Jump to content

Is the SPFL the best wee league in European Football?


Restonbabe

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, Pans Jambo said:

Think I can remember a TV advert about that back in the day. Think it was in a bar and a supporter was pished but ran out of money for more beer. So he sold his match ticket to buy more bevvy but the barman said the bar was shut. The message was something like “dont let drink ruin tje match” or something along those lines. 

That was an ‘anti drink’ advert of the time. 😄

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

That was an ‘anti drink’ advert of the time. 😄

It was but was it not at the same time as the pubs closing through the day?

 

Maybe not, was a long time ago. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Pans Jambo said:

It was but was it not at the same time as the pubs closing through the day?

 

Maybe not, was a long time ago. 

Can’t remember when it was exactly, but I think the unlucky guy was called Dave. 🥸

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Can’t remember when it was exactly, but I think the unlucky guy was called Dave. 🥸

:lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rather than aiming to “split them” why don’t we instead aim to win the league? Never usually a huge gap between them one just has a few better results than the other. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, davemclaren said:

Can’t remember when it was exactly, but I think the unlucky guy was called Dave. 🥸

If my memory serves me right, it was in a pub before a Scotland v England game. Around 76 ?
Sold his ticket, which were like hen's teeth in the 70's, for a fiver to buy more bev !

Bar was then closed so must have been afternoon closing.

” When drink is becoming the most important thing in your life...think again ! “

Or something !


 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fozzyonthefence
10 hours ago, Pans Jambo said:

It was but was it not at the same time as the pubs closing through the day?

 

Maybe not, was a long time ago. 


Not sure about Scotland but I moved to England for 5 years in the early 1980s and the pubs were definitely closed in the afternoon from 2 or 2:30 I think, only for a few hours though as I’m sure we were able to go out after work.  I also remember them closing on a Sunday afternoon although I think you could have alcohol with a meal.  And at the same time Asda, etc weren’t allowed to open on a Sunday in England but did so and just took the fines because the public demand was there for Sunday opening. 

Edited by Fozzyonthefence
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Boab said:

If my memory serves me right, it was in a pub before a Scotland v England game. Around 76 ?
Sold his ticket, which were like hen's teeth in the 70's, for a fiver to buy more bev !

Bar was then closed so must have been afternoon closing.

” When drink is becoming the most important thing in your life...think again ! “

Or something !


 

All day opening become law in Scotland in 1980 I believe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Fozzyonthefence said:


Not sure about Scotland but I moved to England for 5 years in the early 1980s and the pubs were definitely closed in the afternoon from 2 or 2:30 I think, only for a few hours though as I’m sure we were able to go out after work.  I also remember them closing on a Sunday afternoon although I think you could have alcohol with a meal.  And at the same time Asda, etc weren’t allowed to open on a Sunday in England but did so and just took the fines because the public demand was there for Sunday opening. 

Definitely 80's in Scotland. Probably later than most people think. 

Our Sunday sessions used to cease at 2.30 when pub shut and re-commence in the nearest hotel !

Easily early to mid 80's !

I think...hic !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, AlimOzturk said:

Rather than aiming to “split them” why don’t we instead aim to win the league? Never usually a huge gap between them one just has a few better results than the other. 

Indeed. Just finished reading Robbo's book and he says something similar about the 1998 cup win. In the league games leading up to the final, we were pants for around 5 games or so. We were beat by Hibs 2-1 (& they got relegated that season) plus we had a couple of defeats when we should have won and a coupe of draws. His point being that if Hearts had better consistency over the last 5 or 6 games, we could have won the league as we only finished 7 points behind Celtic & 5 behind Rangers that year.

Edited by Pans Jambo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fozzyonthefence
37 minutes ago, Pans Jambo said:

Indeed. Just finished reading Robbo's book and he says something similar about the 1998 cup win. In the league games leading up to the final, we were pants for around 5 games or so. We were beat by Hibs 2-1 (& they got relegated that season) plus we had a couple of defeats when we should have won and a coupe of draws. His point being that if Hearts had better consistency over the last 5 or 6 games, we could have won the league as we only finished 7 points behind Celtic & 5 behind Rangers that year.


