Reconstructing Scottish football

(edited 23rd August)

There has been lots of talk about what's the future of Scottish football and something has to be done to get it more lucrative. Many have suggested around the Net what kind of league structure there should be and here are my thoughts about it. I'm in favour of adding few teams more to the Premiership so that there will be either 14, 16 or 18 team top division but I won't say no to present 12 or even to a 10 team division. Let's first compare some of the leagues and country sizes in Europe.

Big countries (population over 30 million with average of 18.00 teams in top division) :
1. Russia = 142 423 773 and 16 teams
2. Germany = 80 854 773 and 18 teams
3. Turkey = 79 414 269 and 18 teams
4. France = 66 553 766 and 20 teams
5. Italy = 61 855 120 and 20 teams
6. England = 53 865 817 and 20 teams
7. Spain = 48 146 134 and 20 teams
8. Ukraine = 44 429 471 and 14 teams
9. Poland = 38 562 189 and 16 teams

Medium-sized countries (population between 10 - 30 million with average of 15.71 teams in top division):
10. Romania = 21 666 350 and 14 teams
11. Kazakhstan = 17 948 816 and 12 teams
12. Netherlands = 16 947 816 and 18 teams
13. Belgium = 11 323 973 and 16 teams
14. Portugal = 10 825 309 and 18 teams
15. Greece = 10 775 643 and 16 teams
16. Czech = 10 644 842 and 16 teams

Small countries (population 1 - 10 million with average of 11.77 teams in top division): 
17. Hungary = 9 897 541 and 12 teams
18. Sweden = 9 784 445 and 16 teams
19. Azerbaidjan = 9 870 780 and 10 teams
20. Belarus = 9 589 689 and 14 teams
21. Austria = 8 665 550 and 10 teams
22. Switzerland = 8 121 830 and 10 teams
23. Serbia = 7 243 007 and 16 teams
24. Bulgaria = 7 186 893 and 10 teams
25. Denmark = 5 659 715 and 12 teams
26. Finland = 5 471 753 and 12 teams
27. Slovakia = 5 445 027 and 12 teams
28. Scotland = 5 327 700 and 12 teams
29. Norway = 5 177 000 and 16 teams
30. Georgia = 4 931 226 and 16 teams
31. Ireland = 4 892 305 and 12 teams
32. Croatia = 4 464 844 and 10 teams
33. Bosnia and Herzegovina = 3 867 055 and 16 teams
34. Moldova = 3 546 847 and 10 teams
35. Armenia = 3 056 382 and 8 teams
36. Albania = 3 029 278 and 10 teams
37. Lithuania = 2 904 391 and 10 teams
38. Macedonia = 2 096 015 and 10 teams
39. Latvia = 1 989 500 and 8 teams
40. Slovenia = 1 983 412 and 10 teams
41. Kosovo = 1 870 981 and 12 teams
42. Estonia = 1 313 271 and 10 teams
43. Cyprus = 1 189 197 and 14 teams

Micro countries (population less than 1 million) are omitted from the list.

First glimpse tells you that mainly countries that have large population can sustain bigger leagues (average of 18.00 teams) and smaller countries can hold of smaller leagues (average of 11.77 teams) but there are also small countries (Sweden, Serbia, Norway, Georgia and B&H) who have 16 team leagues. But according to this list it looks like smaller countries mainly just don't have enough quality teams to support a bigger league. Is it the same thing with Scotland?

Let's see what different proposals there might be.

Tables are taken from the situation that was at 19th August 2015.

PROPOSAL 1:  
10 team Premiership

Last time a team outside Old Firm won the title it was the eighties and Scotland had a 10 team league system. Positive thing would be that the top teams will have tougher games when they play each other four times but then again a negative side is that to the fans it would be quite boring meeting the same teams many teams during a season. I assume that most fans don't want this system because of that. But countries like Switzerland and Austria have switched back to 10 team leagues to make them more competitive. Perhaps it's just not realistic to a smaller country to have a bigger top division (16-20 teams). There's just not enough quality teams. To add more interest would be relegation play-offs (home and away) so teams 2, 3 & 4 from championship would have a chance to beat a premiership team and win a promotion.

SPFL Premiership: 36 games. 

1. Hearts
2. Celtic
3. Aberdeen
4. Dundee
5. Hamilton
6. Ross
================
7. Dundee Utd  (to play 4th of Championship)
8. Partick Thistle (to play 3rd of Championship)
9. Motherwell (to play 2nd of Championship)
===================
10. St. Johnstone (to be relegated)

SPFL Championship (36 games)

1. Inverness CT (to be promoted)

==================

2. Kilmarnock (to play 9th of Premiership)

3. Rangers (to play 8th of Premiership)
4. Queen of the South (to play 7th of Premiership)
==================
5. Dumbarton
6. Falkirk
7. Raith Rovers
8. Hibernian
=====================
9. Morton (to play against the 2nd of League One)
=================
10. St. Mirren (to be relegated)

SPFL League One (36 games)
Will have 10 teams and the same structure as Championship. Winner will be promoted and the second plays against 9th of Championship. 

