I mentioned in another thread about a set of proposals for Scottish Football League reconstruction I sent to the Governing bodies in Feb 2011. I have revised these ideas to take into consideration the latest League standings and feel these proposals have some merit and would certainly be much more appealing to clubs like ours than the present 12-12-18 that is on the table. They are available to view on the website www.theawayend.net under the heading of Restructuring of Scottish Football -a new proposal.
Initially it may seem complicated but it is actually not anymore complicated than the present idea.
I would welcome any comments.

You've obviously spent a great deal of time on this but what the...?! That's far too complicated than your average supporter could follow. Would be much simpler to have for example 3 leagues of 16 (invite applications to make up the numbers). Play each team home and away to give 30 games, and introduce a group stage at start of one of the cups to make it closer to the 36 games we have now giving smaller clubs a guaranteed few cup games and more chance of being drawn with SPL clubs.

It's not any more complicated than the proposal on the table at present - the difference is that with my idea, the wee teams don't get shafted. Thanks for taking the time to read it

Restructuring-of-scottish-football-a-new-proposal

Is this the article?

I like the idea of a derby cup, but I'm a bit too conservative to want both cups changed. I like the good old Scottish Cup just the way it is. In particular, I like the romance of a non-league team drawing one of the giants, which i think your proposal makes less likely. Perhaps if the league cup was a success, we could look at the other cup later?

I'd also miss games at Christmas and New Year. I'd rather shut down in Jan/Feb only. I like the idea of the July kickoff though, fitba can be glorious on a sunny summer afternoon. Perhaps you could just string out the games a bit more between July and December to allow spaces for teams to get games cancelled before european ties, replays, international and rearranged fixtures?

As far as the leagues: You say your suggestion is no more complicated than the present proposal, but my main problem with both the present SPL and the 8/8/8/18 proposal is the complexity. I'd prefer a straight 18 or 20 team league, playing twice, with playoffs.

10/10 for effort though!

Thanks for the feedback. The Scottish Cup and League Cups would still run. The League Cup before Xmas and the Scottish after Xmas. The Derby Cups would open and close the first part of the season (2 legged) and hopefully they would be a good crowd puller as the first games of the season.

Oh. I see. Derby cups would be good then. How about finishing the season on New Years Day, (or 2nd/3rd) with the second leg of the derby cup then? Cannae think of a better New Year than a proper derby.

Yeh that would be a good festive set of fixtures with limited travel, people on holiday which should lead to better crowds. It's time the governing bodied listen to what fans want rather than looking after the 'big' clubs financially

I like it. Not complicated really if you read the whole article. Although might take a lino a season to figure out. After the first season even they would get it. Def need the jan 1 game.

I've read it again. I prefer it to the current proposal.

If I read it correctly, you want to start the season in Feb, have a summer break, and finish in December. Why did you want to change from the end of season being in May or June? Why not start the season in July, and have part 2 from March to June? Was it just the number of games?

Prodigal Son
It was partly the number of games but also to make sure the Championships part of the season would definitely get started - if we had a severe Winter from say Nov, games could be postponed meaning final standings may not be known by the start of the Championship stage. I wouldn't be against your idea but the above is a possible problem. I also feel that this proposal could be started this year as promotion and relegation from this season can go ahead and when the Leagues start in August we can move on from there with a Champioship season until December.
I realise that many people will be against the idea as it looks complicated, but people who have been willing to read it a couple of times have been very positive about the merits of the proposal as it is more likely to retain the interest of fans throughout the season as teams will have something to play for. Gordon Waddell of the Daily Record and Graham Spiers of the Herald have been in touch and are very positive. Some Scottish Football websites have retweeted to thousands of fans across the country. I have also emailed copies to many of the Senior Clubs. The problem is trying to get the 'right' people to read it - the people who can influence the game. I'm not saying for one minute that this is the answer to the problems of Scottish Football, but I feel that there is enough merit in it for Clubs to say wait a minute, lets look at all the possibilities of what will benefit ALL clubs in the long term. Lets not jump in with both feet to proposals from SPL and SFL which have their own agendas and in the case of 12-12-18 will lead to so many meaningless fixtures in the third tier that many of these clubs will cease to exist within five years as interest will drop. Maybe that's what the Governing bodies are hoping for !!!

Just been told my proposals on www.theawayend.net titled Reconstruction of Scottish Football - a new proposal has had almost 12000 hits which isn't bad in 2-3 days. Here's the link - http://www.theawayend.net/articles/opinion/1420-restructuring-of-scottish-football-a-new-proposal

We have at present the Challenge Cup and League Cup which draw embarrassingly low crowds and would expect a Derby Cup to do no better.Maybe intially crowds would be decent but once the novelty wore off crowds would drop

What's been mentioned a few times is that larger leagues where the clubs play each other once home and away would mean a reduction in matches played and therefore loss of revenue.
Why not make up the number of matches played by re-introducing the League Cup played in a sectional format at the start of the season like it was in the good old days? Sections of four teams playing each other home and away would mean six guaranteed games to add to the league fixtures.
I have fond memories of when the season started like that, and I'm sure many others will as well!