"Sporting Merit" - The new "Sporting Integrity"

[ian1964 10,479]

celticnewco (celticnewco) wrote,

2013-01-10 11:47:00

 

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So we have said goodbye to the year 2012.

 

A year where everyone lined up to kick Rangers Football Club whilst they were at their lowest ebb after being taken to the brink of oblivion by a man who passed an SFA fit and proper persons test.

 

They all lined up for a kick whilst we were down; the SFA, the SPL, football â??fansâ? up and down the county, anonymous internet bloggers, journalistsâ?¦ You name them, they lined up to book the boot into OUR club.

 

So what did we do?

 

We accepted our punishment and went to play in SFL3. We filled stadium after stadium lining the pockets of the same chairman who voted to put us into this tin pot league. We welcomed our guests to Ibrox and have been ambassadors for fair play both on and off the pitch trying to win friends and help the game in this country as we progress through the leagues.

 

And how are we rewarded?

 

We are CHEATED!

 

The SPL/SFA/SFL proposal for a 12-12-18 set up in Scottish football is one that punishes Rangers football club and its fans. Let nobody fool you into believing otherwise.

 

As Charles Green says, what other league in the world can you win promotion and then play the same teams again the next year?

 

The answer is the Scottish Football League circa 2012â?¦ The answer isnâ??t the Scottish Football League circa 1994!

 

Yes â?? today for the first time in the public domain I will reveal the evidence that I have already passed to the powers that be at Ibrox.

 

The corrupt forces of the SPL/SFA/SFL are now pushing through a 12-12-18 proposal and are saying that the leagues will be made up of the finishing positions of clubs this season based on sporting merit.

 

There are currently 42 clubs in Scottish football split over a league format of 12, 10, 10, 10.

 

They claim that if Rangers are promoted in first place they would be elevated to second bottom of SFL3 and therefore still within the bottom 18 clubs in the country which would see them continuing to play in the bottom tier of Scottish football next season.

 

Fair enough and something I could accept if this was the norm but it isnâ??t. Rangers will in fact become the first club in Scottish football to be DENIED their right to promotion.

 

Back in 1993/94 Scottish football had a league set up of 12, 12, 14 supporting 38 clubs.

 

The following season 1994/95 Scottish football changed to a 10, 10, 10, 10 format.

 

The winners of SFL2 in 1993/94 were Stranraer. With league reconstruction they would have went in on this so-called â??sporting meritâ? position of bottom of the second tie â?? ie, position 24 in the Scottish football ladder.

 

With two leagues of 10 you would therefore assume that Stranraer would take their place in the third tier?

 

They never.

 

As winners of the third tier they were quite rightly put up a division into the second tierâ?¦ So much for â??sporting meritâ??.

 

So with â??sporting meritâ?? becoming 2013â??s â??sporting integrityâ?? what does this previous precedent mean for Rangers?

 

As a shareholder I have passed the information onto the club and it is my understanding that Charles Green will fight this all the way.

 

All the way to The Court of Arbitration of Sport in Switzerland no less should the governing bodies of Scottish football fail to see sense.

 

It is also my understanding that having previously set this precedent of allowing Stranraer promotion in 1994 Rangers would win any appeal to the CAS.

 

The end result of this will be that even if the powers at be in Scottish football (Lawwell, Petrie) push through this outlandish idea then Rangers will be playing in the second tier, rather than the bottom tier, of Scottish football next season.

 

As the old saying goes â?? you heard if here first.

 

**** If you would like to discuss this article please contact me on twitter @celticareanewco *****

 

http://celticnewco.livejournal.com/1965.html

 

[ian1964 10,479]