Iirc we drew 5 of our last 8 games.  One was what you would call a good draw (0-0 at Celtic Park) but I’m pretty sure that the other 4 were games we were ahead in against teams lower in the league (I think one was against Motherwell) so that’s 8 points thrown away from winning positions not to mention losing to relegated Hibs during that 8 games, and as you say only finished 7 points behind champions Celtic. 

Edited by Fozzyonthefence
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depends what you mean by best, theres huge structural & organisational issues that need to be addressed but for sheer entertainment (sometimes tongue in cheek) I can't think of anything better. Personally I love it because of the number of genuine derbies & rivalries (not made up plastic pish like down south), unrivaled patter (anyone who's seen the state of the copy/paste "banter" on EPL football twitter will agree), stadiums with history rather than soulless modern "bowl" type grounds, genuine supporters who follow their teams & because it still feels real & not overly sanitised. I also really don't think the quality of young players we bring through gets nearly enough attention from outside Scotland, & the games are usually pretty entertaining to watch because of how frantic the pace is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure what they mean by "best".    From a spectator point of view, I'd say its a mixed bag.    Most Premiership clubs are getting better at finding talented footballers from outwith Scotland, even on loan from big English clubs - the downside of that is there's fewer opportunities for local academy youngsters. at these clubs, so most have to find game time at lower level clubs.   Its a decent standard of entertainment for fans though 

 

The elephant in the room of course is the Bigot Brothers - they are the reason why the media pay so much attention (and money) to the SPFL, and can attract big name players, yet they are also the  reason why no other Premiership club is ever likely to win or even come 2nd in the Premiership.   Competitiveness for everyone else revolves around the race for 3rd, or to avoid relegation.

 

Proper competition to win a league only exists in the Championship, L1 & L2

 

tbf, Scotland probably isn't unique in these aspects.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HeartsandonlyHearts

Having a TV contract that stipulates 4 games between 2 teams must happen makes our game a bogey right off the bat. We have a league split that should make it impossible to guarantee such a thing prior to our league starting. Statistically it will probably never happen but that doesn’t mean it can’t. Other than my love for everything Hearts I hate Scottish football.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't why Scottish football doesn't sell games to BBC Scotland, STV and chap the door of Amazon. Let sky take their games and punt the rest. Stream them on iPlayer, stc hub and Amazon at 3oclock on Saturday and Sunday. I think it's time to play summer fitbaw, anaw. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, John Findlay said:

All day opening become law in Scotland in 1980 I believe.

It actually became law in 1976. If I remember correctly, the first pub to open all day was in Stiriing, the second was the old Highwayman pub in the Bus Station. Was in there on day 2  at 16:00 after my shift finished. It also changed closing time from 22:00 to 23:00. Sunday opening for pubs quickly followed. Surprisingly, Strathclyde were amongst the last local authorities to grant licences.

Edited by andythejambo
More info
Link to comment
Share on other sites

59 minutes ago, andythejambo said:

It actually became law in 1976. If I remember correctly, the first pub to open all day was in Stiriing, the second was the old Highwayman pub in the Bus Station. Was in there on day 2  at 16:00 after my shift finished. It also changed closing time from 22:00 to 23:00. Sunday opening for pubs quickly followed. Surprisingly, Strathclyde were amongst the last local authorities to grant licences.

Yip, October 76 iirc. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's absolutely undersold. I don't watch enough leagues in Europe to know how it compares but mid-table teams in the Premiership are as good as an average MLS team, including some that have 40k fans in the stands.

 

Somehow the suits understand that the OF rivalry generates value but fail to sell the other rivalries in the Scottish game. The Edinburgh and Dundee derbies always have a roiling atmosphere that makes good TV.

 

And don't do playoffs—the importance of the league table is one of the things that makes every game matter. Too many American professional leagues have ho-hum regular seasons because you only really need to be good enough to make the playoffs and then kick on from there.

 

16 or even teams, twice each around, full stop. Yes that might mean a part time club like Arbroath gets promotion every now and again. The world will not end, and it might lead to more full time football in the country

 

Further re-arrange the League Cup with more regions to engineer a likely extra OF games and Edinburgh derbies. Or just re-launch the Glasgow and Edinburgh Cups and host the finals over Hogmanay at Hampden and Murrayfield.

