Rabcp's Alternative Scottish Pyramid

Football fans throughout Scotland believe that the current league structure and format are outdated and in need of change, many fans have proposed various new structures and here is my proposed solution for Scottish Football aimed to improve the quality of the game, attract sponsors and improve finance.

Summer Football
This databases see’s Scottish Football switch to a Summer season with the leagues kicking off on the last weekend of February and finishing in November. I believe that switching to summer football would have many advantages such as; improved pitches, less money spent on match day expenses (floodlights etc). Scottish teams entering Europe in the lesser rounds would also be in the middle of their season offering them a competitive advantage against some sides in terms of match fitness (Switching to summer football has seen Irish sides record better results in Europe) and finally less competition for a TV deal during the summer months may make the SPFL more attractive to TV companies. In the event of Scotland qualifying for a European Championship or World Cup the Premier League will shut down for 1 month.

Youth Development
Within this system there are two main features geared towards Youth Development; firstly 20 sides have B teams playing within the Scottish leagues aimed at giving youth players competitive match experience (The clubs with B team now no longer enter a side into the U20 Leagues)and Secondly the SFA performance Schools have been added into the game and into there own league so they can be scouted (no teams can be promoted/relegated from this league and these clubs cant be managed).

Tier System
The SPLF will keep its 4 tier system expanding to 80 clubs with 5 leagues of 16 teams with the bottom tier regionalised.



Below The SPFL pyramid we have a new regionalised pyramid with improved promotion and relegation systems in place which feeds in under the new regionalised League 2



Tennent's Scottish Premiership



The newly sponsored Premiership features 16 teams who play one another twice. However a simple format such as this would cost teams too much money as they would lose out on 6 games. The solution to this is a dreaded league split however this split takes an influence from the Belgian model and gives teams an even number of games along with ensuing that every side has something to play for throughout the season. The league will split into 4 groups with ever team having 3 home and 3 away games.

Team 1 – CL Qualification/Qualifiers
Team 2 – EL Qualification/CL Qualifiers
Team 3 – EL Qualifiers
Team 4 – European Play-Off’s
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Team 5 – European Play-Off’s
Team 6
Team 7
Team 8
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Team 9
Team 10
Team 11
Team 12 – Relegation Play off Semi Final
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Team 13
Team 14 – Relegation Play off Semi Final
Team 15 – Automatic Relegation
Team 16 – Automatic Relegation

After 36 games the teams in 4th and 5th place will meet in a 2 legged playoff with the winner taking the last Europa League spot (depending on the Scottish Cup winner). The teams in 12th & 14th will meet in a one off match with the loser entering the relegation playoff final.

Irn-Bru Championship



The newly sponsored Championship also features 16 team league in a similar format to the premiership.

Team 1 – Champions
Team 2 – Automatic Promotion
Team 3 – Promotion Play-Off's
Team 4 – Promotion Play-Off's
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Team 5 – Promotion Play-Off's
Team 6 - Promotion Play-Off's
Team 7
Team 8
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Team 9
Team 10
Team 11
Team 12 – Relegation Play off Semi Final
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Team 13
Team 14 – Relegation Play off Semi Final
Team 15 – Automatic Relegation
Team 16 – Automatic Relegation

The teams in 12th & 14th will meet in a one off match with the loser entering the relegation playoff final.

Irn-Bru League One



League One is more a simple 16 team league with 30 games and no split, with additional prize money compensation for the loss of games some clubs may face, while many clubs in the league gain league games coming from a smaller divisions. Within the league One four teams are relegated (2 to League Two South and 2 to League Two North)

Other Leagues

League Two North screenshot
League Two South screenshot

Press & Journal Highland League screenshot
The Scottish Sun Lowland League screenshot

North Caladonian League screenshot
Mcbookie East Superleague screenshot
SJFA Stagecoach West Superleague Premier Division screenshot

PMAC Group North Superleague screenshot
Mcbookie East Premier League screenshot
SJFA Stagecoach West Superleague Division One screenshot

Cup Competitions

The Scottish Cup has been reformatted to include all new league clubs with teams in Higher divisions seeded till the later rounds, the runner up of the cup no longer qualifies for the Europa League.

The League Cup has been reformatted to include all new SPFL league clubs with teams in Higher divisions seeded till the later rounds.

The Petrofac Cup has also been reformatted to include all new SPFL league clubs with teams in Higher divisions seeded till the later rounds and is scheduled to run across the summer.

The Johnnie Walker Homecoming Cup - A new cup featuring the winner of the Premiership in a 4 team knockout tournament against a teams invited from America, Australia & Canada. This cup rotates between 4 host nations, comes with a total prize pot of £750,000 and aims to promote Scottish Football in these three countries (countries with the highest EX-Pat populations) aiming to gain more sponsorship and television revenues.

Other Cups

Several cup competitions have been restructured to included teams who previously competed within them, These are mainly for smaller clubs and are the only cup competitions that 'B' teams play in.

Aberdeenshire Cup
Aberdeenshire Sheila
Ayrshire Cup
East of Scotland Shield
Forfarshire Cup
Inverness Cup
Stirlingshire Cup
Renfrewshire Cup

Breedon Aggregates Highland League Cup
Keyline Challenge Cup
Jock Stein Friendship Cup

East of Scotland Cup
North of Scotland Cup
West of Scotland Cup

Other Changes
Added an extra £6M prize money which comes from sponsors, new TV deals etc, this money has been spread evenly from SPL down to the lowest level.
Removed Aberdeen, Dundee United and Kilmarnock debts due to these clubs reaching agreements with banks
Changed Hibs £6.5M Bank debt to a £5M Chairman loan debt
Added ticket prices and attendance figures to over 100 clubs.