Hearts, Celtic & Rangers impacted as SFA pulls plug on Conference League

Doomed to failure motion withdrawn less than 24 hours before vote at SFA AGM
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The Scottish FA has pulled the plug on plans for a new Scottish Conference League – less than 24 hours before members clubs were due to vote on the controversial proposal at its AGM.

The governing body has withdrawn a resolution to establish the new league at tier five of the pyramid, concluding that “it would like to carry out further consultation in respect of the player pathway to ensure the best development opportunities for Scottish players within the football pyramid”.

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SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell had made a last-ditch appeal over the weekend to rally support for his proposal to elevate Rangers, Celtic and Hearts B teams up the pyramid. But it came after across the country had publicly declared that they would be voting against. With the vote doomed to fail, the SFA has now decided to think again.

Bonnyrigg Rose have confirmed that they will be voting against the introduction of a new Scottish Conference leagueBonnyrigg Rose have confirmed that they will be voting against the introduction of a new Scottish Conference league
Bonnyrigg Rose have confirmed that they will be voting against the introduction of a new Scottish Conference league

The proposal to introduce the new 10-team league at tier five of the pyramid was due to be voted on my long-standing member clubs and affiliate associations at the Scottish FA AGM. But with 45 of the 92 clubs having already publicly declared their intention to reject the plan, 53 votes in favour required, and no clubs coming out in favour, it was not expected to pass.

Bonnyrigg Rose, FC Edinburgh, Civil Service Strollers, Linlithgow Rose, Preston Athletic, Tranent were the Lothians-based clubs who declared their intention to reject the proposal. Spartans said they won’t be publishing their vote in advance, while Hibs had not indicated a preference but did not want to enter a B team themselves. Ross County and St Mirren are the two Premiership clubs who announced that they would have voted against.

Clubs currently in the fifth tier and below have objected to a new league being inserted above them, many describing it as relegation for more than 200 clubs in the pyramid. Maxwell, however, had hoped the larger entry fee – £100,000 rather than the current £40,000 fee for the Lowland League – would have proved persuasive, especially to League Two clubs who fear relegation.

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Andy Smith, chair at the Scottish Football Supporters Association, said: “Fans know that Scottish football needs change and changes and are happy to help, but we need to have a plan and a programme and that starts with asking the right questions, not the usual railroading nonsense. We need some bigger thinking and football needs to realise that common good will always out trump self interest.”

Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell had made a last-ditch rally for support, but the Conference League proposal has now been withdrawnScottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell had made a last-ditch rally for support, but the Conference League proposal has now been withdrawn
Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell had made a last-ditch rally for support, but the Conference League proposal has now been withdrawn

The Conference League plan, backed by SPFL chief Neil Doncaster as well as Maxwell, was for Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and one one other B team made up of under-20 players to pay an annual entry fee and join four Lowland League and two Highland League clubs in a new national league which would sit directly beneath SPFL League 2, but above the Lowland and Highland League. The four B teams would have been ineligible for promotion or relegation initially, but the long-term intention was to enable them to move up as high as League One.

The SFA was proposing for the Conference League to come into being from season 2024-25. It would have been a separate entity to the SPFL and funded by the four Premiership clubs paying £100,000 each to be involved as B teams.

Celtic, Rangers and Hearts already pay £40,000 a year to field their B teams play as ‘guests’ in the Lowland League, an arrangement that will continue next season, but Maxwell wants them higher up the pyramid to help produce better young players for the Scotland national team and cites examples from European leagues abroad.

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He said at the weekend: “We can’t just implement things that we think are right. It’s a democracy. But we’re looking at it purely from a player development perspective. There is evidence from Croatia, France, Germany and Spain who have got B teams – I think seven of the top 10 nations in Europe have got B teams within their domestic structures.

“Croatia are often flung up as an example. How can a country with a smaller population perform so well when we can’t? What are they doing that we’re not? They’ve got B teams. I’m not saying if we implement B teams in a Conference League we’re going to qualify for every World Cup to come. But we know we have a problem and this is a potential solution to try to fix it.

“I get that everybody has a view on what the pyramid should look like. Everybody looks at everything that happens in Scottish football through their ‘how-does-it-affect-me?’ glasses. That’s the reality.

“We’re trying to do the best thing for the national team because that’s got such a big impact on the game in this country. Our national team coaches are already seeing a significant improvement in the standard of those guys who have been playing in a B team against the ones who haven’t.”

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Maxwell believes statistics show Scottish football is producing talented players at a young age but says their progress stalls as they near their twenties. He explained: “Our Under-17s were over in Hungary after qualifying again for the Euros finals and we have done that consistently at that age. At 19s, we get to the elite round but don’t get through to the finals consistently.

“At 21s, the performances have deteriorated over a period of time. We’re now a Pot D team and we’re finishing third, fourth or fifth and haven’t been anywhere close to an Under-21s finals in a while.

“So that highlights there is a problem with the pathway. People will say, ‘Aye but it’s only the clubs at the top of the pyramid who can afford B team football’. They’re right. It is only the clubs at the top who can afford it. But we need to look at the ones further down and say, ‘How do we make sure that the loan options available to them are as good as they can be? What else can we do that solves the problem for as many clubs as possible?’.”

The failed proposal

  • Creation of a 10-team Scottish Conference League consisting of four B Teams.

  • The first Season of the Scottish Conference League will be Season 2024/25.

  • Top two Highland League teams at the end of Season 2023/24 included.

  • Top four Lowland League teams at the end of Season 2023/24 included.

  • B Teams cannot be promoted or relegated from The Scottish Conference League.

  • The Scottish Conference League to be funded by a B Team participation fee: with six non-B teams receiving an estimated payment of around £40,000 each per annum.

  • Minimum five-year commitment required from B Teams.

  • Highest placed non-B Team at the end of the Season will enter a promotion/relegation Play Off with SPFL Club 42 as per current model.

  • Lowest placed non-B Team at the end of the Season will be relegated to the Highland or Lowland League, replaced by the winner of the Highland/Lowland League Champions Play Off.

  • Second-lowest placed non-B Team at the end of the Season will enter a promotion/relegation Play Off with the loser of the Highland/Lowland League Champions Play Off.

  • B Teams must include a minimum of seven Scotland eligible players in their starting XI, and their matchday squad must include no fewer than eleven Scotland eligible players.