 

And yes, I'm still on this—if Saudi money fails to rescue Newcastle this season, extend an offer to the entirety of NE England and Cumbria to join the Scottish set up, re-negotiate the TV deal, and sell it as the true ancestral home of professional football.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 08/01/2022 at 13:02, Restonbabe said:

Ron and his fellow yank owners via the way of a deloitte survey believes so. 

According to this bbc article. We are being undersold 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58699735

 

Not a shock that sky value 4 OF games a season at 30 million then the rest is scraped together to get a package. 

 

IMO BT led the way with coverage. 

 

Here is where i am at with my 2 bit thinking of the direction of Scottish football and the power struggle within. 

 

Far far too many diddy clubs (Brechin & Cowdenbeath) have far too much of a say in the overall governance of the SFA. 

 

42 member clubs i dont think is too many for an organisation to be able to successfully manage a co existence. 

 

There are compelling and interesting arguments up for debate in that article that needs to be addressed and debated on.

The main issue for me is the non existence of a commercial arm of the league in promoting the package to media outlets for distrubution. 

 

Highlights, podcasts, weekly shows. In depth analysis of each member club and the history of the league and heritage. (for every club) 

 

Second main issue is match day experience. Its almost 40 ****ing years since you were allowed a pint at half time up here because of the violence at games. 

The game has moved on exponentially since. 

Yet we are still shackled to the notion fans cannot behave for a few hours on a Saturday. 

 

Give you an example. Hamilton away, nearest pub is miles away for an away fan. Equates to having to use a supporters bus, public transport or drive to the game just in time for kick off and leave immediately after the game. 

 

Where as they have a massive car park across from the ground where a fan zone could be erected and loads of social interaction between fans to create a buzz around actually going to the game. 

 

Could turn onto one of the best away day games just for experience rather than turning up and going away again. 

Same at Dingwall, Inverness, Dundee and Aberdeen. 

 

I really believe Scottish football is right up there with the top 6 leagues for storylines, fans, banter and experience. 

 

It just takes the right person to make it happen and unite the league to commercially drive revenue for all up. 

 

Will take a monumental shift in mindsets however. 

Especially after covid

Take your point regarding having a pint at the game. I remember making exactly the same points that you have raised with an SNP MSP. She told me football fans can't behave while Rugby Union types are absolutely fine. Then after I challenged her she admitted that she had never been to a Scottish football match in her life. So the chances of the current lot in charge of the country allowing football fans to have a pint at the game are next to zero. 

As for improving the game in Scotland we need a bigger top league. 14 would work with clubs playing one another twice before splitting into a top 8 and bottom 6 who again play one another twice. This would be much fairer than the current set up and maximise the chances of big city derbies which would be attractive for tv.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jambo in Japan

Since Celtic signed their Japanese players, the SPFL seem to have sold rights to a selection of games for broadcast in Japan (all featuring either one of the OF) to DAZN, a UK based streaming service which has the rights to the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Dutch League, all their domestic cups plus the German and Spanish cups over here. It once had Champions League and Europa League as well although doesn't seem to anymore. They must have sold it for pennies because a subscription is only about 10 pounds a month and you get all that live and on demand, plus domestic football, plus domestic baseball which is huge over here, and the F1.

 

The company seems to be growing pretty fast internationally. I think streaming services are the future and will overtake conventional TV channels at some point, but the question is when. If you're not having to pay for channel space and consequently pitch sports against each other for time slots, then there's no limit to the number of sports and leagues you could flood your site with. I wonder if DAZN has become rich enough in the UK to try and prize the SPFL away from Sky. Why don't Amazon have a go? It could start an avalanche. Support it with good highlights shows/podcast type programmes to be streamed through the week on demand and we've already got a broadcast product 10x what Sky are offering.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 10/01/2022 at 15:32, ri Alban said:

I don't why Scottish football doesn't sell games to BBC Scotland, STV and chap the door of Amazon. Let sky take their games and punt the rest. Stream them on iPlayer, stc hub and Amazon at 3oclock on Saturday and Sunday. I think it's time to play summer fitbaw, anaw. 

Hopefully the points you raise will be taken up by the people looking at how to improve the Scottish game. Another thing that has to change is the crazy 11-1 voting structure which inhibits any sort of positive change ever taking and the league adapting to a changing world. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...