SPFL League Two (33 games)
Will have 12 teams and play each other three times. Winner to be promoted and the runner-up play against 9th of League One.

PROPOSAL 2: 
12 team Premiership with ice-hockey style play-offs

In America they have play-offs in every major sport to make the leagues more interesting to fans and random spectators. Why not try play-offs at European football also? Especially Scotland needs something that makes the league more interesting to watch and to get a better TV deals. Perhaps Scotland should try this system at least for few seasons to see how it goes and scrap it if it wasn't suitable. 12 team top division is slightly difficult because with two rounds it's too short (22 games) and four rounds it's too long (44 games).

This suggestion has Premiership with still 12 teams because many believe there aren't enough good teams in Scotland and therefore a bigger top division is out of the question. Perhaps so. With 12 teams in top division they would play a regular season of 33 games (three rounds) and after that the top 8 goes to play-offs to settle who wins the league. That would be quite a happening instead of seeing Celtic win the title already in February, right? And every game would mean something and because the title would be decided at finals in May that gives people something to be excited about without losing interest earlier.

SPFL Premiership (33-39 games)
1. Hearts (to play-offs)
2. Celtic (to play-offs)
3. Aberdeen (to play-offs)
4. Dundee (to play-offs)
5. Hamilton (to play-offs)
6. Ross (to play-offs)
7. Dundee Utd (to play-offs)
8. Partick Thistle (to play-offs)
===================
9. Motherwell (to play 4th of Championship)
10. St. Johnstone (to play 3rd of Championship)
11. Inverness CT (to play 2nd of Championship)
===================
12. Kilmarnock (to be relegated)

So first round of the play-offs (home and away) would be Hearts vs. Partick Thisle, Celtic vs. Dundee Utd, Aberdeen vs. Ross and Dundee vs. Hamilton. Winners proceed to the next level and finally two teams will reach the 2 legged final.
Relegation play-offs (home and away) will be: Motherwell vs. Falkirk, St. Johnstone vs. Dumbarton and Inverness vs. Queen of the South. Winners will have a place at the top division.

SPFL Championship (36-38 games)
1. Rangers (to be promoted)
=====================
2. Queen of the South (to play 11th of Premiership)
3. Dumbarton (to play 10th of Premiership)
4. Falkirk (to play 9th of Premiership)
=====================
5. Raith Rovers
6. Hibernian
=====================
7. Morton (to play 2nd of League One)
8. St. Mirren (to play 3rd of League One)
9. Livingston (to play 4th of League One)
=====================
10. Alloa (to be relegated)

League 1 play-offs: Morton vs. Stenhousemuir, St. Mirren vs. Peterhead and Livingston vs. Forfar.

SPFL League One (36 games)
Will have 10 teams and the same structure as Championship. Winner will be promoted and teams 2-4  plays against 7-9 of Championship. 

SPFL League Two (33 games)
Will have 10 teams and play each other three times. Winner to be promoted and teams 2-4 play against 7-9 of League One.

PROPOSAL 3: 
Three divisions of 14 teams each or 14-10-18 in three divisions with splits

I assume that this proposal is quite much supported by fans all over and I think this has its benefits too. After two rounds (26 games) divisions will be divided into two and then two rounds of 12 games in the top and bottom to make it a total of 38 games per season. Of course the negative side is that the split comes so soon. How much teams who are left out of the top half have interest to play? Let's say that teams 8-11 might have secured by then their staying at the top division so to them those games aren't giving any extra pressure. But for the top half this would give tough games against each other especially against Celtic (and Rangers when they're back) and that might help other big teams like Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs and Dundee Utd getting tougher games instead of playing small teams. How much this really differs from 10 team top division (with four meetings)? Not much because still there are four meetings with certain teams but this might still be better thus giving a chance to 14 teams instead of 10. The advantage of this proposal is that this combines different proposals: every team meets Old Firm twice (like in proposals 4, 5 and 6) and the best ones possibly have four meetings and therefore teams will have more tougher games (like in proposal 1).

SPFL Premiership: 38 games
1. Hearts
2. Celtic
3. Aberdeen
4. Dundee 
5. Hamilton 
6. Ross 
7. Dundee Utd
==============
8. Partick Thistle 
9. Motherwell
10. St. Johnstone
=================
11. Inverness CT (to play-offs)
12. Kilmarnock (to play-offs)
=================
13. Rangers (to be relegated)
14. Queen of the South (to be relegated)

SPFL Championship (36 or 38 games)
Will have either 10 or 14 teams. Will therefore play either 36 games or has same system as Premiership. Two goes down and teams 11-12 to play-offs.

