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What if they shut down the season?


West Ender
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the lamentable “equal membership”  football authorities used the lower leagues as a bargaining chip with the SG to keep the top two divisions running ... push comes to the shove, they’ll throw the championship under the bus too if the SG feels their collar again - must keep the top division running at all costs to pay their inflated salaries 

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10 hours ago, gianlucatoni said:

the lamentable “equal membership”  football authorities used the lower leagues as a bargaining chip with the SG to keep the top two divisions running ... push comes to the shove, they’ll throw the championship under the bus too if the SG feels their collar again - must keep the top division running at all costs to pay their inflated salaries 

Not a single word I disagree with but responsibility (blame if you prefer) also lies with the clubs who voted for a status quo approach to this season. If on what looks unlikely the lower leagues were in fact to restart at the beginning of February one of the fixtures will be Elgin V Stranraer! The Scot Gov must surely believe the SPFL/SFA are taking the piss. At best they have to be asking what alterations to our structure have the SPFL instigated, rather than been forced on them, that has helped the situation.   

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Any competent governing body would at the very least discussed the suspension of games and proposed a credible exit from the suspension, (completing an 18 game league followed by playoffs was mentioned elsewhere). Completing a 27 game programme and playoffs alongside Scottish Cup games by early/mid May seems at best extremely doubtful. 

Fortunately the SPFL only need concern themselves about fulfilling a 38 game Premier league season.

On another note Lawell's apology for the Dubai jaunt appears to be purely aimed at the green hoards not the football authorities or SG.

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12 hours ago, gianlucatoni said:

the lamentable “equal membership”  football authorities used the lower leagues as a bargaining chip with the SG to keep the top two divisions running ... push comes to the shove, they’ll throw the championship under the bus too if the SG feels their collar again - must keep the top division running at all costs to pay their inflated salaries 

Thing is, now that Maxwell, Doncaster McLennan et al are hiding under their duvets for a few days till  the squall blows over, what can Deans and lower league chairmen do?  Lawwell sticks up his head to give the most qualified apology (to his club's fan - nobody else) I've ever heard, and states his club are hard done by! With his hair quiff and lack of reality, he comes across as the SPFLs version of Donald Trump.

Do the SFA / SPFL have the legal right to suspend the lower leagues for three weeks - yes.  To call the leagues? No.  Not without the support of the majority of clubs in all of the leagues.  Watch full tv money being used as a lever to get lower league clubs on board.

League reconstruction?  Two doses of both ugly sister teams is too much for me, and most people.  Player development belongs to reserve leagues.  Besides, 42 clubs won't want additional teams diluting their take.  Non starter.

Can the season be extended?  Yes it can.  Deans, and the rest must put extreme pressure on Maxwell Doncaster and the other decision makers to extend the leagues into June if necessary.  Lower leagues don't have TV games to interfere with the summer international tournament, and if Covid delays can't induce EUFA to change their minds, then they need to get sorted out too.  PPV take up is minimal compared to Sky etc, so what's to stop June football?  Player contracts were extended by clubs in play offs before now, so I don't see why that should be an insurmountable issue.

The SPFL don't have the right to call the season.  Clubs do.  With a combination of testing (use Anderson's money for what it was intended), and summer football, lets finish the season.

If the lay off goes beyond the current three weeks, clubs can surely use the follow up period to resume full training, with weekly testing.  Some lower league club managers want to chuck in the towel now.  Only clubs can decide that.  It would be better to make Maxwell and Doncaster do their utmost for ALL of the SPFL teams.

 

 

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If it went to the clubs to vote to call the season, Falkirk at the moment stand to gain. Would they change their stance from last year, of course they would. Likewise if we were good enough to be top of League One, we would change the way we voted last year. Nobody really cares about other clubs and its all self interest. Unfortunately we are again not good enough to be in that position because we dropped points against the likes of Peterhead, Clyde and Dumbarton. 

