My model for reconstruction

[Mr Bairn]

Leagues

The top two national leagues would contain 16 teams each, followed by a regional pyramid system. Promotion between the Premiership and Championship would be an automatic 2-up, 2-down as well as a playoff between 14th, 3rd, 4th and 5th. The bottom 3 clubs in the championship would drop into the regional structure with the winners of each region joining the championship, and then the three regional 2nd place teams would join 12th place in the championship in the playoffs. Both playoff tournaments would take the form of home+away semi-finals followed by a one off final at Hampden.

Tier 1 - Premiership

1. Celtic

2. Aberdeen

3. Inverness

4. St Johnstone

5. Dundee United

6. Dundee

7. Hamilton

8. Partick

9. Ross County

10. Kilmarnock

11. Motherwell

12. St Maureen

13. Hearts

14. Sevco

15. Hibs

16. QOS

Tier 2 - Championship

1. Falkirk

2. Raith

3. Dumbarton

4. Livingston

5. Alloa

6. Cowdenbeath

7. Morton

8. Stranrear

9. Forfar

10. Brechin

11. Airdrie

12. Peterhead

13. Dunfermline

14. Ayr

15. Stenhousemuir

16. Albion Rovers

From there downwards you'd have a regional pyramid with leagues of 14/16 wherever possible.

North region (58 teams: Montrose, Elgin, Arbroath, 18 highland leaguers and 37 junior teams) - 16 team conference North, and then 3 divisions of 14

West region (105 teams: Queen's Park, Annan, Clyde, BSC Glasgow, Dalbeattie Star, East Kilbride, Gretna2008, Threave Rovers, 14 from the South of Scotland league and 83 junior teams) - 16 team conference West and then six tiers below this, two 16's, one 15 and two 14's

East region(91 teams: Remaining 4 SPFL3 and remaining 9 LL clubs as well as 17 EoS league teams and 61 junior teams) - 16 team conference East and then five tiers below this, two 16's, one 15 and two 14's

Obviously the numbers would change slightly year on year depending on who is relegated from the championship but the simple idea would be to have a 16 team conference at the top of each region and then league of 14/15/16 downwards

There would be a drop in league games to protect against the elements, however we would play more cup games.

Scottish Cup

All 286 teams would take part, with the preliminary tournaments taking place in the first half of the season and the tournament proper after christmas. 128 teams would be involved in the tournament proper, with all teams going into a completely random draw.

-32 teams from the national leagues

-48 teams from the 3 conferences

-48 qualifiers

206 teams would fight the preliminary rounds, first of all you have the bottom 28 clubs fighting the QR1, leaving 192 teams to play a simple 2 round knockout tournament to determine the 48 teams in the proper tournament.

League cup

Group stage tournament to replace lost league games. The 32 clubs playing in national leagues take part. A seeded draw to give 8 groups of 4 consisting of 2 Prem teams and 2 Championship teams each, 6 group games early on in the season followed by 2 legged knockouts

Scottish FA trophy

Knockout tournament played by all clubs in the regional levels

Regional vase competitions

Regional knockout tournaments for all East/West/North teams

Sample season (Based on 2015/16 dates, midweek in brackets)

July

-Pre season friendlies

August

1 League cup matchday 1 (League cup matchday 2)

2 League cup matchday 3 (League cup matchday 4)

3 Matchday 1

4 Matchday 2

5 Matchday 3

September

1 League cup matchday 5 (League cup matchday 6)

2 Matchday 4

3 Matchday 5

4 Matchday 6

October

1 League cup R16 Saturday/Wednesday

2 Matchday 7

3 Matchday 8

4 Matchday 9

5 League cup QF Saturday/Wednesday

November

1 Matchday 10

2 Matchday 11

3 Matchday 12

4 League cup SF Saturday/Wednesday

December

1 ***Break***

2 ***Break***

3 Matchday 13 (Matchday 14)

4 Matchday 15

January

1 Scottish Cup R128

2 Matchday 16 (Scottish cup replays)

3 Matchday 17

4 Matchday 18

5 Scottish Cup R64

February

1 Matchday 19 (Scottish cup replays)

2 Matchday 20

3 Scottish Cup R32

4 Matchday 21 (Scottish cup replays)

March

1 Matchday 22 (Matchday 23)

2 Scottish Cup R16

3 Matchday 24

4 Matchday 25/League cup final

April

1 Scottish Cup QF (Matchday 25 for teams in LC final)

2 Matchday 26 (Cup replays)

3 Matchday 27 (Matchday 28)

4 Matchday 29

5 Scottish cup semi finals

May

1 Matchday 30 (Playoff first leg midweek)

2 Playoff second leg

3 Playoff finals weekend @ Hampden

4 Scottish cup Final @ Hampden

[HibeeJibee]

So basically - scrap 8 games from the league season and the Challenge Cup; add 6 sectional cup games and meaningless mid-tables?

And dump 10 clubs out of the national leagues and League Cup?

Also, you've disregarded international and European dates.

[Sergeant Wilson]

So basically - scrap 8 games from the league season and the Challenge Cup; add 6 sectional cup games and meaningless mid-tables?

And dump 10 clubs out of the national leagues and League Cup?

Also, you've disregarded international and European dates.

Aye but apart from that...

[supermik]

Long way for a shortcut just to get the Rangers back in the big league.

[LongTimeLurker]

The Polish split season model gives 37 games for 16 teams:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014%E2%80%9315_Ekstraklasa

The points total is divided by two after 30 games to minimise the number of meaningless games.

