SPFL proposals for league reconstruction have been branded a ‘waste of time’ after it was confirmed that no changes will be made to the structure of the Scottish Premiership.
The issue has been back on the table over recent weeks, with the SPFL’s Competitions Working Group meeting yesterday to discuss various options.
Among the proposals were expanding the current 12-team Premiership to either 14 or 16 teams, as well as reducing it to 10 teams.
For any reconstruction to be given the green light, it would require 11 of the 12 top-flight clubs to give their blessing.
It would also need 75 per cent support of all Premiership and Championship clubs combined, as well as 75 per cent support from all 42 SPFL clubs overall.
However, any notion of a new-look top flight was quashed on Tuesday night when the SPFL announced that no changes would be made.
They concluded that there was no reasonable prospect of a consensus being reached, bringing an end to the issue.
Changes could yet be made to the Championship and lower leagues, though, with a possible expansion on the cards after a ‘broad agreement’ was reached.
A brief statement from the SPFL read: ‘The SPFL’s Competitions Working Group met on 29 April to discuss the possibility of league restructuring.
‘It was agreed that there was no reasonable prospect of achieving consensus around a new format for the William Hill Premiership.
‘There was, however, broad agreement around potential changes to the William Hill Championship, League 1 and League 2.
‘These will be worked up with a view to conducting a consultation with clubs and other stakeholders.’
Two senior figures at clubs in the Scottish Premiership last night branded the process a pointless exercise.
‘The whole thing was a waste of time,’ said one source. ‘We knew right from the outset this wasn’t going anywhere.
‘I’m not sure why it was even raised again in all honesty. I can’t speak for the Championship and other leagues, but changes to the Premiership were always doomed to fail.’
It means the current 12-team format will continue in the Scottish top flight, with teams playing 38 matches, and sticking with the split for top and bottom six.
Earlier this week, SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster had suggested in an interview with Nutmeg Magazine that Scottish football fans essentially don’t know what they want.
Doncaster said: ‘One of the problems we have in this debate is that what fans say they want is not the same as what fans will pay for a ticket to go to.
‘What we know drives bigger attendances is tense, competitive, meaningful, exciting, dramatic matches where there’s something to play for.
‘You get those with smaller leagues, not bigger leagues. So, the bigger the league you have, the more meaningless matches it creates.
‘We’ve had in this country very big leagues. Not in recent memory, but if you talk to folk who do have memory of those times, they will tell you that towards the end of the season, there was absolutely nothing to play for. You know, lots of mid-table, mediocre matches.’
Scotland’s top flight has consisted of 12 teams since expanding from 10 as of the 2000-01 season.
There has been an increasing demand from fans to see the league increased in number in order to add variety and cut down on the number of times teams face each other in a season.
However, there is a concern among the SPFL that a bigger league would dilute the overall quality and reduce the number of showpiece fixtures for broadcasters.
Doncaster added: ‘Look, the reality is that there’s no such thing as a perfect format. The only truism is that people always believe that whatever you have at any moment in time, there’s something better out there.
‘What there is in reality is a series of compromises that give you the best possible format at any point in time.’