Sunday Opinion: In Search of a level Playing Field

By Curve Ball
September 30 2002

Curve Balls Weekly article discussing the old firm and there annoyance to the SPL plus his search for a level playing field in Scottish Football. Does Curve Ball finally figure out how to fix the Scottish Premier League? and if so Would the Old Firm ever agree to it?

In search of a level playing field

One of the most recent developments in Scottish football has been the preparedness of fans of clubs outwith the OF to actively encourage the departure of the OF from the Scottish game. Previously, it was almost unanimously considered that the OF were absolutely necessary elements if we were to have a strong and vibrant Scottish league. However, bit-by-bit, this view has been chipped away. The beginning of the process was when the decision was taken for clubs to keep home gate receipts for league games. This loosened the financial dependence upon the OF. The second step was when live league games began to be broadcast. The deal was negotiated collectively and was intended to equally benefit all. However, as we all know, the OF began to exert pressure to get a greater share of the deal for themselves. In addition to this, the OF loudly complained about the lack of competition in the Scottish game and attributed this as a continued reason for their failure in Europe, thus adding unjustifiable insult to financial injury to the ‘other’ clubs and their fans.

Nevertheless, the most significant reason for the change in the view of the fans towards the OF has been due to the OF’s overpowering recent domination of the Scottish game. True, the OF have always dominated. The record books show this clearly. However, rarely can they have achieved such a level of near-invincibility. Fans of other clubs have given up hope of seeing their team finishing second in the spl, never mind winning the league. A league or Scottish cup triumph is almost as far away. To all intents and purposes then, we can only aim for third place in the spl or possibly a cup final appearance.

The reason for the above is that the OF have simply outspent all the rest the rest of the clubs. They haven’t reared a new generation of Scottish talent. They haven’t come up with a new playing system. They don’t play in a particularly thrilling manner. They’ve simply re-organised themselves financially and exploited their commercial potential, not in an original way it has to be said, they copied the example of the leading English and European clubs i.e. club shops, brand name, sponsorship, etc. With extra income they were able to buy much better players. This enabled them to assure their fans of a top two finish every season. Naturally, the punters responded to this and gates soared thereby producing even more income to spend on even more players.

My view is that the above reasons for the domination of the OF is unhealthy for the Scottish game and that therefore they should be influenced with the intention of producing a level playing field. By influenced I mean that new rules should be introduced by the spl to ensure a more competitive balance in the Scottish football. In the USA the baseball authorities have recently concluded a new deal with the players association. One of the elements of the deal is that rich baseball clubs that spend above a certain amount on their total players salary will be fined a dollar for every dollar they overspend with the fine being distributed to the less well-off clubs. That means that if the New York Yankees sign a top pitcher on say $15m per year and the signing takes them $5m above the agreed total salary limit, they will be fined $5m - some of which will go directly to their divisional opponents at the end of the season. The signing will therefore cost the Yankees $20m.  

Rich and powerful as they are, the Yankees accepted the above rules without threat. They understand that the American public will not stand for an uncompetitive sport. They also understand that to enliven the public imagination the sport must be kept healthy by having keen competition throughout – top to bottom. Therefore, it is in their interests to keep the sport competitive and the outcome of each division race in the balance for as long as possible.

Compare the above with the situation here. Chic Young et al informs us that this season the spl will be thrilling………….. because Rangers will provide a real challenge to Celtic……………. lucky us.

In fairness, the estimable Chic does his best. He has to try and sell the product on offer, no matter how flat it may be. The truth is that he knows as well as us how skewered the Scottish game is. What we need is a complete re-examination of our ambitions for Scottish club football. Criteria for ensuring a more competitive balance must be agreed before any progress can be made. This is vital. It must be agreed by all that true competition is desired in the top division. Only then can effective changes be made.

What the changes should be would be a matter for either the individual, ad hoc body or committee commissioned for that purpose. However, examples are evident in many sports. US football has an arrangement whereby the club that finishes bottom of its division gets first choice of the next seasons top prospects from the college football system. In addition, the top club is given a harder league schedule the following year i.e. it might have to play a tough opponent twice instead of once. Equally, the bottom club will be given an easier schedule. Now this is not to say that any of the above would be applicable here in Scotland. The point of mentioning the above is to show that there are many different ways to achieve a more competitive balance and that the US football method is different from the US baseball method. The spl method might be different again.

One thing is sure; the fans of ‘other’ clubs are not going to maintain an interest in the spl for much longer if there is no imminent change on the horizon. How many 5-0 or 6-0 defeats at Parkhead or Ibrox can Killie or Dunfermline or Dundee or Aberdeen fans be expected to take in the interests of entertainment for OF fans? Because that’s all that it amounts to. Nothing more. There is nil competitive balance. In fact the defeats mean almost nothing because the potential for them to occur is a factor of such an uncompetitive arrangement. They are routine.

I’m going to close by suggesting a few pro-tem measures to be implemented to ensure a more competitive balance until such time as the spl truly take on the OF and get the real thing introduced:

1)    Rangers to play all future home games wearing rosary beads.

2)    Henrik Larsson to be restricted to 20 minutes per game.

3)    Dik Advocaat to be appointed chief tactician at Ibrox.

4)    Celtic to be forced to maintain pre-match huddle for 5 minutes after kick-off.

5)    Rangers to appoint Chic Charnley as fitness coach.

6)    Martin O’Neill to be gagged and bound during spl games.

7)    OF games to be broadcast in Glasgow only.

8)    All Celtic season ticket applicants must prove that they are true churchgoers.

9)    All Rangers season ticket applicants must prove that they know the words to ‘Flower of Scotland’.

10) Once a week, BBC Glasgow must introduce a football related subject without reference to the OF.