Scottish Championship

Dunfermline, who were deep in the relegation mire a couple of weeks ago now sit in 5th, one place outside the promotion playoffs. Meanwhile, Inverness, two points behind them, occupy the relegation playoff slot.

I really don't think that leagues of 10 teams are a vaguely sensible idea, especially with the top 4 and bottom 2 involved in the promotion/relegation shake-up. Absolutely realistic that you could have a club going into the last day being able to both go up or down depending on the results.

 

Have to agree MT. It's the same here in Ireland. Teams playing each other four times a season. It's boring and all seems a bit parochial.

 

3 leagues of 16 or 18 teams would make much more sense than 4 of 10.

 

Would it not be a case if the Scottish premier was increased to 20.
Some of the minnows would be cannon fodder all the time. And so on through the leagues. This way they get the chance of success at the lower level.
I look at us. Eg .
Would I prefer the season Wendy or Rovrum have had. Or ours.
Ours hands down, imo, much more pleasant
Winning than losing.
That's not saying I wouldn't give promotion up. We never know what it could lead to.

 

The reason the divisions in Scotland are smaller is because in the days of divisions of 20 clubs there were some awful mismatches.

I do agree the play off system is flawed. The idea of a team going down only having a few points fewer than a team that ends up going up doesn’t sit right with me at all.

 

Is it me being thick, you'll have to explain that?

No need, had a look at the table, see what you mean. I thought they split in half at some point, but it's just the SPL that does it.

That's just the nature of a league table though, you finish where you finish.

 

EFL league 1 is a proper minefield. From 13th to 22nd. Especially if games in hand get turned to 3 points.

 

I was wondering if that had been the case in the past. I remember when I was a kid there were 3 professional divisions in Scotland. I think @Deafening Silence's idea of 3 leagues of 16 would probably work ok. Don't think it would weaken the Scottish Prem so much that there would be many worse mismatches than there are now.

 

If there were more games Warnock might get a win.

 

I don’t know how the finances work in Scotland, but also assume if you’re a yo-yo team it allows you to build up to maintaining yourself in your respective league.

Playing against Rangers/Celtic is probably also a big boost to your coffers.

 

For me the issue is that Scotland is as populous as Yorkshire, around 5 million each. Can you imagine a structure in Yorkshire that has 40/50 professional teams ? Add to this that the population of Scotland is hugely concentrated in Glasgow/Edinburgh.
Most of Yorkshire can't support a professional club (apart from West Riding, Hull, Middlesborough, but where are the others?). It's the same in Scotland. The attendances in much of the Scottish Premier League fall short of the Champioship by quite a distance, the Scots are trying to make the best of what they've got...

 

It's just a shame their product is so 5hite.

 

I guess that 6 guaranteed matches against the Old Firm every season is one of the main reasons why there's very little appetite from within the game to expand the Scottish Prem any further.

 

That's a very good point. I'd always thought the population of Scotland was closer to 8 million until recently. Most of the 3rd and 4th tier clubs are around the size of National League North and South teams at best, but even keeping 20 big and medium-sized clubs afloat with such a small population is a big ask. Just for comparison, St Petersburg, with a population similar to the whole of Scotland, has just one professional football club.

 

Load of old crap. Noddy football. Worse than Natuonal League North and South level

 

I went to Hearts v Aberdeen the other week. Similar standard to League 1, although I'm pretty sure Shankland would cut it in the Championship. Reckon we'd beat Aberdeen 4 times out of 5 and would probably give Hearts a decent game if we were on form.

 

But they are Scottish Premier though mate. This thread was on about Scottish Championship.

 

I thought you were on about Scottish football in general. Not seen a Scottish Championship game, but I guess it's something around League 2 / National League level. At best.

 

Didn't there use to be two professional clubs in St Petersburg. I seem to remember one folding a few years ago - might be 10 now with the Covid timeslip!

 

While agreed that 10 clubs is a bit small it makes for a dynamic season where few if any clubs get stuck plodding along mid table for 2/3 of the season.

For me the biggest problem is that there is a stark divide between pro and part time with 42 clubs in 4leagues in a small country. Tiers 2 and 3 are a weird mix. Every once in a while you get an Abroath, sure, but it is goofy to see Dunfermline/Raith/Falkirk/Hamilton ripping it in tier 3 amongst part timers. Tier 4 can’t be much more than amateur with a bit of money on the side. Yeah that’s the romance of it all…but still…

I’d go to three leagues of 12. This would make tier 2 pretty much full time and tier 3 strong part time. Keep pro/rel to highland and lowland. But clubs would never vote for this.

Regardless, gotta give Scotland credit for their turnout, proportionally the best in Europe I believe.