Football league reconstruction – We need action

Opposition to plans for League reconstruction has been growing.

The quality of some of the arguments, though, leaves much to be desired.

I have, in particular, laughed to hear people calling for a 14-team top division.

Such a notion is by no means unique.

Five countries in Europe operate just such a set-up. And in each of them the season lasts for 26 games.

Try selling that scenario to SPL chairmen who need to pay full-time wages.

It would be a very quick conversation, indeed!

For me, that proves they simply haven’t done any research on the subject.

No-one is claiming that 12-12-18 is a cure for all ills.

What it does represent, however, is a sensible compromise worked out between the leading bodies.

The debate is coming to a head, with the SPL meeting tomorrow and the SFL getting together on Thursday to canvas support for the proposals.

Fans have to be realistic about the way compromises get reached, namely to think the issues through before making nonsensical demands.

Common sense dictates that if SPL clubs agree to redistribute funds in a way that benefits lower-league teams and to the unification with the SFL, they are going to want something in return.

A 16 top-team league would not offer enough games, likewise a 14, and a return to a top ten would mean two of their members losing out.

That kind of suggestion is akin, as the old saying goes, to asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.

In these financially treacherous times, no club is going to voluntarily put itself in a position where it could end up getting dumped into the country’s second tier.

Not when it could mean the difference between remaining viable and the possibility of administration. What I would therefore urge is for all sides to be reasonable when considering the arguments in this debate.

In the current set-up, we have a split which is effectively meaningless.

A split that throws up games where nothing is at stake and fails to grab the attention of the paying public.

I can understand that broadening the pool of clubs facing the possibility of relegation will be the cause of anxiety for boards up and down the country.

But surely they have a duty to take into account at least some of what the public actually wants?

As SKY or any other of the broadcasters will testify, they want to see contests where something is at stake.

Contests where the prize for success, or perils of failure, throw up genuine drama.

Instead, I fear we are heading into a kind of limbo, and that when the new season starts, everything will be just as it was at the beginning of the current campaign.

In such a scenario, there would, no doubt, be plenty of discussion.

That is not what we really need, though.

We need something that speaks louder than words.

We need action.