Reorganisation of the Scottish Football Leagues

This is my tentative proposal for the reorganisation of the Scottish Football Leagues. The current setup is not popular with the fans as it stifles ambition among the lower clubs and there are too many games between the same opposition, with most clubs playing each other four times in a season, not including cup competitions. I propose that, instead of adding an SPL 2, as has been mooted, the SPL remains at one division but is increased to 20 clubs. Below this would be a national Scottish League 1, also comprising 16 clubs. These sections would produce a 30-match schedule for each club and the League Cup would be organised on a group basis involving these 32 clubs, thus giving an extra 6 guaranteed matches. Below League 1 there would be a Scottish League 2, which would be organised on a regional basis and would involve as many levels as is necessary to accommodate all the clubs that wanted to take part. The tables below show the possible setup based upon league positions as at the end of 2006.

Promotion and Relegation

In the SPL, I would recommend that the bottom two clubs would be relegated automatically each season, to be replaced by the top two in League 1. The 13th- and 14th-placed clubs in the SPL would contest playout matches against the 3rd- and 4th- placed clubs in League 1, i.e. 13th v 4th and 14th v 3rd, over two legs, with the winners taking part in the SPL and the losers in League 1 the following season. The same system would apply between League 1 and 2, except that the champions of each regional section would be promoted automatically, with the second-placed clusb going into playouts with the 13th- and 14th-placed clubs in League 1, or a round-robin, to decide the remaining places. Below this level the system could be anything that the clubs wish.