SPFL Conference (38 or 34 games)
Will have either 14 or 18 teams teams. System is either the same as Premiership or they play 34 games. Two goes up and teams 3-4 goes to play-offs.

PROPOSAL 4: 
16 team Premiership with OR without play-offs

Okay, I like the idea of a bigger top division and 16 teams sounds good to me. That would mean a 30 game regular season and then top 8 goes to play-offs. Then there would be 30-36 games.
Also the last team will be relegated and teams 12-15 go to relegation play-offs. Some argue that 30 games would be too less because of loss of income from home games and I agree that's a problem in this system but play-offs might help in this one.

SPFL Premiership IF play-offs included (30-36 games). Without play-offs: 30 games
1. Hearts (to play-offs)
2. Celtic (to play-offs)
3. Aberdeen (to play-offs)
4. Dundee (to play-offs)
5. Hamilton (to play-offs)
6. Ross (to play-offs)
7. Dundee Utd (to play-offs)
8. Partick Thistle (to play-offs)
===================
9. Motherwell
10. St. Johnstone
11. Inverness CT
===================
12. Kilmarnock (to play 2nd of Championship)
13. Rangers (to play 3rd of Championship)
14. Queen of the South (to play 4th of Championship)
15. Dumbarton (to play 5th of Championship)
===================
16. Falkirk (to be relegated)

SPFL Championship (36 games)
will have 10 teams and they play each other four times. Winner will be promoted and teams 2-5 will play teams 12-15 from premiership in play-offs. Two goes down. Teams 7-8 will play in play-offs with teams 3-4 of League One. 

SPFL League One (30 games)
will have the rest 16 teams and they play each other twice. Two goes up and teams 3-4 play teams 7-8 of Championship in play-offs. 


PROPOSAL 5: 
16 team Premiership and the similar system as Polish Extraklasa has

In Poland their top division Extraklasa has an interesting league system (from Wikipedia): "There are 16 clubs in the Ekstraklasa. During the course of the season each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games (240 games in the season). From the 2013–14 season onward after 30th round league will be split into 'champion' (top eight teams) and 'relegation' (bottom eight teams) groups. Each team will play seven more games (1–4 and 9–12 teams will play four times at home), starting with half the points (rounded up) achieved during the first phase of 30 matches."

How about that? Halving the points would also bring more interest to the league, right?

PROPOSAL 6: 
18 team Premiership

I agree that this proposal is the most unlikely one because of getting 18 good teams into it. Scotland only has 21 (?) professional teams so I don't think this will never go through. After re-thinking play-offs might not suit this system.

SPFL Premiership: 34 games
1. Hearts
2. Celtic 
3. Aberdeen 
4. Dundee
5. Hamilton 
6. Ross
7. Dundee Utd
8. Partick Thistle 
9. Motherwell
10. St. Johnstone
11. Inverness CT
12. Kilmarnock
===================
13. Rangers (to play 3rd of Championship)
14. Queen of the South (to play 4th of Championship)
15. Dumbarton (to play 5th of Championship)
16. Falkirk (to play 6th of Championship)
===================
17. Raith Rovers (to be relegated)
18. Hibernian (to be relegated)

SPFL Championship (33 games)
will have 12 teams and they play each other three times. Winners will be promoted and teams 3-6 will play teams 13-16 from premiership in play-offs. One goes down. 

SPFL League One (33 games)

will have 12 teams and they play each other three times. Winner will be promoted and teams 2-5 will play teams 8-11 from Championship in play-offs. 

Final words:
It's hard to choose the best proposal and schenario that helps Scottish football. All of them have pros and cons. If I have to choose now the one to pick it might be 14 teams in Premiership... or 16... or 10... or... Argh. Really hard.  Anyway the main issue is that Scotland needs to reform their league to make it more interesting and to bring more fans into the terraces. Also better TV deals would be easier to get when you have a better and more competitive league. And nowadays money means much more than it meant in the good ol' days. Hopefully something happens soon and we'll see a revival of Scottish fitba'...

Some interesting links:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/record-fc-dundee-united-celtic-6323654

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/13416017.Neil_Doncaster_suggests_SPFL_restructure_may_be_only_way_forward/

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/584318/Departing-SFA-president-Campbell-Ogilvie-predicts-league-changes

http://www.sundaypost.com/sport/football/scottish-football-league-reconstruction-a-major-change-and-not-just-for-the-sake-of-it-1.878373

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/all-about/scottish-football-reconstruction

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/record-fc-dundee-united-summer-5243815

http://sport.stv.tv/topics/league-reconstruction/

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/resources/documents/SFAPublications/HenryMcLeishReviewofScottishFootball/Review%20Scottish%20Football%20Pt2%20FINAL.pdf

Skottifutiksen, suomifutiksen ja suomilätkän tila / The state of Scottish and Finnish football and Finnish ice hockey

Viime aikoina on taas vellonnut keskustelua eri medioissa koskien skottifutiksen, suomifutiksen ja suomilätkän tilaa. Aloitetaan Skotlannista.

