Source: FOOTYMAD
Listen to the fans before it's too late!
Tuesday's meeting of SPL clubs seems to have taken a view on restructuring that is at odds with that held by the vast majority of fans. Once again they take the short term, cash driven, choice rather than follow the wishes of supporters. The SPL restructuring plan, announced just before the McLeish Report, centred on league reconstruction as the key element in bringing some life back to our tired set up. The ugly split would disappear, a summer break would be introduced and the top division would be reduced to ten teams. McLeish discusses both a 10 and 14 team set up in his report – and he acknowledges that fans favour the larger league. The return to a ten team format that was used in the first few seasons after the SPL formation in 1997 is not one favoured by the fans. A survey organised by Supporters Direct polled almost 5,000 fans from both SPL and SFL clubs. Their collective view is clear and unambiguous, 88% were against a 10 team league and most favoured expansion. The argument advocated by the club chairmen is that “a 16-team league wouldn't work economically and it would have a knock-on effect in terms of the quality of players you can attract”. It is obvious that the Scottish top division is always going to a poor relation to the fabulously wealthy leagues in England and any hope that we can compete against even the lower levels south of the border are misguided. We should concentrate instead on developing our own solutions and the fans, already resentful of paying crazy prices for an inferior product, have no wish to return to meeting our opponents four times a year with the frightening prospect of the drop forcing ever more defensive attitudes. These points were put to Neil Doncaster when he was at a Motherwell Fans’ Forum in December but his view was that the relegation battle would be “exciting” and the TV companies would love the drama, play offs included. He stressed that enlargement would dilute the attractiveness of our league. Until the clubs feel brave enough to walk away from the demands of TV audiences and instead choose to cater for the fans who attend games there seems little hope of purposeful progress. We’ll be having the same debates in three years time. Meanwhile fans should act before the SPL board meeting on January 17 and make their views known to their own club and via any other means. An ideal vehicle is provided by an online poll in the Scotsman – available here. Follow us on Twitter | Receive News Updates Via RSS Latest Topics From the Message Board Click here to share your views with other Motherwell Fans
