It is 17 years now since the SFL clubs considered and then rejected Gordon Smith’s plan to scrap the Championship, League 1 and League 2, introduce two 16-strong regional divisions below the Premiership and incorporate top flight B teams comprising both promising kids and experienced professionals into them.
Has the game on these shores gone from strength to strength in the intervening seasons thanks to the status quo being retained?
Have a raft of gifted youngsters made the successful transition from the youth ranks into the first teams at their clubs and then gone on to represent their country with distinction on the international stage?
Have the likes of Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Hearts, Hibernian and Rangers shone in Europe against opponents from larger and wealthier nations and progressed deep into the latter stages of continental competitions on a consistent basis?
Have much-loved and age-old institutions flourished financially amid a challenging economic climate and successfully staved off the constant threat of administration and even liquidation?
Read more:
- The bereaved fathers football team and a fight for Scotland-wide child loss support
- Why Celtic and Rangers got the same punishment - and should both be thanking the SFA
- Hamilton fans to get 'golden share' power to block move away from New Douglas Park
The fact the SFA is to hold a summit which it has branded “critically important” to the future of the Scottish game with representatives from all 42 SPFL clubs in St Andrews on Friday underlines that all is not as it should be on or off the park.
There are numerous concerns about the direction which the sport here is heading in the wake of a disappointing World Cup in the United States this summer – Scotland once again failed to reach the knockout rounds of a major tournament finals – and myriad issues which need to be urgently addressed.
Not least the dearth of homegrown talent at our leading clubs. The statistics are damning. A CIES football observatory study that was carried out last year showed that some top flight outfits gave less than one per cent of available playing time to under-21 players during the course of the previous league season.
The SFA cooperation system that was introduced last term – which allows Premiership and Championship clubs to recall Scotland-qualified players between the ages of 16 and 21 who have been sent out on loan when their services are required – has made a massive difference and will continue to do so.
But more, much more, still needs to happen in order to halt what has been a sad and steady decline in standards and bridge the ever-widening gap with the likes of Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey.
It is no surprise that those who will attend next week’s meeting, which has been convened following the appointment of new SFA chief football officer Craig Mulholland, will hear from officials of clubs which have "optimised their elite talent development model" and told about “potential opportunities” which they can pursue.
Smith, the former SFA chief executive and Rangers director of football, was unsurprised when his league reconstruction blueprint was ignored back in 2009 because he had grown used to seeing innovative ideas being rebuffed by clubs during the time he worked for the governing body.
“I got very frustrated when I was at the SFA and was trying to push through change which I thought would benefit the game in this country,” he said. “Sorry, but some people just can't deal with change.”
But that was then and this is now. The former Kilmarnock, Rangers, Brighton and Manchester City player is convinced that managers, owners, chief executives, chairmen, directors and administrators are far more open-minded today than they were in the past. He is hopeful the summit will have the desired impact.
So much so, in fact, that he has dusted off his paper, updated it and passed it on to his old associate Neil Doncaster at the SPFL who has in turn forwarded it to his former Ibrox colleague Mulholland ahead of the talks.
Read more:
- The Celtic hierarchy must share the blame for £40m LASK calamity and change strategy
- Why Scotland's clubs lag behind their English rivals at integrating refugee talent
- How ex-Celt Brian McLaughlin helped to end Scottish football's 'inferiority complex'
“There is more of an appetite for change now,” he said. “I sense a greater appreciation that the game needs to be reformed. The fact they are holding this summit shows they are looking for ways to improve our game and develop more god Scottish players.
“Yes, all sorts of suggestions have been dismissed in the past, but I do think we're getting to a stage now where we really need to go back and review them and reassess what is required for Scottish football to progress. I think many people feel that way as well.”
Will Smith’s ideas be embraced this time around? It is highly unlikely the Championship, League 1 and League 2 will be ripped up after the Friday get-together. Still, his proposal should stimulate some much-needed debate. He is convinced, as he was 17 years ago, that there is much to be gained from thinking outside the box.
Leagues in Scotland are currently regionalised – as they are in the majority of countries across Europe – from the fifth tier down. Clubs in the Highland League and Lowland League East and Lowland League West do not have to make arduous and costly journeys every other Saturday to fulfil their fixture list.
Smith would simply like to see that extended up the pyramid. “What is the point in Stranraer travelling all the way up to Elgin City, and vice versa, to play a League 2 game in front of a few hundred people?” he said. “There is a huge expense in that, for supporters as well as clubs, and it takes a massive physical toll on players.
“A lot of countries organise their leagues on a regional basis. People would maybe argue that Scotland is not as big a country as, say, Germany so there is less need for it. But there is still a lot of travel involved for part-time footballers and cost for the smaller clubs.”
