Scottish regional league idea fails to win support BBC Sport by Jim Spence Is it just me or is Scottish football being short sighted by rejecting the idea of regional league and a pyramid system more or less out of hand?
The league system is a joke at present, the SPL proposals make things even worse and this is simply a step too far. There is no point in opening the leagues up until we fix the fundamental problems that already exist.
The regionalisation of the lower leagues would be a disaster. And, as far as I see it, the idea of a pyramid structure hasn't been dismissed out of hand either. Why do you think regionalisation would be a good idea?
I personally wouldn't dismiss regionalisation out of hand as suggested in that piece. Although details regarding how it would appear are thin in that piece, it seems to suggest: - Top Tier - National 10 Clubs - Second Tier - National 12 Clubs - Regionalisation Whether I would be in favour would depend on it's implementation. My impression from that piece was that it was not given any serious consideration or discussion. I think it would allow travel cost savings (for both club and away supporters) and more local rivalries. I don't think the standard of football would take a massive hit by transforming division 2 and 3 into a theoretical divison 2 north / south or east / west. The more extreme cases of this to me is Elgin / Peterhead to Annan in Division 3. I appreciate however that for the most part, travel to games via car, bus or train isn't outrageous time wise. You are right that the idea of a pyramid system isn't dead though the tone I got from the piece was a lack of enthusiasm to explore the idea. It states a third division spokesman thought there wasn't any appetite for a pyramid system. A team in the third division would be a team that perhaps may have more to lose from a pyramid system? I get the impression there is some appetite for climbing into the football league. When Annan Athletic got in after Gretna went bankrupt; Spartans, Cove Rangers & Preston Athletic were also in the running. To be fair though, i'd have my doubts if any of these particular clubs would make any kind of major impact in the league.
The main point for me, and most others, I would guess, is that regionalising parts of the league would be like casting them off, relegating them to not much more than 'non-league' is seen at the moment. East Fife have played in a nationwide league structure for 90 years, some clubs even longer, I doubt there is any appetite whatsoever to change that. As for any possible upsides, I think travel costs/times is a bit of a red herring. Scotland is not a massive country (especially when you consider there are no league sides in the northern Highlands) and the vast majority of teams are in the central belt or just outside it. That means travelling is no problem for central sides and cutting a south/west and north/east would still mean that most clubs would be central belt with the ones further away making a trip to the central belt every other week. As for derbies? I can't see that being a huge incentive. Any regionalised 2nd division would put East Fife in with clubs like Livingston, Brechin, Forfar, peterhead, Arbroath, Elgin, Berwick, Montrose and possibly Alloa. No derbies for us in there. In fact, the only 'real' derby in there is Montrose vs Arbroath. In fact, given the concentration of league clubs in the middle of the country, you'd be as likely to keep derby rivals apart as together sometimes. As for the pyramid, this was a meeting of SFL clubs to discuss the recent SPL plans/McLeish report. All they've said is that nothing is imminent because there doesn't seem to be the necessary appetite from non-league clubs. I think when you hear what some non-league fans and clubs say, especially juniors, there's some truth in that. I would like to see a pyramid structure, as I think most fans would but it needs to be worked on by every body in the game.