This summer has thrown up a lot of turmoil in Scottish football. Rangers were forced into liquidation after HMRC rejected an audacious offer to receive 8p for every pound they were owed. They were instead offered a place in the third division, Scotland’s fourth tier.
The SPL has now lost its much coveted old firm derbies which has already led to a massive reduction in TV revenues for every club in the SPL. Scottish clubs were had already been struggling financially as the days are long gone where a club could pay £12million on one player (Tore Andre Flo). Where across European leagues clubs are having increasingly lucrative budgets since the 90s and 00s, the average budget in the SPL has in fact declined. Even Scotland's top clubs have become merely astepping stone to England. Celtic’s Ki public omission of his honour in making it to England illustrates this abundantly.
Celtic, now without debate, Scotland’s biggest club have seemingly embraced their new position in the hierarchy, buying players based on potential which can then be sold to any of the EPL’s 20 clubs whom all boast bigger budgets.
Is there any way to bring the good times back?
There has been talk of increasing the number of clubs in the SPL This has been met with mixed reaction, TV revenue would have to be split between more teams. However teams might be willing to take more financial risks with the threat of relegation eased.
Play offs are a big part of English football. Could they work in Scotland?
With Scotland’s second tier consisting of only 10 teams, a play off would result in halve the league’s teams being in contention for promotion. A more realistic version would be involving one team from the top flights relegation zone in the play offs. This would give them a second chance to stay in the league. Furthermore having a team from the top division may make such a play off scenario more appetising for television producers.
What about something outside the box?
A change to summer football could be the spark that Scottish football desperately requires.
The Scottish SPL has been subject to many alterations over the last decade or more, yet it has failed to prevent its steady decline. Some may suggest that no big leagues take place during the summer. This however could be the change to both the rule and Scottish football. We can all feel starved of football over the summer, nothing but wacky transfer rumours being pulled out of hats to keep us entertained. Scottish Football could change all that. With little viewing competition coming from other leagues, and millions of football deprived fans, this could be the perfect solution to both gaining greater TV revenue and filling stadium seats with bums.
Don’t like it?
Got a better solution?
Than please share…
By Adam Murray
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