The Product
Ahmnoatim
"Overall the Scottish game needs an overhaul and my personal opinion is that it's now up to the fans to help push these changes and make them happen otherwise Scottish football in the next 5 - 10 years will be in a terrible state. I would like to see the following.
1) £20 maximum for Adult Tickets and £10 Concession (£10 extra for Derby games to cover extra policing etc)
2) Trial period for standing areas in all stadiums
3) Maximum costs for Food Stalls
4) Some form of entertainment before and at halftime
5) Fans Representatives on the SPL board
6) SFA, SPL and SFL to come under the 1 Association
7) Clubs to be allowed to Field B teams in the lower leagues as per La Liga.
I'm sure many people have other ideas but that is just some of the things i see wrong with the game in Scotland."
Adamski
Kick-off at 3pm on a Saturday.
The TV money is so negligible, I don't understand the need to rearrange kick-offs.
Terrestrial TV Highlights on Saturday Nights
Every other country in Europe manages it.
More starters from Scotland
All SPL sides must field a minimum of 6 players in their starting line up who are from Scotland.
Admission Fees
Capped at £10 for adults, and £5 for kids.
Rosstheger
"The 12-team SPL does offer some excitement if you’re an Old Firm fan, but generally speaking for the other clubs it is a real pain in the neck. Hearts, Hibs, Dundee United and Aberdeen have no chance of sustaining a proper title challenge when they are playing the Old Firm 8 times a season - some losing 24 points in the process. For me, an 18-team Premier League is the way to go with a European play-off and a relegation play-off, as well as another automatic relegation position. With 34 games, these potential challengers could afford to lose out on the 4 times they play against the Old Firm which would only be 12 points and does not make a significant dent in a title challenge. I think this structure for the SPL would also restore major interest in the crunch matches like Rangers v Celtic, Aberdeen v Rangers, Hearts v Hibs and perhaps offer some other local derbies like Dundee v Dundee United.
One of the key things that can be accommodated with an extended SPL is the introduction of a winter break. Scotland regularly finds itself in a position during December/January when a lot of games are being postponed due to the harsh winter weather. Having a 3 or 4 week winter shutdown would be excellent for the clubs because they wouldn't need to pay needless money on calling off games. It is no surprise that during these winter months, fans aren't attracted to watching football. Combined with an early start, possibly mid-July, a winter break would fit perfectly into the Scottish calendar."
Yorkshire Blue
"The healthiest option would be a Premier League of 18 teams with a Division 1 and Division 2 consisting of 16 teams. This would give 32 teams under the SFL and 18 under rule of the SPL. The extra 8 teams could be filled by ‘B’ teams from the SPL or lower league clubs could be given the opportunity to step up to the top level. I would prefer the latter option but with no reserve league, the current top 8 in the SPL may be interested in the first option.
The Premier League would be contested over 34 matches with teams playing each other home and away, enough to generate enough cash through gate receipts and also to allow the introduction of a winter break. With only two matches against each club, interest would be higher for each game and our bigger matches consisting of those in the top six would be of great value and a good selling product to TV companies.
It would also be worth noting that big clubs such as Rangers and Celtic would not have to play the same smaller clubs 4-6 times a season which cannot be a good selling point when trying to attract a good calibre of player or indeed trying to keep them. Players get bored in our league, and therefore often move given the first opportunity.
In the current system we are harming clubs who are left with a harsh choice of developing the team or building a stadium fit for the SPL. All you have to do is look at Airdrie and Falkirk in the early days of the SPL for unfair situations at both ends. Airdrie built a nice stadium fit for whenever they win their way into the SPL; unfortunately they never had the quality to achieve this. Falkirk, however built a fantastic squad that regularly destroyed SPL clubs in the cups but Brockville was deemed unsuitable for the SPL so they were denied promotion despite being champions.
From a sporting point of view this is an offence to all supporters and people that put money into the game.
A more reasonable option would be the introduction of controlled standing areas as well as seated sections alike to what they have in Germany and Holland to great success. Obviously they would have to adhere to Health & Safety regulations which should be enough to provide everyone inside the stadium with security.
This also increases capacity of stadia and therefore brings prices down. Which also means the working class family can all attend matches and support their local club. This would provide higher crowds creating a better atmosphere at matches, and overall clubs would make more money out of this through food & programme sales, in fact ticket sales alone with cheaper prices would probably overtake the current set up. In the current economic climate we are all in right now, it makes good sense.
The seating capacity requirement is elitist and counts against all sporting integrity."