[Gaz]

Tier 1 - Premiership

1. Celtic

2. Aberdeen

3. Inverness

4. St Johnstone

5. Dundee United

6. Dundee

7. Hamilton

8. Partick

9. Ross County

10. Kilmarnock

11. Motherwell

12. St Maureen

13. Hearts

14. Sevco

15. Hibs

16. QOS

^^^

Big team found

[Mr Bairn]

So basically - scrap 8 games from the league season and the Challenge Cup; add 6 sectional cup games and meaningless mid-tables?

And dump 10 clubs out of the national leagues and League Cup?

Also, you've disregarded international and European dates.

League cup games on international dates m9

[lionel hutz]

My Model:

Premiership -

1. Celtic CL

2. Aberdeen EL

3. Inverness EL

4. St Johnstone (EL Possibly)

5. Dundee United

6. Dundee

7. Hamilton

8. Partick

9. Ross County

10. Kilmarnock

11. Motherwell

12. St Maureen PO F

13. Hearts R

14. Hibs R

Playing everyone three times, done on a annual rotation so if United played Celtic twice at Tannadice one season, the next the fixture will be played twice at Parkhead.

Total 39 Games

Championship:

1. Queen of the South C

2. The Rangers P

3. Falkirk PO SF

4. Raith PO QF

5. Dumbarton PO QF

6. Livingston

7. Alloa Athletic

8. Cowdenbeath

9. Greenock Morton

10. Stranraer PO

11. Forfar R
12. Brechin R

38 Games, with a split, two down auto and one going into a play-off

[insert generic name here] League

12 teams, Same format as Prem with Relegation Play-off

Then Regional leagues with North and North Eastern juniors incorperated into HL and HL 2, and South East with West Juniors in LL and LL2.

[Shockjock]

Not so keen on this idea.

[lubo_blaha]

The Polish split season model gives 37 games for 16 teams:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014%E2%80%9315_Ekstraklasa

The points total is divided by two after 30 games to minimise the number of meaningless games.

Off-topic but ex-Hamilton striker Flávio Paixão is 2nd top scorer in that league.

[effeffsee_the2nd]

f**k splits and so on. 30 games is plenty with more league cup games. we play too much league football as it is. some games in the depths of winter with low crowds can end up costing clubs more money to put on than they make back in revenue.

[Pab-10]

f**k splits and so on. 30 games is plenty with more league cup games. we play too much league football as it is. some games in the depths of winter with low crowds can end up costing clubs more money to put on than they make back in revenue.

P!sh, The league is every clubs bread and butter. How can you play more league cup games?

[danejag]

Great attempt at reconstruction, Mr. Bairn. Better than anything SFA has ever come up with, in my opinion.

I agree with the general thought behind your idea that we need:

• Bigger and fewer leagues
• Further regionalisation (North, West and East)
• Integration of juniors
• Reform of the cups
• More promotion/relegation spaces between leagues

In practice, I think a top league of 14 would strike the right balance. Still not convinced about the value of the current system of playoffs, but they definitely add to the excitement. If the system could be adapted to avoid the mid-table boredom, which could be the effect of the bigger leagues, that would be great.

[SpoonTon]

Great attempt at reconstruction, Mr. Bairn. Better than anything SFA has ever come up with, in my opinion.

I agree with the general thought behind your idea that we need:

• Bigger and fewer leagues
• Further regionalisation (North, West and East)
• Integration of juniors
• Reform of the cups
• More promotion/relegation spaces between leagues

In practice, I think a top league of 14 would strike the right balance. Still not convinced about the value of the current system of playoffs, but they definitely add to the excitement. If the system could be adapted to avoid the mid-table boredom, which could be the effect of the bigger leagues, that would be great.

The problem with a league of 14 is that I've never actually seen a plan for that which would really strike the right balance.

[Mr Bairn]

The problem with a league of 14 is that I've never actually seen a plan for that which would really strike the right balance.

26 is too short. If you're going with a simple double round robin then 16 teams is the minimum.

14 would work with a 7-7 split (26 game regular season, 12 game split) however you'd have a team in each half doing sweet FA every weekend. Maybe 6-8 would work better however the teams near the top of the 8 would have little to play for. Halving the points would help this (ie The split would be worth only slightly less than the regular season)

[lionel hutz]

The problem with a league of 14 is that I've never actually seen a plan for that which would really strike the right balance.

39 Games and playing 6 teams Twice at home once away one season, and then (the other) 7 twice at home the next season

[Mr Bairn]

39 Games and playing 6 teams Twice at home once away one season, and then (the other) 7 twice at home the next season

A rotation like that works in the 6 nations or the NFL when it's the same cohort of teams every year but our league needs a balanced system.

Honestly I'm not sure 14 is feasible. Should either be 10 or 16+

[SpoonTon]

26 is too short. If you're going with a simple double round robin then 16 teams is the minimum.

14 would work with a 7-7 split (26 game regular season, 12 game split) however you'd have a team in each half doing sweet FA every weekend. Maybe 6-8 would work better however the teams near the top of the 8 would have little to play for. Halving the points would help this (ie The split would be worth only slightly less than the regular season)

I don't think all the complication is worth moving to 14 teams. It just seems to me that 12 works better than 14. So if there's really a will for bigger leagues it would have to be 16 - and try to make that work financially.

[danejag]

14 teams - 26 games

Split 7/7 - 6 additional games

[SpoonTon]

14 teams - 26 games

Split 7/7 - 6 additional games

There surely has to be a better way than having a system where one team in each section doesn't have a game each week (apart from anything else you wouldn't have all teams finish the season at the same time).

I just don't see it being worth it.