During last few weeks there's been lots of discussion about the state of football in Scotland and in Finland but also ice hockey's state in Finland.  

FIRST IN FINNISH (BRIEFLY IN ENGLISH AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE)

SKOTLANTI

Skotlanti on viskeistä, kilteistä ja jalkapallosta tunnettu maa. Itse olen suorastaan hulluna Skotlantiin, vaikka viskien hinnat vain nousevat ja vastapainona jalkapallon taso laskee. Onneksi miesten kilttien pituudet eivät sentään lyhene. Voisi tulla vilu kulkusiin. On tosiasia, että Skotlannin jalkapalloskeneä ovat Celtic ja Rangers hallinneet koko sen olemassaolon ajan vain muutaman joukkueen onnistuessa pudottamaan jomman kumman valtaistuimelta. Viimeinen tällainen tapahtuma oli 1980-luvulla, kun Aberdeen vei mestaruuden (Sir Alexin johdolla). Skotlannin Cupissa ja Liiga-Cupissa sentään on ollut tasaisempaa. Ainakin jonkin verran. Myöskin kultaisella kasarilla Aberdeen pystyi nappaamaan Cup Winners Cupin Real Madridin nenän edestä. Tuskinpa enää pystyisi samaan.

(Aberdeen winning the Cup Winners Cup in 1983.
Picture taken from Events for Archie blog)

Mielestäni pari isoa pahaa juttua Eurooppalaisessa jalkapallomaailmassa lähihistorian aikana ovat olleet 1990-luvun alussa lanseerattu Champion's League (ex Champion's Cup) ja massiivisesti paisuneet TV-rahat. Tämä on mielestäni aiheuttanut sen, että raha menee rahan luo ja PK-seuroilla (pienet ja keskisuuret seurat) ei ole enää minkäänlaisia mahdollisuuksia voittaa mestaruuksia oli kyse sitten mistä tahansa liigasta. Englannin liiga käy tässä hyvästä esimerkistä. Lapsena kannatin (ja kyllä vieläkin jollain tasolla) Liverpoolia ja vaikka joukkue olikin jättiseura 1960-, 1970- ja 1980-luvuilla, niin tuolloin oli myös muilla seuroilla mahdollisuuksia mestaruuksiin. Vuonna 1992 perustettu Englannin Valioliiga muutti CL:n ja TV-rahojen lisäksi myös Englannin futisympyröitä. Kukapa voisi kuvitella, että nykyään sellaiset joukkueet kuin Ipswich (vuoden 1962 liigamestari), Derby (1972 & 1975), Nottingham (1978) tai Aston Villa (1981) voisivat voittaa mestaruuden? Sen sijaan Valioliigan on voittanut vain viisi joukkuetta ja ManU on vienyt mestaruuksia ylivoimaisesti eniten eli 13 (59% koko potista). Näistä viidestäkin ainoastaan yhden joukkueen voi laskea PK-joukkueeksi (Blackburn, 1995). Muualla Euroopassa painitaan silti samoissa tylsyysongelmissa: Real Madrid ja Barcelona hallitsevat Espanjassa, Juventus Italiassa, Ajax ja PSV Hollannissa, Bayern München Saksassa, Benfica ja Porto Portugalissa jne. jne. Ja sitten on vielä se kaikkein tylsin liiga eli Kreikan liiga, jossa Olympiakos on vienyt jo yli 50% mestaruuksista. Mutta se muusta Euroopasta ja takaisin Skotlantiin.

Skotlannissa mentiin myös tuohon Valioliiga-maailmaan ja syntyi kaksi kattojärjestöä, joista viime vuosina onneksi päästiin eroon ja nyt kaikki 42 joukkuetta ovat saman järjestön alla (SPFL). Rahat kun tuntuivat siirtyvän ensimmäkseen Old Firm'in (Celtic ja Rangers) taskuihin ja muilla joukkueilla ei juurikaan mahdollisuuksia ollut nousta mestariksi. Jo se oli suuri saavutus jos joku sai kiilattua itsensä näiden kahden väliin. Viime aikoina on silti noussut kysymyksiä, että jotain on pielessä. Porukka ei käy otteluissa enää samaan tahtiin kuin ennen. Tähän ratkaisuna on mm. ehdotettu kesäkauteen siirtymistä, jotta ei tarvitsisi keskitalvella yrittää pelata kesäpeliä. Ei se välttämättä ole edes katsojaystävällistäkään. Hytise nyt sitten katsomoissa keskellä talvea. Fanit halusivat tämän lisäksi laajentaa pääsarjaa, jotta samoja joukkueita ei tarvitsisi kohdata montaa kertaa kaudessa, mutta SPFL ei noteerannut tätä mitenkään. Halusivat pitää 12-joukkueen sarjasta kiinni (ja siitä fanien vihaamasta jaosta kolmen kierroksen jälkeen). Nyt katsojamäärät ovat laskeneet ja huoli on kova, koska mm. koripallo ja yllättäen myös jääkiekko ovat lisänneet katsojamääriä. Lippujen hinnat tietysti ovat ratkaisevassa asemassa tässäkin: samalla hintaa pääsee koko perhe katsomaan koripalloa kuin yksi menee katsomaan jalkapalloa, jossa Celtic kuitenkin voittaa tällä hetkellä mestaruuden. Ja nyt myöskin pelätään, että taso laskee kohti irkkuliigaa. Maajoukkuekin on tietysti huolissaan, koska viimeisestä suuresta turnauksesta on jo... hetkinen... 16 vuotta. Ei olla totuttu Skotlannissa tuollaiseen.


