Tuesday, August 28, 2012

SFA President wants to restructure Scottish football-swears it has nothing to do with Rangers




Via ESPNFC-Scottish Football Association president Campbell Ogilvie insists moves to reform the structure of the leagues are not designed to accelerate Rangers' progress through the divisions.

The SFA have written to the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League inviting the two bodies to join a reconstruction working party that would be led by an independent chairman.

The attempts follow a summer of furious debate over what division the Rangers should play in, with clubs voting against plans to put them in either the top or second tier.

Rangers chairman Malcolm Murray has since hinted that the club would not need three years to reach the SPL and reports have claimed a new three-league structure with a 16-team top flight is the preferred choice.

But Ogilvie is adamant that the discussions are not a means of returning the financial power of Rangers fans to the top level more quickly.

"This is a much wider debate, it's not about any one club. It's about getting the structure right in the Scottish professional game," he said.

Some SFL clubs accused the SFA and SPL of "bullying" amid warnings over the financial consequences of Rangers being relaunched in the Irn-Bru Third Division, predictions which have so far proved significantly overpessimistic.

"But what is key to this is that the SFA, SPL and SFL work together, and I know they all share the same aim of wanting to take the game forward," Ogilvie, a former director of Rangers, said.

"I haven't been involved in the debates with my previous involvement with Rangers but now I can and I want to work with clubs to take things forward."

Many previous attempts at serious change have fallen victim to self-interest and disagreement.

"I think so much of the debate in the past was about the number of teams in the league," Ogilvie said. "For me it's much more fundamental. We have got to get a structure in place that's attractive to supporters."

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