SFL protest at pay to play deal

Scottish Football League clubs have voiced anger after learning that the Scottish Football Association will be paying SPL clubs ten times more than those in the First Division for fielding young players in competitive games, writes Ewing Grahame.

The SFA announced in April that it would reward clubs who field two or more under-21 players.

SPL clubs who use two under-21 players will be paid £750 by the SFA and they will receive £1,000 if they select three or more. However, SFL teams will be handed just £75 and £100 respectively.

The SFA, which has ring-fenced £1.5m to fund the scheme until 2014, insists that it is right to pay more to the bigger clubs as an incentive because they are least likely to experiment with teenage talent.

SFL chief executive David Longmuir and some First Division officials have protested to the SFA.

“This just hasn’t been thought through,” said Livingston chairman Gordon McDougall.

The ruling body, unsurprisingly, adopts a different stance. “Our entire performance strategy is based around the elite,” said Darryl Broadfoot, head of communications at the SFA. “But if you look at the average SFL squad then, because of their financial predicament, it will be more or less full of players who are under 21 in any case. This is an elite performance programme and the SFA has a huge commitment to it, which is why the incentive for SPL clubs is greater.”

On Tuesday evening, Falkirk used eight teenagers during their League Cup victory over Dundee United, whose sole under-21 player was Stuart Armstrong.

The scheme is designed to provide a steady stream of players good enough to play for the national team.