SPFL reconstruction: Celtic and Rangers don’t need to be appeased

Once again, the debate around league reconstruction in Scotland has reared its head after a controversial motion to expand the B team system was presented to SPFL members this week.

The country’s top clubs have proposed a move to insert their colt teams into a brand-new tier in the Scottish football pyramid set-up.

Our football landscape is in desperate need of restructuring, but our biggest clubs are going about it completely the wrong way.

Celtic, Rangers and Hearts already have their reserve sides facing off against semi-professional teams in the Lowland League, although as things stand they cannot advance into League 2, the lowest division of the professional game.

Under a new proposal a new ten-team Conference League would be created between League 2 and the Highland and Lowland divisions. At least four top flight clubs would field their youngsters alongside lower league opposition in the first year of the new venture.

Clubs in the Scotland’s top tier who want their youth sides competing against seasoned outfits believe this form of league reconstruction will benefit the future of our game and the talent we produce—so much so that they are offering to cover the cost.

However, it would relegate over 200 of our teams—some of which have been existence for decades—and crush their hopes of progressing up the ladder.

Smaller, hardworking clubs like Auchinleck Talbot should not be pushed aside to appease the Old Firm and the Jambos.

This new proposition does not benefit the little guy and only increase the already widening disparity within Scottish football.

Those in charge of our game would be best rejigging the pyramid system to maximise both fairness and entertainment.

The current set-up of the SPFL is predictable and outdated. The 12-team top flight is the best example of this. The split system, which divides the top and bottom teams into two separate divisions of six was intended to increase competitiveness and minimise the amount of meaningless end of season fixtures.

In reality, we have a Frankenstein’s Monster of a system where the team who finish seventh in the division, unable to pursue a place in European qualification, more often than not end up with more points than the team directly above them in sixth place.

And as for being more competitive, Glasgow’s big two still retain their duopoly over football in this country, as they always have.

Scotland is also in the unique situation where our clubs play each other at least three times a season, with clubs who meet in their respective split section facing off for a fourth occasion.

This predictability does not put off broadcasters, though, who continue their stranglehold over the SPFL with their TV deals which are purely based on showing at least four Old Firm games per season.

Only an extended topflight, with teams from the Highland and Lowland leagues integrated into the bottom divisions to beef up the leagues, can take our national game into a new era—and it doesn’t include shoehorning in academy teams.

How about this? A 16-20 team Premiership where each club will only face each other twice. This would increase the variety of our product and give more clubs a chance to play in the country’s premier competition.

Celtic, Rangers and Sky Sports will obviously object, but there will always be demand for showing that game to a worldwide audience, so alternatives to the current deal will be available.

Just look at the exploits of Darvel in the Scottish Cup this season: A grassroots club who sent Aberdeen—a side who would replace them with their kids’ team in the pyramid—out of the competition against all the odds.

More scenes like this is exactly what we want. Not the same old story and not for the sake of the elite.