Bring in a Celtic Cup and Anglo Scottish Cup

Scottish kids are turning away from Scottish football. We need ideas that get Scottish kids wanting to follow Scottish football again.

The more cup games, less league games strategy.

OK now here is an original radical idea for the Scottish league. I know a lot of people will instinctively hate this idea because it is radical and new, but I ask you to open your minds to a new radical strategy to allow us to play new types of teams every year.

I hate league football it is boring and repetitive you get stuck playing the same teams every year, not doing anything while some other teams win the league. I would say the same as an Aberdeen fan if we were in a British league, as we would find our level and get stuck playing British teams of the same level.

My view is league football is boring and monotonous. The same teams playing over and over again, with teams battling it out to avoid failure, or mid table mediocrity. I say the same about the Scottish and English Premier.

I would like to radically cut the number of league games in the Scottish league and replace them with cross border cups, where home group stage games are counted as part of the home season ticket attendances.

Here is my radical idea

STEP ONE

Increase the Premier to 16 teams, with teams playing home and away.

30 games a year for the league title.

This means a cut in the number of games, each team in the premier play by 8 games.

Freeing up 8 weeks for new cup competitions.

STEP TWO

Introduce a Celtic Cup made up of the 16 Scottish Premier sides, 2 Welsh league sides, one team each from Cornwall, and the Isle of Man, and the 4 Irish regions put forward a team each. The Irish regions that have proved so popular with rugby fans would put forward 4 regional representative sides, made up of players from the League of Ireland and Irish League. If this is not possible then 2 Irish league and 2 League of Ireland sides would take part. There would then be 24 teams in 6 groups of 4 group stage trophy. The top sides from each group qualify for the quarter final. The 4 best runner ups qualify for a qualifying round for the quarter final. The winners of the qualifying round qualify for the quarter final. Scottish teams would be forced to play their first team or face 3 points deducted in the Premier league. Also to ensure less chance of sectarian issues, Rangers could not be drawn to play a Irish Republic team in the group stages. Celtic would not be drawn against Northern Ireland teams in the group stages.

I would also include home group stage games as part of the season ticket sales sold with the premier league games.

Also the Scottish teams would subsidize travel costs for the poorer Celtic nations.

STEP THREE

An Anglo Scottish cup returns

My idea is the Scottish Premier sides, that did not qualify for Europe and teams from the English League One play in a group stage cross border cup. Then in the knockout stages the Scottish teams that qualified for Europe and the winners of the group stage play in a straight knockout trophy. With an annual final played at Wembley Stadium. Imagine how great it would be for Scottish sides to play a final at the famous Wembley stadium every year. Scottish clubs that reached the final would talk of the great time they played at Wembley, in the same way Aberdeen fans talk of Gothenburg and Celtic fans talk of Lisbon.




My reply to critics of my idea

Every year we here people suggesting that the Scottish and English leagues merge, well look if that happened then most Scottish Premier sides of the likes of Inverness, and St Johnstone would be lucky to reach the level of the Tier 5 division in the non league Conference, based on the attendances they get. Clubs like Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts would be league one to championship sides. While Celtic and Rangers might go 50 years without winning a national trophy, as Newcastle United have. So my idea would be best of both Worlds scenario. Where they get to keep playing in a Scottish Premier have a chance of winning national cups and get to play high standard English league one sides.

Some will argue that this will not satisfy the Old Firm, but I disagree an annual final at Wembley stadium would satisfy their desire to achieve something in England without giving up their competitive chances of winning the league, and qualifying for the champions league.

I do not want the Scottish and English leagues to merge as my team Aberdeen would never get anywhere and it would render more than 100 years of Scottish football meaningless as the rating of a non league trophy for a league that would not exist anymore. Also Aberdeen would do nothing in a British league we could go 200 years without winning a national cup.

I think there is no ‘Scotland only’ solution to the problems of Scottish football, we need to work together with other leagues, to play big teams from other countries and to market the Scottish league to new territories, but keep the bread and butter of league football but just have slightly less of it,

Some will say there is no point in playing Irish and Welsh sides, but I totally disagree, we have a firm connection with the Celtic nations and this would increase our audiences in the Celtic nations. I have contacted Welsh and Irish clubs and they would love a Celtic Cup. The attendances for Scottish V Irish games are big. And Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and the Isle of Man are beautiful countries that away fans would enjoy visiting. The fans would get something different to see and Scotland could expand its TV market to other countries that know about Scotland.

Some will say travel is too tough, But that is a weak argument. I have traveled to Wales, Scotland and Ireland and it is not that far. Plus if Bala Town can travel to Latvia for a Europa league games then surely Inverness can travel to Cornwall which is on the same island for goodness sake. Look at the distances traveled by Australian nation sports sides and people say we can't even travel to Cork. Why are we so weak we cannot even travel about in our small island region, while Australians can travel from Perth to Sydney.

I would love my team Aberdeen to get to play English League One sides every year and have a realistic chance of playing in a cup final every year.

Some will say that 30 games is not enough league games, but that is rubbish, in Portugal they have a 30 game league season. In the first years of the Scottish league they played as few as 22 league games a season, but no one would argue that those league titles are meaningless.

I would be willing for any cross border cup maybe Scottish Premier, English League one, Isle of Man, Cornwall, Ireland and Wales together or a cup with Belgian, Dutch and Danish teams. Just anything to change the boredom of only playing Scottish sides. How is Scottish football going to expand its audience if it is just Scottish V Scottish matches all the time?

We need a change to the system now.

Some people will say that some Welsh league side v Dundee is not going to bring in the crowds. But that is not what this is about if home games are included as part of the season ticket then fans will watch the games as much as they watch present Scottish league games. What this is about is giving 1) something different to the fans, 2) allowing Scottish clubs to win a cross border trophy and 3) helping the other Celtic countries, and that would be a generous thing from Scottish football and 4) There is more potential in the other Celtic nations for growth in football than there is in Scotland which is at saturation level. 5) Expand the brand of Scottish football outward of Scotland.

My view is of course it would be a gamble to have a Celtic Cup it might only bring in crowds of a few 100 for the home games for the Welsh teams, but there is potential for the Irish, and Welsh to get more interested in Scottish football. That could increase the TV revenue for the Scottish league and increase the chances of big clubs developing in Wales and Ireland that would be fun to play. The Irish sides are sleeping giants and the Isle of Man could be a Celtic Monaco, Imagine the fun for travelling fans to travel to other beautiful Celtic nations. Imagine the fun of a Scottish club winning a cross border trophy, for the first time since Aberdeen did in 1983.

Some will say that travelling to the other Celtic nations would be boring but that is rubbish. The fans in Norway, Finland, Australia, Sweden, and Russia have far bigger travelling issues. How weak are we when we cannot even travel in our own little islands. It is not too expensive to travel around the British and Irish Isles, look how many English fans are going to Brazil. If fans can got to Brazil surely it is not too much to ask for fans to travel to the Isle of Man.

 

Amupfurit! Right after we do 10iar