The Lopsided World of the Scottish Premier League
April 29th, 2007, 3 Comments »
After an enjoyable time wandering around Herbert Park, I’ve returned to our Dublin hotel room to watch a very eventful second half of a Scottish Premiership game between Celtic and Hearts. Andrew Driver just scored on a gorgeous free kick to put Hearts up 2-0.
I learned about the SPL when I lived in Dublin, and it’s always struck me as the most lopsided sports league in the world. The league was formed nine years ago, and features the twelve best football (that is, soccer) teams in Scotland. In each of the nine seasons (including this one), one of two Glasgow squads–Celtic or Rangers–has won. In all but one season, the runner-up has been the other Glasgow team.
Isn’t this a bit predictable? And, I’d imagine, tremendously frustrating if you’re not a supporter of Rangers or Celtic? There’s such a thing as dynasties, but this is enough to make one a figure skating fan.
There’s a similar, if less rigid, phenomenon in the English Premier League, where only four different teams have won over the past fourteen years. And, practically speaking, there’s only about a half-dozen teams that can realistically challenge to be league champions.
We address (and usually solve) this problem in North America with the salary cap system. I’m not about the prescribe such a solution for UK football–I don’t know enough to suggest whether it’s remotely viable. In fact, I don’t even know if English and Scottish fans consider the current league structure a problem.