When the Scottish League formed the Second Division in 1893, there was no automatic promotion and relegation between the sections. Instead, the re-election process that was used to regulate entry to the League itself was expanded to movement between the two divisions. Initially the bottom three clubs had to apply for re-election, but this was reduced to two from 1899. It was possible to bypass the Second Division completely and apply for a First Division place, Queen’s Park did so successfully in 1900, while the newly formed Aberdeen were not so fortunate in 1903 losing by only three votes to the Second Division champions Airdrieonians. A Second Division club had to have a great many friends to gain promotion. Hibernian had to win the championship two years running to be promoted, while Kilmarnock were beaten by Clyde on a second ballot, despite the Glasgow side finishing in the bottom two for three years in succession and winning only one game in 1897-98. The amateur clubs Queen’s Park and Port Glasgow Athletic were both saved on several occasions before the outbreak of War in 1914. There were times when the proposal of automatic promotion was debated. Hearts proposed one up-one down at the 1907 AGM, but lost by 11 votes to 7. They proposed again in 1909, but received even fewer support. It was then agreed on in 1912, but by the time the AGM heard the proposal, bottom club St Mirren had already committed itself to a First Division wage bill, so the idea was shelved.

 

 

 

During the Great War, the Second Division was first suspended, and then scrapped altogether. Those clubs left outside the League formed regional leagues, the strongest of which was the Central League. This new body, not being affiliated with the International League Board, could poach star players without the need to pay transfer fees. Crowds flocked to see these players, and although initially the Scottish League was unconcerned, there were waverers in the Management Committee. By 1921, these men convinced the League to give the Central League what they wanted – to be part of the Scottish League (as the Second Division), and for automatic promotion and relegation to operate. The got their wish at a meeting of the two bodies on 11 May 1921, and in 1922, Alloa Athletic became the first club to be automatically promoted. One of the first victims of the new rule was Queen’s Park who had been saved a number of times by the old re-election process.

 

 

The few times that the rule wasn’t entirely enforced was when there was league reconstruction such as the divisions being expanded. When the Premier Division was created in 1975, ten clubs were promoted to Premier status and six moved up to the ‘new’ First Division. Further reconstruction in 1994 saw the creation of a fourth tier when there was a big movement between the sections. Basically Stranraer leapfrogged five clubs into the First Division, the unfortunate sides all being relegated.

 

 

 

When the Scottish Premier League was founded in 1998, the automatic rule was retained despite it being a separate league. The only difference was that all Premier grounds had to be of a certain standard. Unless a promoted club could attain the criteria set down (minimum seating of 10000 and undersoil heating), that club would be denied a place and there would be no relegation from the SPL. Many felt the 10000 seat rule to drastic, and it was later dropped to 6000, which is easier for more clubs to achieve, Since 2005, the Scottish League has reintroduce play-offs to determine som promotion places. It had previously used them between 1995 and 1997.

 

http://scottish-football-historical-archive.com/promotionrelegation.htm

[ian1964 10,479]

"85. RESTRICTION ON DISSOLUTION

It shall not be competent to resolve to wind up the League with the purpose or effect of then re-forming a National Association Football League within three years of the date of the resolution to wind up which shall exclude any club formerly in membership of the League or which shall exclude a club formerly in membership of the League from being promoted to a higher division of such League where it had a legitimate expectation of such promotion when a member of the League, unless such club shall consent in writing to such exclusion; and in the event of such a resolution being passed and such circumstances arising within the said three year period such resolution shall be null and void and treated as such ab initio."

 

SFL rule: 85

 

http://www.scottishfootballleague.com/docs/009__034__constitution__rules__SFL_Constitution__Rules__1346425915.pdf

 

[Stefanovitch 0]

"85. RESTRICTION ON DISSOLUTION

It shall not be competent to resolve to wind up the League with the purpose or effect of then re-forming a National Association Football League within three years of the date of the resolution to wind up which shall exclude any club formerly in membership of the League or which shall exclude a club formerly in membership of the League from being promoted to a higher division of such League where it had a legitimate expectation of such promotion when a member of the League, unless such club shall consent in writing to such exclusion; and in the event of such a resolution being passed and such circumstances arising within the said three year period such resolution shall be null and void and treated as such ab initio."

 

SFL rule: 85

 

http://www.scottishfootballleague.com/docs/009__034__constitution__rules__SFL_Constitution__Rules__1346425915.pdf

 

 

I seen that over on FF last night.

 

Is it applicable and are the club aware of it? One would have thought the SFL would have been aware of their own rulebook but hey, the SPL weren't.

[GovanAllan 0]

Read that with interest last night, does seem to point that the promoted team must be moved up. In all fairness the playoff place should stand as well.