For years a clear divide has existed in the Scottish football scene, the divide between full and part-time teams, recently however this gap has slowly been decreasing and the ‘switch in power’ finally came to a head last year when two part-time teams (Cowdenbeath & Dumbarton) managed to hold their place in the First Division. Whilst there had been part-timers in the division before they had always struggled and this almost always resulted in relegation back to where many believe these belong. This season has seen the part-timers now hit a new high with both Dumbarton and newly promoted Alloa Athletic occupying playoffs spots for substantial periods of time. Surely it wouldn’t be possible for one of these sides to get one step further...would it?
The rise of the part-timer certainly shows no sign of stopping and if it continues at it’s current rate then the SPL may be an achievable goal in years to come. The three part time sides in this seasons first division certainly have had a few years to remember. In 2009 both Dumbarton and Cowdenbeath were in the old 3rd division whilst Alloa found themselves in the basement division in 2012. Don’t be fooled though, these clubs have not been promoted due to generous ‘Sugar Daddy’ owners they have done it through sensible signings, inspired managerial choices and clever business deals. Cowdenbeath, Dumbarton, Alloa and Airdrie (who were relegated last season) have all helped to develop some future SPL (and possibly international stars) during this journey. Stevie May grabbed the headlines by scoring 4 goals in one match against Elgin City for Alloa, Ross Forbes was an integral part of Dumbarton's promotion winning team of 2008/09, Motherwell starlet Craig Moore-who spectacularly burst into the Motherwell first team this season thanks to a stunning goal against Hearts- played a major role in keeping Cowdenbeath in the Championship last year and who can forget Airdrie who brought Tony Watt through their youth system and gave him his first team chance before his move to Celtic. Whilst these players have all moved on it is unlikely that they would be where they are today without the help of these part-time teams. The major benefit of being part-time for a loan player however is that it allows him to train with his parent club as well as his loan club. This works well for both player and the parent clubs manager who can carefully monitor the players progress. There is of course one other major benefit to being part-time and that is a reason which may lead to the emergence of a few semi-professional teams plying their trade in Scotland's’ top flight.
The controversial area of football finance has been explored to a ridiculous extent recently. Terms like ‘EBT’ and the differences between ‘liquidation’ and ’administration’ are now well known throughout the country. Clubs however don’t seem to be learning and this is putting more and more into unsustainable financial situations. The Rangers debacle shows no signs of stopping any time soon whilst things still don’t look to rosy for another of Scotland's biggest clubs- Hearts. Attendances are dropping (as anyone who’s ever watched KIlmarnock on Sportscene will know) and sponsors are no longer interested in the newly formed SPFL. Despite this Rangers are still paying players many thousands of pounds a week to play in Scotland's third tier! It also appears that many players who are dropping down from full time teams are now rejecting the advances of lower league ‘full timers’ to increase their earnings by playing part-time and getting a decent job, something which will also help them after their boots have been hung up. The most clear example of this is where Dumbarton midfield star rejected a contract offer from full time Morton (which now looks like a very good move) to stay with the Sons’ whilst working as a personal trainer. It was a move that -with hindsight-not only made footballing sense but financial sense as well. Anyone who glances at some of the players now playing part-time football would be amazed at some of the household names (Mitch Megginson, James Fowler, Kane Hemmings, Colin Nish, Andy Kirk, Derek Riordan and Hugh Murray to name a few) who all have a decent number of ‘top flight’ appearances to their name.
Whilst it remains unlikely that we will see a part-time team in the SPL (or SPFL or Premiership/League/First division or whatever it’s official name is) the footballing bubble wrap is slowly begin to pop one full-time bubble at a time; And the only teams to really benefit appear to be the ‘part-timers’. Ten years ago during the days of De Boer, Larsson, Lennon and Klos it would seem ludicrous that a part-time team could be the 16th best in the whole of the country. Today it is a very realistic aim for these clubs so who knows how much will change in the next ten years. One thing is for sure however it won’t be long until the first part-time team make it into the SPFL Premiership (to give it’s official name which I had to look up) and when that happens who knows what the future will hold for the leagues smaller full-time sides who may realise it would be in the best interests of the clubs’ future to make the change to part-time.
