Revamp the Scottish Game

[Gribz 841]

Its time the SFA, SFL and SPL got together along with a number of ex players and current managers and worked out what to do about the joke that is Scottish Football.

 

The backward trend that has been going on for the last 15 years has to stop now. I dont think its a coincidence that the a 4th league was introduced in the country around this time and in that time period new clubs such as Inverness, Ross County, Livingston, Peterhead, Elgin and Gretna have all entered the professional game.

 

Dont get me wrong there was always a good shout for a highland team and Inverness have not been bad for the game but Im not so sure Ross County and Elgin are justified and could have been part of the original Highland merger.

 

But the fact of the matter is there are too many teams and divisions in a small country meaning games have attendances that you see at Shinty matches.

 

The Gretna scenario has to be the wake up call for all 3 football bodies in the country to sort something out. Its time tradition was put out the window and clubs were made to merge. If it means upsetting a few hundred fans from each small team then so be it for the state of the game. Soon enough the traditionalists would miss football and be bite the bullet and want to see football again at some grounds and if it means they change the team they follow then thats not a bad thing as they would still be turning up a a game somewhere.

 

It may take a generation or so to get used to mergers but in the long run this would be benefical. After all we have been going backwards for 1 generation already, so whats 1 more when its for the good of the game and the trend would be on the up rather than decline. There is no over night solution for the game anyway.

 

You could name a few ways to improve the structure but a maximum of 3 leagues is the way. Personally id like to see 2 top divisions with the lower regional leagues being brought back and then play offs at the end of it between the top teams from each region. A trip from Montrose to Stranraer on a Wednesday night has absolutely no point to it at all and I cant work out where the travelling club would profit from this.

 

The stadium issue also has to be addressed following the state of Fir Park lately. Clubs must submit all details of stadia well in advance to make sure only severe weather conditions can force games off. Obviously tragic circumstances such as the Phil O Donnell situation this year are exceptions.

 

One of aspect to improve the game is either having summer football or a winter break. During the winter break all clubs would have to re-lay there pitch. But Id be a fan of moving to summer football. There is no doubt in my mind having midweek games on a summer night would bring much more fans out than to midweek nights on a cold December. The Christmas period also means fans have to dip into there pockets more and some just have to give up going to the footy on the odd week.

 

On the bright side of the Scottish game at the moment is the Old Firm seem to be improving when playing in Europe. Both sides have held there own against supposed bigger teams in the last few seasons. Not only that the national team are improving and we're very unlucky not to qualify against the 2 World Cup finalists.

 

So the product is there in the country, we just need to tighten it up and run things better. We have a number of superb footballing brains from our country - that is shown with the amount of success stories down south from Alex Ferguson, Davie Moyes, Kenny Dalglish and all the way back to greats such as Shankley and Busby. Its just a shame they are cancelled out by a group of men who seem inept of doing there job with a hint of common sense in there system and just seem happy sitting a nice desk at Hampden during the week.

 

One final point is the media in the country dont help on occasion. They continue to fault and criticise and show bitterness to certain clubs in Europe rather than rally behind them when these clubs are flying the nations flag. But these journo's are easy to ignore and are certainly not worrying about. The way they act is more a social problem than a footballing one.

 

But the game needs someone to stand up and drive the ideas forward so we are not having a top flight football team going bust during a season making us a laughing stock.