Scottish Premier League

jonno

Can someone explain the setup of the SPL to me please because I never got to grips with it.

How many times do the teams play each other. AFAIK they play each other three times and then split the league up but someone tell me how it is done?

PLEASE before i crack up thinking about it

LizardKing

From here


Top six Rangers score against Motherwell who are just in the bottom six (Allsport)
03/06/2001. For the current 38 game Scottish Premier League season, a new system has been introduced which incorporates a “split” after 33 games.

The SPL consists of 12 teams and under the new system the league will split in half, into 2 groups of 6 teams after the round of matches on 04/07/01. During the group stage each team plays each other once, the top group will compete for the title and European places. So, at the end of the season the Championship trophy is awarded to the first placed team plus a spot in the 3rd round of Champions League qualifying phase. The 2nd placed team will qualify for the 2nd qualifying round of the Champions League. The 3rd placed team will qualify for a UEFA Cup place, although 4th place in the league will also secure a UEFA place if both the Scottish Cup finalists are the winners and runners-up in the SPL.

The bottom group will compete to retain SPL status, with one team being relegated to the 1st division, although again it may not be that simple.

To attain promotion to the SPL 1st division teams have to meet certain criteria concerning stadia. Therefore, in theory the winners of the 1st division could be denied from entering the SPL if they do not fulfil such criteria. This would result in no relegation from the SPL for the bottom team. However at this stage such a situation looks unlikely as 1st division leaders Livingston meet the criteria for SPL entry and have a 11 point lead over 2nd placed Falkirk and a 17 point lead over 3rd placed Ayr United, both of whom do not meet the criteria.

The system means that teams face each other 3 times before the split and play an uneven number of home and away games, plus a seeding system based on last year’s standings could see under-achieving teams playing 2 home games less than their rivals. To add to this teams could lose out on a top six place due to as little as one point or even goal difference and yet still finish the season with a higher points total than a team in the top half.

The format was finalised 2 years by the SPL and the Scottish Football league and it based on a model used by the Swiss FA which has run since 1987. The concept of a split in the league has also been tried with varying degrees of success in other countries in Europe. Austria abandoned the idea in 1993. Also in 1993 after the “Velvet Divorce” from the Czech Republic, Slovakia split their 12 team league into 2 groups of 6 to sort out promotion and relegation issues before it was shelved in 1996 in favour of a 16 strong division. In the Balkans, Croatia employed a split for 2 seasons before fell out of favour, deemed unattractive. Yugoslavia however persevered with a league of 12 who play each other 3 times, firstly home and away with the 3rd match home advantage determined by league position, before the top six teams gain home advantage in 6 of the remaining 11 fixtures.

All 12 SPL member clubs agreed on this format, but it remains to be seen how successful it will be as it has provoked confusion and delusion in equal measure from managers and fans since it’s inception. Problems relating to uncertainty over fixtures and aspirations for the clubs would hardly have helped season ticket sales and commercial departments around Scotland, but with the SPL refusing to state how long the split will be in place all concerned have no choice but to accept the situation for the foreseeable future.

Hope this helps

BKtje

seems overly complicated for ur average drunk football supporter

jonno

Thats great thanks, now I know why I was confused:)

stevoslice

that was a very long winded explanation, so i didn't read it.

The teams play each other three times, after which the top 6 teams play each other once, and the bottom 6 play each other once. that is all.

stevoslice

However at this stage such a situation looks unlikely as 1st division leaders Livingston meet the criteria for SPL entry and have a 11 point lead over 2nd placed Falkirk
and a 17 point lead over 3rd placed Ayr United, both of whom do not meet the criteria

Taken from last year as Falkirk are tops now and are sweating over wether or not they will be allowed promotion to the spl, pity that, got some great young players do falkirk.

tHE vAGGABOND

simple explanation..

With 5 games to go top 6 and bottom six split, and play each of the other top and bottom 5 clubs again (if your in the top you play the top clubs, bottom you play the bottom clubs!)

Its a farce as you find that the 7th placed team always have more points than the 6th placed team

Falkirk do have good young players, but they have no ground to speak of They will come up tho, they 0wned Div 1 all season!

uberwolf

buts its easier for the better lower tier teams to gain points as they're playing weaker opposition, whats the point of it all anyway?

tHE vAGGABOND

they explain it as a kind of playoff for the championship and for the uefa cup places, and at the bottom a playoff for the team(s) who are gonna go down..

IE: its harder to win the league, or get into the uefa cup when your games are against good teams, and at the other end its not as much of a nightmare if your run in, to avoid the drop is only against equally **** teams, and not the old firm..

I see the logic, but no one in scotland bar the SFA likes it

uberwolf

there is a certain logic to that but are the fixtures organised so that every team has played each other three times, what of the teams that have played rangers/celtic away twice-they're @ a disadvantage are they not? also its more a spectacle if teams mange the imposs and draw or, whisper it, beat the big boys, it creates the hereos, rather than the way it is @ mo