The rise of the part-timer certainly shows no sign of stopping and if it continues at it’s current rate then the SPL may be an achievable goal in years to come. The three part time sides in this seasons first division certainly have had a few years to remember. In 2009 both Dumbarton and Cowdenbeath were in the old 3rd division whilst Alloa found themselves in the basement division in 2012. Don’t be fooled though, these clubs have not been promoted due to generous ‘Sugar Daddy’ owners they have done it through sensible signings, inspired managerial choices and clever business deals. Cowdenbeath, Dumbarton, Alloa and Airdrie (who were relegated last season) have all helped to develop some future SPL (and possibly international stars) during this journey. Stevie May grabbed the headlines by scoring 4 goals in one match against Elgin City for Alloa, Ross Forbes was an integral part of Dumbarton's promotion winning team of 2008/09, Motherwell starlet Craig Moore-who spectacularly burst into the Motherwell first team this season thanks to a stunning goal against Hearts- played a major role in keeping Cowdenbeath in the Championship last year and who can forget Airdrie who brought Tony Watt through their youth system and gave him his first team chance before his move to Celtic. Whilst these players have all moved on it is unlikely that they would be where they are today without the help of these part-time teams. The major benefit of being part-time for a loan player however is that it allows him to train with his parent club as well as his loan club. This works well for both player and the parent clubs manager who can carefully monitor the players progress. There is of course one other major benefit to being part-time and that is a reason which may lead to the emergence of a few semi-professional teams plying their trade in Scotland's’ top flight.
The controversial area of football finance has been explored to a ridiculous extent recently. Terms like ‘EBT’ and the differences between ‘liquidation’ and ’administration’ are now well known throughout the country. Clubs however don’t seem to be learning and this is putting more and more into unsustainable financial situations. The Rangers debacle shows no signs of stopping any time soon whilst things still don’t look to rosy for another of Scotland's biggest clubs- Hearts. Attendances are dropping (as anyone who’s ever watched KIlmarnock on Sportscene will know) and sponsors are no longer interested in the newly formed SPFL. Despite this Rangers are still paying players many thousands of pounds a week to play in Scotland's third tier! It also appears that many players who are dropping down from full time teams are now rejecting the advances of lower league ‘full timers’ to increase their earnings by playing part-time and getting a decent job, something which will also help them after their boots have been hung up. The most clear example of this is where Dumbarton midfield star rejected a contract offer from full time Morton (which now looks like a very good move) to stay with the Sons’ whilst working as a personal trainer. It was a move that -with hindsight-not only made footballing sense but financial sense as well. Anyone who glances at some of the players now playing part-time football would be amazed at some of the household names (Mitch Megginson, James Fowler, Kane Hemmings, Colin Nish, Andy Kirk, Derek Riordan and Hugh Murray to name a few) who all have a decent number of ‘top flight’ appearances to their name.
Whilst it remains unlikely that we will see a part-time team in the SPL (or SPFL or Premiership/League/First division or whatever it’s official name is) the footballing bubble wrap is slowly begin to pop one full-time bubble at a time; And the only teams to really benefit appear to be the ‘part-timers’. Ten years ago during the days of De Boer, Larsson, Lennon and Klos it would seem ludicrous that a part-time team could be the 16th best in the whole of the country. Today it is a very realistic aim for these clubs so who knows how much will change in the next ten years. One thing is for sure however it won’t be long until the first part-time team make it into the SPFL Premiership (to give it’s official name which I had to look up) and when that happens who knows what the future will hold for the leagues smaller full-time sides who may realise it would be in the best interests of the clubs’ future to make the change to part-time.