Mitä sitten voisi tehdä?  Itse näkisin, että joko siirtyminen 10-joukkueen liigaan, jolloin heittopussien määrä vähenisi tai sitten suoraan 18-joukkueen liigaan, jolloin tarvitsisi kohdata vastustaja vain kaksi kertaa kaudessa neljän sijaan. Kun viimeksi joku muu kuin Old Firm voitti mestaruuden oli vuosi 1985 ja 10-joukkueen sarja. Pienten maiden (asukaslukumäärä alle 10 miljoonaa) ongelma on, että ei vain löydy tarpeeksi montaa laadukasta joukkuetta, kuten suurissa maissa. On myös jotenkin väärin, että monesti Skotlantia verrataan Englantiin, vaikka järkevämpää olisi verrata saman kokoisiin maihin. Vääristymiä aiheuttaa myös järjettömät määrät rahaa, jotka menevät Englantiin. Monet vanhat englannin liigan pelaajathan ovat kiroilleet mm. sitäkin, että nykyään keskinkertaisetkin pelaajat saavat enemmän kuin huiput ennen. Talouspuolenkin tyypit ovat varoitelleet, että ei ole tervettä, että pelaajabudjetit valtaavat kokonaisbudjetista niin ison loven. Kaiketi korttitalo joskus romahtaa, mutta vielä se on pystyssä jotenkuten. Voisiko siis kesäfutis ja joukkueiden määrän muuttaminen pelastaa Skotlannin? Mahdollisesti. Tietysti elokuussa pitäisi pitää vapaata, kun suuri osa viettäisi lomaa jossain muualla kuin katsomoissa, kuten seuraavassa linkissä epäillään. Ja tietysti lippujen hintojakin pitää laskea, jotta ne tavalliset duunaritkin palaisivat takaisin.

Yksi asia tuntuu minusta ainakin varmalta eli joukkueiden määrää koko SPFL:ssä pitää vähentää, koska 42 joukkuetta on vain liikaa Skotlannin kokoiseen maahan. Joko siis 10-joukkueen pääsarja ja 20-joukkueen Championship tai 18-joukkueen pääsarja ja 12-joukkueen Championship tai 16+16, kuitenkin niin, että 30 taloudellisesti terveintä joukkuetta olisi mukana (tämä tuntuu jostain kumman syystä sopivalta määrältä. Joku muu voisi olla eri mieltä). Muut sitten esim. Regional liigaan, mutta kuitenkin niin, että joukkueilla olisi kuitenkin mahdollisuus nousta SPFL:ään jos täyttää kriteerit. Toivoa ei saa tappaa.



SUOMI

Sama juttu Suomen jalkapallon suhteen. Viimeisin synkkä uutinen oli FC Hongan häviäminen liigakartalta ja MyPa:llakin taitaa olla ongelmia.

http://www.iltalehti.fi/jalkapallo/2014121618933556_vg.shtml

MyPa pois Veikkausliigasta ja Ilves tilalle: 
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/veikkausliiga/art-1420780106490.html

(FC Jazz'in Alekou. Kuva: Satakunnan Kansa)

HJK tuntuu olevan tällä hetkellä ainoa kunnolla vakaa joukkue ja se näkyykin mestaruuksien määrässä (27) ja siinä, että joukkue on vienyt nyt kuusi (6) mestaruutta putkeen. Mielestäni Suomeen riittäisi aivan helposti 10 joukkueen Veikkausliiga ja 10 joukkueen Ykkönen ja loput raa'asti aladivareihin, joista esim. kakkosen voittajalla olisi kuitenkin mahdollisuus nousta Ykköseen jos taloudellinen tilanne antaa myöden.

