New League Structure Will Boost Scottish Football says SPFL CEO

The new league structure in Scottish football will be a major boost to the future of the game in Scotland according to the CEO of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL).

The merge between the Scottish Premier League (SPL) and the Scottish Football League (SFL) was completed at the end of June and Neil Doncaster was appointed as the CEO shortly after.

There have been concerns that there will be too much focus on the top tier, but Doncaster has insisted the merge is for the good of Scottish football.

Doncaster told Sky Sports News: “It’s very important you have a strong tier beneath the premiership.

“There is a lot of money being redistributed towards the championship this season. In England there was a real elevation of a second tier with the rebranding and that’s exactly what we’re hoping for.

“The premiership will be strong, but will all the money coming in it’s important we continue to focus on developing young players. We now have a strong second tier with the rebranded championship, play-offs to increase drama at both ends of the table and we hope there will be improvements on the field.

“The success on the pitch is a longer term endeavour but our hope is that with clubs continuing to invest in young good Scottish players and with the coverage we are enjoying, Scottish football will carry on providing drama and showing the passion we are renowned for all round the world.”

Doncaster is still looking for a sponsor for the SPFL but he remains confident this issue will be resolved and he confirmed that a number of different companies were in talks with the organisation.

“We’ve only been in existence as a merged organisation for three weeks so we have a new look and a new feel,” he said.

“The market hates uncertainty but we have been talking to a number of different companies and now we’ve got that certainty we will be talking to them again.”