Introducing Premiership B teams into the senior leagues, something which Mulholland was a huge advocate of during the time he spent working in youth development at Rangers, has been attempted on more than one occasion in the past and each time it has failed.
Plans to change the SPFL to a 12-12-12-12 structure and introduce two top flight colts teams to League 2 were shelved in 2021 when the necessary support from member clubs was not forthcoming.
A bid to create a completely new fifth tier Conference League, which would have seen Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts and Rangers compete against selected Highland League and Lowland League rivals, was swiftly abandoned two years later when it became clear it had no chance of being given the go-ahead.
Celtic currently play in Lowland League West alongside Troon, Gretna 2008 and Dalbeattie Star. But Hearts and Rangers no longer take part.
Read more:
- Inside the new Scotland manager's 'miracle' Monaco reign and the reason he got sacked
- Ian Maxwell on SFA 'problem' and why Pocoball will get Scotland fans on their feet
- We need a change: Ian Maxwell reveals SFA stance on FIFA president Gianni Infantino
However, Smith travelled the globe when he worked with the SFA and saw first hand how playing reserve teams in the lower tiers in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain helped youngsters to improve both their ability and their mentality and make the treacherous step up to the senior game.
The likes of Atletico Madrid B, Bayern Munich II, Benfica B, Jong Ajax, Juventus U-23, Monaco B and Real Madrid Castilla are not allowed to join their first teams in the top division and that is the model he favours bringing in here.
“To my mind, there would be numerous benefits from involving B teams,” he said. “It would increase interest in the lower leagues and boost crowds at clubs which are struggling to stay afloat financially. It would also mean that young players would be playing at a higher level competitively than is currently the case.
“By playing reserve players, not just kids, in the B teams you will potentially be involving some high profile players, guys who are returning from injury or suspension and are needing minutes to build up their fitness. The B teams wouldn’t be able to get promoted to the Premiership so their results and results against them wouldn’t count.
“The boys who are at top flight clubs would have to actually show up because they are taking part in games with and against mature players not rival youth teams. You tend to find that teams in the lower divisions have pretty experienced players. There is no point being in development squads and only playing against other lads their own age.
“If kids are playing alongside and against senior professionals it helps them to adapt and increases their chances of making the step up into the first team. It’s not such a big leap for them then. They can also play in the same system the first team manager uses if they remain at their parent club rather than going out on loan.
“Another positive aspect of it is that both the leagues have 16 teams in them and that will encourage managers to give kids more competitive game time than is currently the case in a 12 or a 10 team division.
“I would propose the B teams playing at their own stadiums as well. So lower league clubs are getting more home games. They would be able to increase their attendances and their income because they get several matches against Premiership reserve teams.
“It would also showcase good young players in the lower divisions to the bigger clubs. A boy playing for, say, Cove Rangers in League 1 North against Hearts B is going to get more exposure than he would playing in League 1 just now. Senior clubs would maybe say, ‘Wait a minute, he’s a good player’.”
Lower league clubs like Dumbarton, Dunfermline, Hamilton, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Greenock Morton and Livingston have all experienced existential crises since 2009. Would their current custodians be more amenable to competing against Premiership B teams now if it resulted in increased gate receipts and cut down on travel?
Read more:
- Call to increase funding for refugee football - and boost Scotland's World Cup hopes
- Brexit stopping Scottish football clubs tapping into refugee talent like Euro rivals
- Brexit stopping Scottish football clubs tapping into refugee talent like Euro rivals
Smith continued, “It was rejected before. The lower league sides felt that incorporating B teams would mean they would get all the publicity. It was a load of nonsense, but that was the excuse they came up with. But that's what you find happens most of the time in football, especially in this country.
“The first point I made to the clubs was simple. I asked, ‘What's the argument against this? Why would you not want to do this? What are the downsides?’ I wanted to see if anybody could come up with a good reason not to go forward with it. To my mind, nobody did.
“Most of the major football nations across Europe have been doing this for a long time and they have enjoyed some great results, but for some reason we don't seem to be able to deal with the concept in this country. For me it is the way forward.”
Smith was pleased when he learned the SFA had brought in Mulholland, who has spent the past three years working as head of football development and talent management at Nottingham Forest in England, as their new chief football officer last month.
He is optimistic the former Auchenhowie academy director will help to bring about the change which he was unable to and which he knows is needed more than ever.
“Craig was at Rangers when I was there,” he said. “He is a good guy who knows Scottish football inside out. He also has a real appreciation of the issues which the game has at all levels, including for lower league clubs.
“I think Scottish football would definitely be in a better place now if we had made the changes we needed to years ago. But they will be better off if they take on board what is said at this summit and act.”
