With all the talk or reconstruction...

[JCDBigBear 10,830]

football facism. cosigned to the history books!?

gimme a break.

I'm simply stating there should be 1 more step of seperation between semi-pro/part time & fully professional teams, just liek there is between the SFL & the senior set-up.

Is the break between the senior set-up & the SFL football facism?

The gulf in size of club & class between the lower end of the SFL & Seniors isn't that great. The gulf in class between the part-timers in the SFL and the professional teams like Celtic or Motherwell is huge.

The inclusion of part time teams in the pro set-up is detrimental to our game, and, pointless. Times are changing in football and FFP means clubs can only spend what they bring in, as they must now not post losses each year.

Now tell me, what exactly is the point of a club like Annan participating in the pyramid system of SFL & SPL, or, soon to be 12-12-18? Remember Gretna? They made it to the SPL... by investing crazy amount for a club that size, leaving over 600k debt to the tax man alone and going bust, and damn nearly forfieting their SPL season which would have had all their results null & void.

The SPL had it right a decade o so ago when they refused entry to Falkirk for failing to meet the Stadium requirements. Ofcourse there should be such requirements, this is the top level league in this country, paying millions in prize money & bringing in millions in season ticket sales, international TV deals & commercial sponsorship.

Like i said, i can't understand why we just seem to accept amatuer football clubs masquerading in what is supposed to be a 'professional' sport set-up. £16 a ticket or £40+ a month TV subscription to watch essentially your local post-man?

I'm not arrogant, nor a facist, nor wish death upon clubs. But this is the "solution", or at least recognising the problem that's driven our game into the ground. Make a simple division, or cut-off point for semi-pro, then pro.

It would be entirely up to the clubs what they want to do. If Annan, Elgin & co want to continue as they are, then fine, they will still play each other, and will do so in the same 'tier', in a semi-pro league under the big boys. But if they ever want to progress to full-time professional sports teams, they need to find a solution to become a sports club of size in which it can sustain the necessary funding & cash flow to do so. That would probably mean merging with other clubs, but entirely their choice.

It will never happen though, this country of 5million + will continue to pander to every village & little town of 400 people having it's very own little fitbaw team in which 50 odd people stand and watch their next door neighbour, milkman & bank manager from a terrace on a Saturday until the sport in this country finally has the life support machine switched off by Mr. Murdoch.

There is just so much wrong with your "solution". I'll highlight one particular gem above and leave you with the comment "does this ring any bells closer to home?"

[there'sonlyoneamoruso 1,724]

Ricky, to a certain extent I agree with you. The senior leagues (spl & sfl) only ever seem to expand, they never seem to contract. Now would be a good time to contract, but we would have to have some strictly defined criteria to do so. I'm sure each club feels like it has the right to stay in the league, but perhaps basing it on ground ownership, turnover etc would be a good place to start. I think there also needs to be a clearly defined divide between professional teams and part-timers. Perhaps the top two divisions are fully professional and anything below that must be part-time? I think the stadium requirements are also fair enough - if you are playing a side with a big away support then the ground must be adequate for that (I know that's a bit vague).

I doubt any of these changes would get voted in though as the wee teams would be voting for their own demise.

[IanFerguson2012 123]

Queens Park came very close to a draw with Rangers recently. Rather than marginalise them I would like to see them come back to prominence with a wee bit of help from our travelling support. I agree that we seem to have too many teams in the leagues.

[Ricky_ 893]

Queens Park came very close to a draw with Rangers recently. Rather than marginalise them I would like to see them come back to prominence with a wee bit of help from our travelling support. I agree that we seem to have too many teams in the leagues.

jesus christ, some people just dont get it.

back to prominence? They get fucking 320 fans at a game. What future could an amatuer club like Queens Park, with no professional players & clearly no fans, ever hope to achieve? Champions league football?

Too many football fans are brain washed by pyramid systems as if they still have a purpose.

if your bored, make a list of the clubs in scotland across the SPL & SFL and put them in order of average attendance over the last 10 years & stadium capacity. You'll find your list is very close to the sort of positions these clubs find themselves within the system over the same time frame. Ourselves & the manky mob top, Aberdeen/Hearts/Hibs etc occupying the next level down. Dundee utd + Dundee found themselves back to SPL level after financial collapse. Falkirk, Partick Thistle hovering just below, usually in and around the SPL/Div 1. Then all the way down to Peterhead, Elgin, etc.

Why is it so important to allow a gateway for amatuer, semi-pro & part time clubs to reach a level they couldn't ever reach?

Why the hell are we scrambling over ourselves to come up with leagues of 12-12-18 or 16-1... whatever to accomodate for amatuer football teams in what is supposed to be a professional set-up? It's a shambles.

If we were to draw a line in the sand between Professional clubs like Motherwell, and part timers like Annan, then we would be left with 2 bodies;

a professional league thats not far off the SPL + whatever division 1 teams are, or can meet the requirements (i think the likes of Thistle, Dunfermline, Falkirk are pro).

Then just call the next level down the Scottish conference. Senior teams like Spartans complain all the time about not being able to gain entry into the SFL, well let's make the 'Scottish Conference' a pyramid system since we all love them so much. Senior teams can rise up and face the semi-pro Annans of this world. If any of these clubs ever wish to particpate in the SPL 'pro league', then they can make application when they have suitable requirements. You might find that some clubs may start looking to merge on their own accord to reach such status, if not, then enjoy your semi-pro league.

[there'sonlyoneamoruso 1,724]

If we were to draw a line in the sand

between Professional clubs like

Motherwell, and part timers like Annan,

then we would be left with 2 bodies;

a professional league thats not far off

the SPL + whatever division 1 teams

are, or can meet the requirements (i

think the likes of Thistle, Dunfermline,

Falkirk are pro).

Then just call the next level down the

Scottish conference. Senior teams like

Spartans complain all the time about

not being able to gain entry into the

SFL, well let's make the 'Scottish

Conference' a pyramid system since we

all love them so much. Senior teams

can rise up and face the semi-pro

Annans of this world. If any of these

clubs ever wish to particpate in the SPL

'pro league', then they can make

application when they have suitable

requirements. You might find that

some clubs may start looking to merge

on their own accord to reach such

status, if not, then enjoy your semi-pro

league.

This is a good idea. Semi-pro teams go for election into the full-time setup.

I missed a post earlier about licensing clubs in mainland Europe. This would be a good way to sort the teams. The Irish League did something similar a few years ago when rejigging the local setup.

[Ricky_ 893]

This is a good idea. Semi-pro teams go for election into the full-time setup.

I missed a post earlier about licensing clubs in mainland Europe. This would be a good way to sort the teams. The Irish League did something similar a few years ago when rejigging the local setup.

it all comes back to the very basic principle that competition breeds competition. Clubs need to be competing on an equal footing. We want to see professional clubs against professional clubs. There's nothing wrong with watching amatuer football either if thats your local team or what not, but again, you want to watch the best vs the best in equally matched contests.

To me it only seems logical with so many football clubs n this country that distinctions are made within each set-up from fully amatuer, to senior, to semi-pro/part-time & then professional. Instead we make cut-off points at every other level, but not the level that matters (between pro & semi-pro/part time).