Idea regarding promotion into Scottish Division Three

Obviously there is not official promotion to Division Three in Scotland, but recent events at Gretna have had me thinking.

Due to Gretna's financial crisis, it looks like they might not be in the league next season, and apparently Spartan's are going to move into Division 3.

So, especially if SI decided to make the lower leagues in Scotland playable (I know it's unlikely) and even if not, if a club goes into big financial trouble, then they should lose their place in the league, and move to the lowest playable Scottish league, with a team from the league below Division 3 (don't know how it's decided IRL, maybe most successful in recent times) goes up.

I don't know how easy this would be to put in the game, but it's something that could add a bit of variety to Scottish management, which can be pretty tedious when there's so little promotion/relegation.

Obviously there is not official promotion to Division Three in Scotland, but recent events at Gretna have had me thinking.

Due to Gretna's financial crisis, it looks like they might not be in the league next season, and apparently Spartan's are going to move into Division 3.

So, especially if SI decided to make the lower leagues in Scotland playable (I know it's unlikely) and even if not, if a club goes into big financial trouble, then they should lose their place in the league, and move to the lowest playable Scottish league, with a team from the league below Division 3 (don't know how it's decided IRL, maybe most successful in recent times) goes up.

I don't know how easy this would be to put in the game, but it's something that could add a bit of variety to Scottish management, which can be pretty tedious when there's so little promotion/relegation.

Its a rare case though, it probably doesnt happen enough for Si to code it? IDK.

I'd love for SI to open up promotion and relegation into the 3rd Division. Might not be realistic, but it does add variety.

Like playing in the English leagues, 10 years into the game, you could have a whole new set of teams battling it out. But with the Scottish leagues, it'll be the exact same teams.

Well they can't put it in if it doesn't exist in real life, wouldn't make sense. There is no structure below the leagues that decides who should be promoted, it is by election only.

Clearly if it was on merits of football played in Scotland, Gretna wouldn't have got in when Airdrie went bust, as they played in England at the time. Equally when Meadowbank were allowed in back in the 70's, they barely had a history then, the reasons were all very political.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by bermybhoy:

the reasons were all very political. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

'tis the problem with most elections...

im sure promotion to the scottish third division can be gained already without a team having to go bust.

If im correct if a team finishes bottom of this division three years in a row then they are relageted and replaced with a lower league team

East stirling only just survived this fate this season by 1 point.

Has this already been implented in the game?

Or are there plans to do so?

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by 18-WATP-73:

im sure promotion to the scottish third division can be gained already without a team having to go bust.

If im correct if a team finishes bottom of this division three years in a row then they are relageted and replaced with a lower league team

East stirling only just survived this fate this season by 1 point.

Has this already been implented in the game?

Or are there plans to do so? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

IIRC the rule is that IF a team such as The Shire finish bottom 3 years running, the SFA committee meets to decide whether to replace them or not - it's not automatic.

ah well that clears that up. Would still be a nice feature to have. Dont think we would see it happening too often though

From Wiki :

There is no direct relegation from the Scottish Third Division but since the 2005/06 season if a club finishes bottom for three successive seasons then they will have their full membership of the SFL suspended. The club will then play the next two seasons as a non-voting associate member after which the full members shall vote on the fate of the suspended club.

I doubt this will be coded into the game, but it could be simplified, eg. If a team finished bottom 3 years in a row they get a message (if your managing them that is) saying that their membership has been suspended. If the team then finishes bottom or maybe just in the bottom 2 or 3 teams in the two following seasons, it is presumed the voting clubs have decided to relegate them from the Football League.

I know it's a once in a blue moon occurance but still, it would be nice for people playing long-term games as it would then be more likely to take effect.

Ultimately what we need is for the SFL to just offer relegation from division 3 to the lower tiers.