(Ässät. Kuva: Iltalehti)

Jääkiekon SM-Liigan osalta mielenkiinto nousi Matti Hagmanin yhteen ajatukseen Ilta-Sanomissa eli kahteen 10-joukkueen sarjaan, jotka kuuluisivat kaikki saman kattojärjestön alle. Eli mielessäni ajattelin, että esim. 54-runkosarjakierroksen jälkeen 8 parasta jatkaisi play-offeihin, yhdeksäs (9.) karsisi kakkossarjan toiseksi (2.) tulleen kanssa ja kymmenes (10.) putoaisi suoraan kakkossarjaan ja kakkosen voittaja (1.) nousisi SM-Liigaan. Tämä toisi jokaiseen peliin pelattavaa ja jokainen peli olisi kuin play-off -peli. SM-Liigankin ongelma on tänä kautena ollut katsojien määrän vähentyminen. Syiksi tähän väitetään olevan mm. Jokereiden siirtyminen KHL:ään ja maailmantalouden tilanne. Kaikki kunnia Sportille, mutta he eivät ehkä sittenkään täytä Jokereiden jättämää aukkoa. Silti vielä hassumpaa oli päätös nostaa KooKoo liigaan. Tällä hetkellä Sport on viimeisenä 7 pistettä toiseksi viimeisestä eli Pelicansista. On tietysti vielä aivan liian aikaista sanoa, että miten Sport tulee jatkossa pärjäämään, mutta nyt kuitenkin tulee sellainen heittopussimainen fiilis. Ehkä olen väärässä ja Sport tsemppaa tulevaisuudessa. Myönnän kyllä, että ei Ässät ollut sen parempi tämän vuosituhannen alussa, kiitos taloussekoilujen yms, mutta tämä 10+10 voisi pelastaa ne muutamat hyvät Mestis -seuratkin ja tämän myötä tulisi myös kakkossarjaan paljon jänniä pelejä, kun olisi mahdollista nousta ylöspäin. Tämä nostaisi näidenkin seurojen tasoa, kun sponsorit varmasti helpommin antaisivat rahaa käyttöön.

Tässä vielä HIFK-legendan Matti Hagmanin ajatuksia:
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/sm-liiga/art-1418630998730.html



VERTAILU POHJOIS-AMERIKKAAN (lisäys 29.12.)


Pohjois-Amerikassa tuntuu homma toimivan paljon tasapuolisemmin. Liigoissa ei ole yhtä tai kahta tai edes kolmea suurta suosikkia, vaan lähes jokaisella on mahdollisuus voittaa mestaruus. Tietysti USA:ssa ja Kanadassa riittää populaakin katsomoihin ja kentille, mutta silti tuntuu, että jotain on tehty eri tavalla ja paremmin kuin Euroopassa. Tasaisuus on valttia. Pohjois-Amerikassa neljä suurinta liigaa tunnetaan nimellä The Big Four (MLB, NBA, NFL ja NHL), mutta MLS voidaan kaiketi jo liittää porukkaan ja monet puhuvatkin The Big Five’sta. Miten näissä sarjoissa sitten mestaruudet ovat menneet? Viimeisten 10 vuoden aikana MLB:n World Seriesin on voittanut kuusi (6) eri joukkuetta, NBA:n neljä (4), NFL:n kahdeksan (8), NHL:n kahdeksan (8) sekä MLS:n kuusi (6) eri joukkuetta. Erittäin tasaista on siis ollut. Miten noissa viidessä liigassa sitten pelataan? 

Wikipedian mukaan: MLB teams play 162 games each season. Five teams in each league advance to a four-round postseason tournament that culminates in the World Series, a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions.  NBA Playoffs begin in late April, with eight teams in each conference competing for the Championship. NFL: Out of the league's 32 teams, six (four division winners and two wild-card teams) from each conference compete in the NFL playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC. NHL season is divided into an exhibition season (September), a regular season (from the first week in October through early to mid April) and a postseason (the Stanley Cup playoffs). MLS: Unlike European soccer leagues, the regular season is followed by the ten-team MLS Cup Playoffs in November, ending with the MLS Cup championship final in early December.

