Small or big ideas that could improve Scottish football?

From the mundane to the almost impossible.

By all means moving Celtic to Ireland would be a nice idea but try to think outside of that.

Ban clubs from playing in the top flight without a grass pitch - much like they used to require a minimum number of seats in stadiums or whatever it was.

Mandatory children go free ticketing for all clubs to local schools when there's going to be thousands of empty seats.

Link football clubs to universities and encourage players to complete some tertiary education. I'm pretty sure that most of the Germany team that won the World Cup in 2014 had some form of university/college education as will most American athletes at the top of their games in their respective sports.

Any other ideas big or small that could better the game here?
I haven’t read the thread yet so apologies if these ideas have already been posted. I’m a big fan of the German league in terms of fan ownership, cheap tickets, beer sold in the stadiums and safe standing areas. I think these things would increase attendances, improve the atmosphere and bring more money into the game. Grass pitches and incentives for developing local talent would be good too.
 
Been an advocate of summer football for years. First 2 games i went to as a kid all i can remember about them is being Baltic! Plus it could help with the tv deal - schedule 2 or 3 of the OF games during the summer break down south - and help our clubs in the early stages in europe because theyre in their stride.

Summer football is an admission that we will never be a European force again. Hope it never happens.
 
To improve Scottish football regardless of club affinity ?

50% of every clubs tickets income of the previous year go into a pot and each club gets back an equal share of the pot (including any club tv revenue) to qualify each club spends an agreed percentage of turnover on youth development.
10% of every transfer sale from a Scottish club goes into a put and gets shared 12 ways

No plastic pitches
Won’t be popular on here but I’ve always been in favour of something similar.

Important to help the smaller clubs grow.

I’m not convinced us and them fighting for the title until the end of time is healthy for our game.
 
Quoting/replying twice but missed this on the first go.

I'm pretty sure Iceland decided that you can try and copy the better systems and fail at it miserably. I'm also fairly certain that when I was younger, they told us that the training things we were doing mirrored the Dutch way of doing it. The problem there was that by the time we were in our teenage years, the best way of doing things was the Spanish way and towards the end of them it was the German way of doing it. Maybe there's more merit in setting up your own system based on your own strengths.

That said, Soccernomics went off on a much more detailed tangent about how networking and replicating the things that others do to succeed is the most important thing you can do.
I agree, that is what used to happen every time England were bad at or didn't qualify for the WC, do what the French, German etc do. Personally, I would start young and only let kids play Futsol until they are ten to teach then to keep the ball down and improve their technical skills. I have no idea if it would work and it would obviously be a long term thing, but I just don't see any quick fix.
 
A fucking lot of things
- Two 18 team leagues, regional pyramid below that, 2 automatic promotion/relegation places, 3rd in 2nd division plays off against 3rd bottom in 1st division to see who comes up/stays in 1st division
- Multiball
- Full time refs and VAR
- No more plastic pitches
- Independent TV/streaming deal, which shows every match live OR
- TV deal which shows all derby games of all sizes in the top league, and all games between any 2 of Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs
- Squad rules enforcing certain amount of domestically-trained Under23s in matchday squad
- Rip up grassroots football and start again, use continental methods

came in to post this . Well said .
 
Summer football is a terrible idea.

What would we do with ourself in the winter?

Plus it wouldn't improve attendances. Plenty other things to occupy folk in summer.

And we would have international tournaments in the middle of our season every year, so any internationalist would be lost for 6 weeks to two months.

Imagine losing Morelos, Barisic, Helander, Davis, Aribo etc right in the middle of the season. That's if we could even get international calibre players that is.

And we would get hee haw viewers either outwith our support, so TV deal wouldnt get us much more money. Who's going to want to watch Rangers v st Mirren when Brazil v Argentina or France v Spain is on TV?
 
A fucking lot of things
- Two 18 team leagues, regional pyramid below that, 2 automatic promotion/relegation places, 3rd in 2nd division plays off against 3rd bottom in 1st division to see who comes up/stays in 1st division
- Multiball
- Full time refs and VAR
- No more plastic pitches
- Independent TV/streaming deal, which shows every match live OR
- TV deal which shows all derby games of all sizes in the top league, and all games between any 2 of Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs
- Squad rules enforcing certain amount of domestically-trained Under23s in matchday squad
- Rip up grassroots football and start again, use continental methods
This , plus get rid of the dinosaurs in the SFA and get folk in who actually know how to run and promote a business and who knows football
 
Bigger league with possibly 2 automatic relegation spots and one playoff, the lobby for an extra European slot that 4th to 7th would play for at the end of the season
In theory taking away the bigger league= meaning less games argument
 
If that happens a 90min game would take over 2 hours to complete. Ibrox would start emptying at the start of the 2nd half.

id make the game 30mins a half, stopping the clock when the ball goes out of play. When the clock hits zero play doesnt stop till the ball has went out.
 