The reality is, the season should never have started in the first place. Without fans, the game is nothing and there is less money which frankly is unsustainable, especially to a full time team like ourselves. The baw is most definitely burst. How can there be sporting integrity when teams in the championship who we are competing against for players are allowed to play football when we are not? 

That being said, if the season doesnt start up again till later in the year, I wouldnt be against letting all the players and management go and building again from scratch because prior to the leagues being stopped, we were going nowhere fast.

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21 minutes ago, MonehJags said:

If it went to the clubs to vote to call the season, Falkirk at the moment stand to gain. Would they change their stance from last year, of course they would. Likewise if we were good enough to be top of League One, we would change the way we voted last year. Nobody really cares about other clubs and its all self interest. Unfortunately we are again not good enough to be in that position because we dropped points against the likes of Peterhead, Clyde and Dumbarton. 

The reality is, the season should never have started in the first place. Without fans, the game is nothing and there is less money which frankly is unsustainable, especially to a full time team like ourselves. The baw is most definitely burst. How can there be sporting integrity when teams in the championship who we are competing against for players are allowed to play football when we are not? 

That being said, if the season doesnt start up again till later in the year, I wouldnt be against letting all the players and management go and building again from scratch because prior to the leagues being stopped, we were going nowhere fast.

Not disagreeing that both the management and players have underperformed but where would we find the money to pay them all off?

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43 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

Not disagreeing that both the management and players have underperformed but where would we find the money to pay them all off?

I was suggesting more that if a club in the leagues that can play football came in and took our players but that would be be the realms of fantasy. Perhaps with the exception of Niang who has shown a glimmer of light in an endless dark tunnel. 

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4 Premier league  and 5 championship games have been arranged to be played 30th January, which was originally meant to be Scottish cup weekend. Good to see the SPFL are making sure that the 2 top leagues get their games played, while all other leagues below are left to kick their heels waiting on the go ahead to start up again. If the leagues do get the nod to start again, part time teams could be expected to play 2 or even 3 games per week for a few weeks to get their season completed. 

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21 minutes ago, Auld Jag said:

In our league teams have received £50,000 Anderson money and £150,000 SG money which i thought was so that these clubs could continue playing during this pandemic by using the money for testing and other related expenses, so why the need to halt the season. What am i missing ?

Either the clubs haven’t received the cash, or a majority have spent it on other things

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13 hours ago, Auld Jag said:

In our league teams have received £50,000 Anderson money and £150,000 SG money which i thought was so that these clubs could continue playing during this pandemic by using the money for testing and other related expenses, so why the need to halt the season. What am i missing ?

League 1 average attendance last season - 1148

Assume average spend on tickets and MARGIN on pies bovrils etc - £20 per head 

Less Vat 

multiply by 18 home games in League

That's an average total of £344k

Money received 200k

However average is pulled up greatly by Falkirk attendances (if we instead look at Dumbarton in isolation, the amount is £199k for example).  Perhaps at weekend I will do a calculation for each club 

This ignores the positive impact of the fact season ticketholders have still paid, live stream revenues, furlough, and not having the costs of games to put on, whilst ignoring the negative admitedly of lost hospitality MARGIN

Conclusion : for most of the clubs in the division,  £200k of funding should leave them in a similar position to what they would have been, with notable exceptions being Falkirk and ourselves, and to a lesser extent Airdrie. For these clubs the proportion of season ticket sales to total attendances is a key factor in how badly impacted the three clubs will be. 

So in answer to your question AJ, I agree.

 

 

 

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14 hours ago, Auld Jag said:

In our league teams have received £50,000 Anderson money and £150,000 SG money which i thought was so that these clubs could continue playing during this pandemic by using the money for testing and other related expenses, so why the need to halt the season. What am i missing ?

Celtic and SPFL's immediate requirement to get the SG off their back.

Their SFA glove puppets are throwing us and Falkirk under a bus (again) so they can say 'look, we're doing something about Covid'.

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