Yksi yhteinen nimittäjä kaikille sarjoille on siis play-offit. Tietysti Euroopan sarjoissa jalkapallossa on mukana myös kansalliset Cupit ja joissakin maissa myös Liiga-Cupit, jotenka mahtaako sarjaan ympätty cup -mainen play-off enää kiinnostaa? Mahdollisesti silti nuo play-offit voisivat tuoda yllätyksiä, joita pitkissä sarjoissa ei yleensä enää nähdä, jotenka minusta tuo olisi suuri plussa liigojen jännittävyydelle. Ehkä Skotlanti (tai Suomi) voisi ottaa askeleen eteenpäin ja kokeilla miten tuo istuu jalkapalloon. Edes muutamaksi kaudeksi. Play-offit ja finaalit voisivat olla isokin juttu ja tuoda lisäkatsojia sen sijaan, että suuren joukkueen varmistama mestaruus olisi varmistettu jo tammikuussa. SPFL:n joukkueiden määrää siis voisi vähentää 30-32 joukkueeseen ja muodostaa kaksi divisioonaa (16+14 tai 16+16). Pääsarjassa 30 ottelun runkosarja, jonka jälkeen 8 parasta jatkaisi play-offeihin. Finaalit mukaan lukien joukkueiden pelimäärä olisi kaudessa 30-36 ottelua eli ihan hyvä määrä. Ja tällaisissa matseissa olisi myös sillä toisella (eli joku muu kuin Celtic tai HJK) paremmat mahdollisuudet voittaa mestaruus. Tietenkin divisioonan loppupäähänkin olisi hyvä saada säpinää ja tärkeitä otteluita, jotenka kaksi viimeisintä joukkuetta putoaisi suoraan divariin ja kaksi nousisi sieltä ja tämän lisäksi pääsarjan joukkueet 13-14 pelaisivat divarin joukkueiden 3-4 kanssa sarjan, jossa katsottaisiin kuka saa paikan pääsarjasta. Suomen 10+10 –sarjoihin tuo istuisi myöskin ihan hyvin. Kolmen runkosarjakierroksen jälkeen (27 ottelua) voisi 8 parasta pelata play-off –kierrokset (eli kokonaisuudessaan 27-33 ottelua kaudessa).

Pienten sarjojen pitää kuitenkin keksiä jotain millä saada lisää mielenkiintoa otteluihin ja miten saada katsojat takaisin stadioneihin. Maailma muuttuu ja jalkapallonkin pitäisi muuttua sen mukana. Vanhalla konseptilla ei välttämättä enää pärjää.

(3.1.2015)
Yksi asia vielä lisättynä, että Pohjois-Amerikassa monet liigat käyttävät palkkakattoa, jotta liigasta tulisi mahdollisimman tasainen ja että palkkakustannukset eivät paisuisi liiaksi. Älyttömän hyvä idea. (Kiitos Jussi tästä muistutuksesta).

 

IN ENGLISH: 

Partick Thistle in red and yellow jersey.
(Picture courtesy of Herald Scotland)

Scottish fitba': It's been eons since a team outside Old Firm won the title (Aberdeen back in 1985 with a little help from Sir Alex). Now there's been talks about what's wrong with Scottish fitba' as quite many fans have switched from football to basketball (or even ice hockey). Those attendances are still relatively small but powers that be shouldn't laugh at this because one day those figures could be much bigger. At the cost of football. One reason for this is of course that people nowadays don't have that much money (because of the present day global financial downhill). You take a whole family to see basketball instead of one fan going to see football. I also think that changing Champions Cup to Champions League early in the Nineties was one mistake that directed the money to bigger leagues and bigger teams (four teams from England in Champion's League! I thought only one team could win the league). TV money has also been expanding exponentially during the past twenty years and because there are lots of matches on the telly people have become lazy. It's easier to watch inside four walls. That's cozy. I remember reading some fan moaning about this at some football magazine years ago (can't remember what it was) and he said it was infact more interesting back then when there was only one game per week (BBC's Match of the week, I guess). Perhaps too much is just too much when there are games for every weekday. The Boring Aspect is also affecting English football because you really can't see teams like Ipswich, Nottingham or Aston Villa winning titles anymore. Since the formation of English Premier League (1992) there's been only five teams who have won the title and Man Utd are the biggest with 13 winnings (59%). And only Blackburn of these can be considered as a small or medium sized team. But back to Scotland. One suggestion has been a change to summer league which perhaps would be a good change since winters are quite harsh in Scotland and all the big leagues are off duty. Also fans wanted to change to 16 or 18 team leagues so that you don't have to meet the opponent more than twice in a season. Very reasonable thinking there but SPFL didn't notice that at all. A real slap into the faces of the fans. I think also a 10 team league would be one to be considered because when Aberdeen and Dundee Utd won the Premier Division it was a 10 team division. But football world's not the same anymore. Money rules and money goes where the wealth is. I see that SPFL all in all should have less teams because 42 seems to be too much. I'd say 30-32 teams and the rest to the Regional leagues but so that there is a chance of promotion back if winning team's financial situation is okay. Don't kill hope. Therefore SPFL should try at least for few seasons a different number of teams in the top two divisions (18+12 or 10+20 or 16+16) and scrap the stupid cut after 33 games. Teams should also lower the ticket prices to lure fans back and SPFL should perhaps move into the summer league. I've also added another aspect (see comparing Europe to North America). 

(30.12.) One thing that might also bring back the fans are the standing areas. Many fans love those areas and I don't blame them. It's the standing areas that usually have the best feeling. I support Finnish ice hockey team Ässät and they have an arena that has a capacity of ~6500 and ~2500 of those are for standing fans. And it's bloody marvelous being there...