Focus the camera on the fullest stand at the stadiums from a TV point of view but getting rid of plastic pitches and having a mandatory pitch size would improve the quality to an extent
 
Stop the game being so physical by getting the refs to apply the laws of the game the way they’re meant to be.

Shouldn’t be making allowances for a poor standard of player.
 
Give summer football a go. Might be able to attract a slightly better level of TV funding as we'd be competing against fewer other leagues. Better weather in general. Better pitches. Less chance of games being called off, which can really hit teams hard in the lower leagues. We'd be fully into our stride when European qualifiers come around. International team never qualifies for any major finals, so that wouldn't be an issue. Years where there's euros or WC's we would play by ear to adjust.
Yep Summer football for me ,it wont make us better but playing in cold freezing conditions with high winds does not help our game....Small clubs even getting 2/300 onto their gate every other week can help them very much
 
Four things to make a dramatic difference:

1. Children's age groups, should be 6 month catchments not one year (ideally 4 month but impossible logistically), at 8, 9, 10 a year is more than 10pc of life, so a child born in January has 10-14pc more development time than one born in December. This is from my own experience but that c.unt Gladwell made a fortune by putting this point in a book Outliers. The ages can merge at U-16.

2. Absolutely no 11 a side for kids until say 14 - I remember when by-kicks couldnt clear the 18 yard box, total waste of time and disheartening being on the end of an 23-0 thrashing. 5 a-side or 7 a-side and some games with that heavier ball that doesnt leave the deck. This would allow rolling subs, having 10 years old turn up to be sub for 70 of 80 minutes is also moronic and disheartening and a waste of everyone's time.

3. Winning not always by scoring more, winning by number of passes or time ball retained for (at least for some comps). Blood and thunder for under 9s is moronic, winning pointless cups (the East Renfrewshire under 11 league) means nothing, unless you are a professional and getting paid there is only one questions that matters: is what you're doing making you better?

4. All coaches must have some form of training - some good people who give up their time are still, nonetheless, teaching kids the wrong things. Sadly, better to learn nothing than the wrong thing.
 
Ditch the SFA which is not fit for purpose. The SPFL can then negotiate with the FA and become the northern wing of their pyramid system at the sixth tier. All clubs would then through promotion and relegation be able to compete at a level suitable to them. The extra travel for promoted teams would be affordable due to the better marketing down there even at their 3rd 4th and 5th tiers.
 
The refereeing needs a drastic overhaul.

How can you blood 17, 18 year olds into the Rangers first team when the first foul is always free?

A foul in the first minute is a foul in minute 50 etc but our guys get rougher treatment.

I get it’s a hard league but if you really want skill and technically gifted players to shine the refs have to officiate properly.
 
Time clock.
Ten seconds to take a goal kick, corner or throw in.
A wee bit longer for a free kick.
Use it or lose it.
 
IN theory good idea but too many in all support couldnt control themselves, would be chaos and for all clubs the song book would deteriorate, massively.
That’s where the pricing comes in.
£10 a beer!
Maybe it’d be easier to charge against your ticket.
Maximum of three or four drinks per game.
 
And adopt the rugby system of time keeping to avoid time wasting. The clock stops for injuries or when the ref needs to speak to players or when the game stops for things like penalties or free kicks when a wall needs organised, substitutions. Even corners potentially
 
Maximum 2 pints/drinks per game and could a rubber stamp on back of hand be used to show amount of drinks purchased?
 
There should be a bottom limit on amount of fans attending matches based on a percentage of overall stadium. If not filling it then free tickets should be handed out to local schools until they start hitting targets.

Grass pitches for all teams.

Multi ball.
 
IN theory good idea but too many in all support couldnt control themselves, would be chaos and for all clubs the song book would deteriorate, massively.
Have you seen the state of some people at Ibrox on match day? Access to alcohol doesn’t appear to be a problem at the moment. I very much doubt we’d be selling MD or Buckfast so it won’t change too much.

Selling alcohol like they do in England would be good for our sensible supporters, as well as the club.
 
Unless the player is lying on the goal line I see know need to stop play to treat"injured"players.Too often this is a tactic used to waste time and disrupt play.The game can carry on while he is having the magic sponge applied,they do it in rugby so I don't see why it wouldn't work.
 
