Tuumble
Tuesday 16th April 2013 2:06pm
Peterborough
4,491 posts
It's been a while since I posted on here but I thought I'd come back to put this proposal for a Scottish League restructure.
It would be for three 14 club divisions. The format would be for each club to play 26 games, home and away, against the 13 other sides in their respective leagues. At that point the league would be split (yeah, I know it sucks but it's hard to avoid) with each team playing a further 12 games, home and away, against sides in their particularl half of the table.
Relegation and promotion would be a two up and two down format with one further position to be decided by playoff. Traditionally these have been based on where clubs finish in the league but I'm proposing that teams placed 11th and 12th and 3rd and 4th in the division below will be drawn in a cup competition for the semi-finals. Currently only one promotion/relegation place is guaranteed so in this format I believe there would be more to play for for more teams.
In the third tier (aka National League) a split makes less sense but it could still be workable if points were re-set to zero for the clubs in the bottom half and a trophy awarded to the team that comes top of the seven in a 12 game mini-league. This could be called the National League 2 Trophy.
The clubs below are listed purely by virtue of their current standings and therefore don't reflect what will/might happen with regard to promotion and relegation at the end of this current campaign.
PREMIER DIVISION
Celtic - Champions League
----------
Motherwell - Europa League
Inverness CT - Europa League
----------
St Johnstone
Ross County
Dundee Utd
Kilmarnock
--- SPLIT ---
Aberdeen
Hibernian
Hearts
----------
St Mirren - Play offs
Dundee - Play offs
----------
Partick Thistle - Relegated
Morton - Relegated
CHAMPIONSHIP
Falkirk - Promoted
Livingston - Promoted
----------
Hamilton - Play offs
Raith Rovers - Play offs
----------
Cowdenbeath
Dumbarton
Dunfermline
--- SPLIT ---
Airdrie Utd
Queen of Sth
Alloa
----------
Brechin - Play offs
Forfar - Play offs
----------
Arbroath - Relegated
Ayr - Relegated
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Stenhousemuir - Promoted
Stranraer - Promoted
----------
East Fife - Play offs
Albion - Play offs
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Rangers
Peterhead
Queen's Park
--- SPLIT ---
Berwick - National League 2 Winners
Montrose
Elgin
Annan Athletic
Stirling
Clyde
East Stirling
