll post them on the site.
‘Scottish Football under the spotlight’ will be held at the Macrobert Arts Centre, on the University of Stirling campus, on Monday 28 September, kicking off at 6.30pm.
Tickets are free. Confirm your attendance via e-mail to sportevents@stir.ac.uk or call 01786 466 498. Please provide your name, contact details, a suggested question for the panel if you wish and which team/organisation you represent if appropriate.
Related posts:
- Scottish Football Week in Review
- The Scottish Football Christmas Alphabet
- Scottish Football’s Four to Follow
- The great Celtic gamble
- On This Day in Scottish Football
Tags: Scotland, Scottish football, Scottish Football Under The Spotlight
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Questions about the structure of the leagues definitely need to be answered. The SPL split is viewed as a joke. The possibility of playing the same team 6 times (or 7-8 with replays) in a single season is a joke. The fact there’s no relegation from SFL3 is a joke.
I would argue for one 18 team SPL, an 18 team SPL2 (part-time clubs?), and then North and South Scotland leagues (restructured Highland, Junior & some SFL3) competing for promotion to SPL2 the same way that Conference North & South regions compete for promotion in england.
My understanding is that the main obstacle to SPL restucturing is that the OF are happy with playing each other 4 times a season as this is where they get a large part fo their cash. I also believe that SFL teams (especially those is SFL3) won’t vote for restructuring if there’s a chance they’ll be relegated from their cushy league status position that they’ve had for decades.
It seems to me that there needs to be some higher Scottish Football body that removes the decisions from the current stakeholders and acts for the overall betterment of the game in Scotland, otherwise we’ll be asking turkeys to vote for christmas again.
Just realised this was posted yesterday so the debate took place last night!
Does anyone have any links to a transcript of the debate?
Was just about to ask the same thing as Chopstyx. Interesting to hear what McLeish’s views actually are. Until he proves otherwise must suspect he’ll be performing the role of yes man to the SFA in the review. Which would roughly be in line with his political career I suppose.
Yeah, last night!
Your points are valid though in terms of a general discussion. The SPL, easily one of the most uncompetitive leagues in the world needs to change, but quite how I’m not sure.
An 18 team league would mean having the Old Firm and the income they bring only twice, rather than four times now. There’s not many teams in the SPL that would vote for that, though the six additional teams probably would.
I am, and this site is, in favour of a pyramid scheme with fluid promotion from the Juniors to the SPL, but as you correctly say, I cant see the Third Division teams, or for that matter any team voting for relegation from the Third division. The glass ceiling this imposes is unfair to teams in the Juniors and Highland league who really don’t have much to play for.
Mind you, that situation – the glass ceiling – exists in Holland too, where the equivalent of the Juniors are never promoted to the Dutch Second division, even though most of these clubs have better facilities and more supporters than the teams they would replace. On a side note, most of these teams would also shame some SFL sides in terms of facilities, but that’s another matter.
The thing is, despite all our good intentions, the process of change begins with getting rid of the men at Hampden who seem hell-bent on keeping the status-quo. Unless they’re replaced with people who have truly have the best interests of the game at heart, and not the best interest of their pensions and perks, then nothing will change and Henry McLeish is really wasting his time.
No transcript yet, but one of our roving reporters attended, so hoping to get some feedback from him, providing he didn’t get drunk and end up falling asleep in a toilet. Again.
I’ve been saying for as long as I can remember that there should be one, professional body organising the whole game. And yes a pyramid structure would be preferable but as has been said you’ve got far too much vested interest to get proper change.
I see from the Daily Record today (so it might not be true) that Gordon Smith was giving grave warnings about clubs in debt and possible Scottish and UEFA sanctions against them.
If Smith has developed the guts to actually do that then he’s probably also worked out how to build a time machine and will shortly be back at Wembley scoring that bloody goal he missed all those years ago.
I cannot understand how fining, then demoting clubs and sending them off to UEFA for an additional 39 lashes in any way improves the situation. Look at Livingston: demoted to a division where their income is even further reduced because their only means of financial escape, namely gate receipts, (their sponsors ran off a long time ago) are so much less.
These kinds of actions punish the clubs, the fans and the communities without actually punishing the real culprits, the chairmen and owners, who are removed by the adminstrator to bollocks up another business elsewhere.
If Gordon Smith has a time machine, maybe he should go back and place bets on Hawick Royal Albert losing. He’d be minted, and all our problems would be over.
From the report I don’t think he was talking about clubs like Livingston last night. More SPL clubs continually living above their means. He likened the English Premier League to cheating with the big teams buying the top players on their overdraft in order to dominate. “You earn x and then insist on spending x plus 50%.”
I think there is a difference between that and the sort of mismanagement by a small time crook that Livingston suffered. As new backers had been found by the time they were demoted it was another case of administrators being spiteful and guarding their own interest.
Livingston suffered because they weren’t sufficiently nice to people on their way up.
You’re right though it is the fans that suffer.
Chopstyx, I like your suggestions, broadly I think the same.
2 national divisions of 18 teams each (or maybe 16), with regional leagues below them in a pyramid format. A regional set up creates more local derbies, fuelling interest and (hopefully) attendances, while giving the lower national division a real point of interest.
Cup competitions could still be national, giving teams in regional leagues the chance of long journeys somewhere else.
Travelling around Scotland to watch football can be a magical experience, while local rivalry will always draw crowds. Any changes should focus on enhancing the matchday experience, because attendances at matches are the lifeblood of a healthy football culture.
I think if we had one big “senior” league – say 20 clubs, playing each other once at home and once away each season that would be a good start. Below that some sort of pyramid, like the north/south suggestion – and below that regional leagues. And with promotion possible from top to bottom.
To cater for the need for big derbies (eg the Old Firm every month or whatever they think they need to survive), then revamp the existing Glasgow Cup, Renfrewshire Cup, etc to make them meaningful competitions culminating in a final over two legs (one or both of which could be on 26th December or 2nd January?).
But how about also revamping the relationships between local teams? For example, every team in the top division should be associated with two or more teams in the lower divisions – and obliged to field players from that team for XX minutes each season. And lower division teams are able to field (say) one player from their associated senior team each match. This would allow the lower teams to effectively become reserve teams for the higher teams.