Supporters from Edinburgh have their say on the SPL

Published on Wednesday 12 January 2011 13:19

"It should be about what fans want - not greedy chairmen"

Jamie Phillips, Gorgie: "The ten-team suggestion is ridiculous. Scottish football needs to move forward not backward. We had a ten-team league before and it was even less popular than the 12-team league. Expansion to 14-20 teams is the only way forward. It needs to be about what fans want and not just about what suits the interests of greedy chairmen."

Lucy Cowie, Dalry: "I don't support the proposals to make it a ten-team league. The end-of-season play-offs are a bad idea, too. All that does is give a bad SPL side a second bite at the cherry. If it has to be a ten-team league, it should be two up and two down to give SFL clubs a fairer chance of getting into the league."

Christopher Stephen, Danderhall: "The ten-team proposal is about one thing - self-preservation for the clubs who are in the league just now. It's not about changing the game in Scotland for the better or trying to develop smaller clubs. We should be expanding the league and trying to encourage clubs to bring young players through the ranks."

Johnny Fairbairn, Stenhouse: "The clubs who have supported the ten-team league have proven one thing - that the don't listen to their fans. Nearly 90 per cent of SPL fans surveyed voted against the idea but, still, they try to introduce it. Sport is the only business where the paying customers are so badly treated and ignored."

Peter Ferguson, Liberton: "I think that the relegation play-offs might be a decent idea but I definitely wouldn't support the idea of an SPL 1 and SPL 2 with ten teams each. For me, that idea is a complete non-starter. We'd be better off keeping the status quo with 12 if that is the only proposal that they can come up with. It's an idea that suits the Old Firm and virtually no-one else."

Gordon MacLaren, Tollcross: "What was the point of asking the fans for their opinions if all they do is turn around and say that the proposal is not workable? If they force through a ten-team league, I will really fear the worst for Scottish football because the fans won't come back and the television companies will get bored. The promotion and relegation play-offs won't be as big an earner as they seem to think either. I can't see the television companies falling over themselves to show Hamilton v Raith Rovers! The whole thing is a joke and designed to keep the Old Firm and their apologists happy."

Jeff Macdonald, Penicuik: "Two leagues of 18 or 20, playing twice a year with three relegated each year. Division 2 should have two instant promotions and one via the play-offs with three teams relegated each year to be replaced by teams from the Juniors, Seniors and Highland League decided by play-offs. It is critical that the bottom teams in the league get relegated so any progressive, well-run non-league clubs can progress through the ranks."

Simon Evans, Eskbank: "In the 1970s and 1980s, when our leagues were larger, our teams were producing better footballers and we were far more capable of competing at European level. A ten-team league is a joke. A 16 or even an 18-team SPL, with existing teams and remainder based on fulfilling certain criteria. Introduce a play-off system for relegation as an incentive for SFL teams to get into SPL.

Simon Brady, Morningside: "A ten-team set-up would be bad news and would promote the gulf between the Old Firm and everybody else. Any club just now can beat them once - if lucky. However, playing against the strugglers would only guarantee the Old Firm a minimum nine points. Real competition is the only thing that can bring fans back with 16 teams playing twice and giving a European place to the League Cup winners. Playing regional qualifying sections of four before the Cup starts proper would give fans lots of new teams to see."

David Muir, Leith: "The league is boring enough with 12 teams so reducing it to ten would not work. An 18/20-team league would be the ideal solution as this would add more teams who have good facilities to be involved in the top flight."