Change of League Set Up Next Season

The post was going to be called "League Reconstruction" but the proposals that have been passed through are not really anything to do with re-structuring the Leagues.

Today SFL clubs (29 of them) voted on the changes that had been drawn up as an alternative to the other proposal that fell at the first hurdle when St Mirren and Ross County voted against the changes.

The changes that will be in place for next season are:

• A revised financial distribution, pumping more money down to the first division.
• Play off's between 11th placed in the SPL and 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the First Division.
• Two league bodies will become one the SPFL (Scottish Professional Football League).
• A pyramid system will be introduced allowing new teams access to the lowest tier.

The pyramid system will be introduced at the beginning of the 2014/15 season. This will be a play-off between the Highland League winners and the Lowland League Winners. The winner of the play-off will then play the team that finished bottom of the third division. This will determine who stays up, goes down or comes up.

A meeting with all 42 senior clubs will now need to be held to formalise the reform package before the beginning of the new season.