Need to find a way to ‘encourage’ teams to stop just parking the bus.

The vast majority of our league games are genuinely tough to watch because of the diddy teams lack of ambition and it kills any atmosphere.

Maybe lose a point if you get beat without scoring.

Bonus point for scoring over 3 goals (like rugby) might also make for more attacking football.
 
A fucking lot of things
- Two 18 team leagues, regional pyramid below that, 2 automatic promotion/relegation places, 3rd in 2nd division plays off against 3rd bottom in 1st division to see who comes up/stays in 1st division
- Multiball
- Full time refs and VAR
- No more plastic pitches
- Independent TV/streaming deal, which shows every match live OR
- TV deal which shows all derby games of all sizes in the top league, and all games between any 2 of Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs
- Squad rules enforcing certain amount of domestically-trained Under23s in matchday squad
- Rip up grassroots football and start again, use continental methods

I agree with everything you have said, two 18 team leagues is a must, the current format
has long past its sell by date. Full time Refs has to happen, if their jobs are on the line for incompetent refereeing then it may improve their performances, much as I would like VAR in some format I don't think Scottish football can afford to fund it.
The changes could easily happen if the other clubs instead of looking after their own self interests worked together for the good of the game, but we all know the likes of hibs, hearts, aberdeen etc etc will not vote to lose 2 home games against Rangers and the scum.
 
id make the game 30mins a half, stopping the clock when the ball goes out of play. When the clock hits zero play doesnt stop till the ball has went out.
Im sure uefa have looked at that a the average in game play is around 58 mins
 
Won’t be popular on here but I’ve always been in favour of something similar.

Important to help the smaller clubs grow.

I’m not convinced us and them fighting for the title until the end of time is healthy for our game.
Up until the 1980’s club shared gate receipts 50/50 after expenses (similar to what they still do in Cup ties). Since this change only two teams have won the league.
 
Off the pitch....let the fans have a beer in the ground like they do down south ( no chance of that happening )

But where the smokers now smoke at 1/2 time, outside the ground, could beer tents not be placed there. i bet there was many a throat could do with lubrication last Thursday
 
Up until the 1980’s club shared gate receipts 50/50 after expenses (similar to what they still do in Cup ties). Since this change only two teams have won the league.

Agree with that one. Even if it was a nominal sum say 5 or 10 pounds per spectator, it would help level playing field. It would also encourage certain clubs to improve facilities to be able to charge more or generate refreshment sales
 
Stop the clock when balls not in play

players rolling about to kill time to be off the park for the same length of time as spent holding their head will rolling about the ground.

Players found to be cheating banned from next two games but also next time they play the same club they cheated..

Cup final or semi. ticket based on average home gate.

remove yellow cards for taking top off and make it red for time wasting when taking half an hour to leave the pitch during substitutions.

club should be allowed to challenge referees when not applying the rules or double standards

ban Scottish refs from top flight games.

summer football. shutdown at start of new year
 
We have one of the least competitive leagues in the world with us and them winning over 100 titles between us. Its beyond a joke and the ONLY way to fix it is to share the limited resources more evenly. Everything else is just tinkering.
 
I don't know if I'm right but I think that in Germany, when the lower league teams are in the early rounds of the cup, they're automatically drawn at home to the bigger ones to get the extra income and everything that comes with it in those games. It seems like a good idea that's easy to apply.

Wouldn't they get less money as cup gates are split?
 
To improve Scottish football regardless of club affinity ?

50% of every clubs tickets income of the previous year go into a pot and each club gets back an equal share of the pot (including any club tv revenue) to qualify each club spends an agreed percentage of turnover on youth development.
10% of every transfer sale from a Scottish club goes into a put and gets shared 12 ways

No plastic pitches
50% of every clubs tickets income of the previous year go into a pot and each club gets back an equal share of the pot.

your having a laugh, you think we should fund those that tried to destroy us. better still you think we should strengthen them so have a shot at winning something, maybe if their own supporters turned up every game and not just when they play us they might get a shot at a cup but i hope the all suffer financial lose
 
Penalty shoot outs at the start of games where that’s a possibility
This means teams know what will happen after 120 if still tied
 
Do away with so called prize money. It always goes to the richest clubs anyway. Spread the money evenly, with the provision that clubs reduce prices, at least for some games.
 
Are those looking for a 16/18 team league happy to swap 2 OF games on their ticket for 1 OF and 1 game v Morton, QOS etc ?

Needs to change, as an other pointed out, we're playing teams far too often. But if we need to play the tims 4 times a season for a decent tv deal, then bring back the Glasgow cup and play it over two legs.
 
Back
Top