Iaatpies
"The lower leagues have character. The lower leagues have passion. The lower leagues offer a brand of football that's free from the cynicism that infests the modern game. Respectable middle aged men become fearless, shameless cheerleaders as they invoke the spirit of The Shire Army and show all of the enthusiasm of an old firm fan on derby day and there's a genuine hatred and venom between fans of Cowdenbeath and East Fife that would stand equal to most football rivalries. These fans support our national game and any decision that would reduce the number of clubs would undoubtedly leave communities broken - supporters would be lost to the game.
Unfortunately sentimentality doesn't pay the bills. Journeymen like Dennis Wyness, Bobby Mann (both Peterhead) and Alan McManus (Dumbarton) continue to draw money from the game well beyond their sell-by date and whilst some youngsters do feature, it becomes all too easy for managers to rely on picking up a cheap player from another club than invest the time, effort and risk in developing home-grown players. That an injury-prone Allan Johnston can be seen as an important signing for the first division at 36 years old speaks volumes of the penalties involved in risking untested youngsters.
The sad fact is that Scottish football cannot support 42 top flight sides. The distinction between the worst of the professional clubs and the best of the amateurs from Scotland's 3 main junior football organisations is often blurry and junior players regularly move into the lower tiers of the professional game. This only really serves to lower the quality of football on offer and rather than improving the standard of play, the gulf in class between the best and the worst of the SFL is widening."
Aunty Christ
"The big problem with football today and Scottish football in particular is money. Because we are operating along business lines we end up with monopolies such as us and them. We need a radical rethink. My suggestion is that we need to increase competition and the only way to do this is to create an even playing field financially. Of course this will be painful for the bigger clubs such as us but eventually we will all be winners.
We have to do 2 things. Firstly we need to introduce a wage scale just like nurses, firemen, social workers, plumbers etc. All players get paid the same depending on which league they play in. There is no incentive then for the likes of Wayne Rooney to leave his beloved Everton who will then grow stronger. Secondly we need to share all income evenly including gate money, prize money and sponsorship. This will be difficult at first but if we do it gradually we will adjust. The cash needs to be collected by a governing body (I hate quangos but what can we do). It is then distributed evenly allowing the "diddy clubs" to grow stronger and compete. Unpredictability returns as does excitement, bigger crowds and better atmospheres. That is what makes football better than all other sports.
Do we have the courage and fortitude to see it through? I don't know, but then I stopped going years ago when I realised that the game was dying. All-seater stadiums and lack of competition convinced me to look elsewhere for thrills.
The main thrust of my argument is that sport is different from business in that businesses seek to destroy the opposition in an attempt to gain a monopoly and maximise profits. Sport requires a healthy and competitive opposition to make it interesting and exciting. Who wants to watch or even take part in a competition where the outcome is decided before the competition begins. This fundamental idea seems to have been lost in the race to develop and promote professional football. The result is that football is moving ever closer to the abyss.
Football too has lost its way. It no longer meets the needs of the supporters who want competition, unpredictability and excitement. Most clubs are run for profit rather than results. Don't get me wrong the clubs realise that results are important but only because good results bring in more money.
Just a few years back I remember watching Rangers almost pip Marseilles to the Europen Cup Final yet here we are, less than 2 decades later, and the best we can hope for is to make it out of the league stages. The club directors aren't even that ambitious. All they want is the £10 million for qualifying. The sad fact is that this money will not even be used to benefit the club. It will be spent on salaries for players who couldn't care less if they were employed at Ibrox or across the city with our sworn enemies.
In summary I believe that football has lost its way. It no longer caters for the needs of supporters. It has become a business first and foremost. The only way to save it from destruction is to regulate the collection and distribution of cash. We need to create a powerful governing body that controls and distributes income evenly between all clubs in the SPL. This includes gate receipts, sponsorship and prize money. This body should develop a salary scale for players depending on what division they play in. Everyone receives the same salary within their division. Using the EPL as an example there would then be no incentive for the likes of Wayne Rooney to leave his beloved Everton and join Man Utd. In Scotland the so called "diddy clubs" would grow stronger as they could keep their best players. They could build better stadiums and attract bigger crowds. The league would be unpredictable and exciting. Every game would be meaningful. Winning for us would become special again.
I believe that we have no alternative. The game at present is heading nowhere. It will take time and courage and vision but in the long run we can all be winners again."
Earl Of Leven
I would add to this that we should look at artificial pitches. The new 4G pitches are very, very different from the one used at Dunfermline a few years ago. It is clear some of our clubs cannot afford the ground-staff or equipment to maintain a top quality surface; and this is clearly something we cannot force them to spend money on. However equally we cannot let our youngsters start their career playing in a mud-bath or in a sandpit. A pitch with areas of mud and areas of ploughed furrows is not acceptable in 2010. I understand arguments about bounce, injuries and the danger of slide tackling but the debate should be opened.
Next time we look at youth football – can anything be done?