The Scottish league merge and the money being evenly distributed across the leagues is a great idea but not everyone is convinced. The teams will benefit but when will it kick in and how much will it benefit the clubs. Only time will tell. Looking around at the possible solutions Keeppossession has come up with a plan which is not to be judged until the article is over and then make your opinions. What if Scottish, Welsh and Irish leagues combined to form a franchise league .
The Scottish Premier League has suffered to an extent because of the Rangers saga, yes teams have managed to get into Europe and has given teams a chance to compete in the Premier League for second place.Celtic without Rangers is just a one horse but the teams around them could benefit from coming second. However Scottish teams have to qualify and this has put a dark cloud over teams coming second as of they don’t qualify they just end up playing one game it’s just like any other season. The Northern/Irish and Welsh leagues are similar in which they have to qualify to get into the Champions League and Europa League.
If all these leagues combined and had a Super League which is franchise owned which is how the MLS works then they could have a 20 team league with the money being even over the course of the season. The teams would be owned by companies and consortium’s which have to follow rules on transfers and wages. This means all teams are similar and the money would go into Stadiums, community, youth development and longevity of the club. The teams would have qualification to Europe but because they would have a better league combined they wouldn’t have to qualify. the money which they would use for travel cost would be subsidized by the owners which means no club would find flying to another country to play a problem. The MLS has teams which are further away from each other than Scotland, Ireland and Wales so going to away games is something which they could put the fans first by having deals which give the fans money off their trip if they go with a club charter flight. the support would be higher and the financial rewards would benefit the countries. The qualification process can be reviewed every 2 years to give other teams a chance to get a sponsor and the facilities sorted so they can apply to get into the league. if enough teams have the facilities another franchise league could be set up.
The teams left in Scotland, Ireland and Wales would still have European qualification but it will give the FA’s chance to give back to the clubs which are still in their system. The money would be a stumbling block as fans might not be as high but if a team can get a sponsor they have a few years to get themselves ready for application. If one team can only trade up or down in the remaining leagues it would give the countries about 3 or 4 teams each season looking to gain promotion and the stadiums would be better, the teams would be better and the facilities for youth players would be better as they couldn’t get promoted otherwise.
The International team of each country would benefit a they would have a rule like MLS where the main bulk of the squad has to be American. This would be the same for each country involved, The American team has done well in each World Cup since they pumped money into the youth system. The transfer policy would have a rule where teams couldn’t get players from their countries teams youth set up and can only get players from their countries teams after they turn 21, this would give the player something to aim for and give them a decent foundation to their career.
The benefits outweigh the negatives in this set up and it wouldn’t always be Celtic or Rangers winning the title in Scotland as teams from Wales and Ireland would have the same money and could give the potential signings a chance in Europe. This system would benefit all involved and seeing teams go out of business or just scraping by each season is heart breaking so something drastic needs to happen.