Briefly about Finnish football which is also in shambles as HJK seems to be the only financially stable team at the moment (with 27 titles and six of them from the past six years). To make it more attractive I'd like to see that Veikkausliiga should be reduced to 10 teams and first division should have also 10 teams. Ice hockey (and SM-Liiga) is Finland's number one sport brand but like HIFK legend Matti Hagman states at the news article (http://www.iltasanomat.fi/sm-liiga/art-1418630998730.html) it needs a revamp. The biggest team Jokerit moved to KHL and a small Sport Vaasa replaced them. I like Matti's idea of two leagues with 10 teams each. That would make every game important and make teams stronger. 

COMPARING EUROPE TO NORTH AMERICA (added 29th December):

It seems that everything's better at North America: at least sport is more competitive and interesting. Of course the population is huge at the other side of the "lake" but still it's different. What is then different? Let's look at the Big Four (MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL). Also MLS can be considered a big league and many nowadays use the term The Big Five so let's include that also. During the last ten seasons: MLB's World Series was won by six (6) different teams, NBA four (4), NFL eight (8), NHL eight (8) and MLS six (6). Very even and interesting leagues, right? This is what an average fan wants, I assume.

Toronto Raptors (Picture: bleacherreport.com)

According to Wikipedia: MLB teams play 162 games each season. Five teams in each league advance to a four-round postseason tournament that culminates in the World Series, a best-of-seven championship series between the two league champions.  NBA Playoffs begin in late April, with eight teams in each conference competing for the Championship. NFL: Out of the league's 32 teams, six (four division winners and two wild-card teams) from each conference compete in the NFL playoffs, a single-elimination tournament culminating in the Super Bowl, played between the champions of the NFC and AFC. NHL season is divided into an exhibition season (September), a regular season (from the first week in October through early to mid April) and a postseason (the Stanley Cup playoffs). MLS: Unlike European soccer leagues, the regular season is followed by the ten-team MLS Cup Playoffs in November, ending with the MLS Cup championship final in early December.

So one common thing in every league is the use of play-offs after regular season. I know, there are Cups and even League-Cup's in come countries in the football world so would a play-off still be interesting? Possibly because those play-off's might bring some surprises that a long run series won't perhaps produce and that would be a huge positive thing especially to small/medium sized leagues like Scotland and Finland - almost anyone can win the title! Also the wee ones. Those play-off's and finals might bring back the fans when other teams also have chances of winning instead of seeing Celtic confirming their title in January. How about two divisions of 16 teams each? Would that be all right? After a 30 game regular season the top eight of the Premiership go to play-off's. At the bottom, two go down and teams 13 and 14 play against second tier's 3rd and 4th about who two win a place at the top division. Season would then be 30-36 games long. And even at the final two games there's still a chance for that other-than-Celtic team to win the league.

But these are just my ideas of revamping the game in Scotland and Finland. I assume the suits who decide how the game looks like don't give a shit about these ideas. But I hope something happens in the near future because something has to happen before it's too late. They have to make the product more attractive. And especially attractive for the fans. SPFL should try anything now instead of standing still like there's no problem at all. Unfortunately I'm not living in Scotland but if I was I would be welcoming such changes and buy a Partick Thistle season ticket (and perhaps a ticket to some odd Aberdeen game at Pittodrie as well)...

(3 January 2015)
In North-America they have this thing called salary cap. That is the thing that gives smaller teams a chance to buy good players and this won't let budgets go too bloated. I like this idea. Whatever makes a league better is a good idea. Wikipedia: "In theory, there are two main benefits derived from salary caps - promotion of parity between teams, and control of costs."


Linkkejä koskien Skotlannin tilannetta / Links about the state of Scottish football:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/scottish-football-heading-irish-league-4802544

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/scottish-footballs-problems-wont-solved-4826159

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/opinion/sport/david-mccarthy-free-spfl-sponsorship-4825831

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/30122536

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/30054170 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/jimspence/2012/03/as_the_debate_about_change.html 

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/spl-chief-scotland-has-highest-attendance-pr-head-population-europe-2013581#.VKJT7s8rkDA  (Good news but how long it will be like this? Hopefully for long...)

http://storre.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/2196/1/SCOTTISH%20FOOTBALL%20-%20ITS%20A%20FUNNY%20OLD%20BUSINESS.pdf

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/opinion/football-is-paying-the-price-for-its-lack-of-vision-as-attendances-fall.20249246 

 http://thinkfootball.co.uk/why-are-attendances-in-the-spl-so-low/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2859373/Scottish-football-terribly-lazy-self-pity-according-Barry-Hearn.html

http://www.givemesport.com/362679-scottish-football-the-beginning-of-the-end