BRAND NEW START?

The Scottish Professional Football League has revealed the names of its
league competitions.
The new body was set up following the merger of the Scottish Premier
League and the Scottish Football League.
The new top-flight will be called the Scottish Premiership, with the old
First Division renamed the Scottish Championship.
Divisions Two and Three will now be known as Scottish League One and
Scottish League Two.
"A mountain of work has been done over the summer to get to this point
and I believe there is much more that can be done," said SPFL chief
executive Neil Doncaster.
"The new league set-up reflects very much the recommendations Henry
McLeish made in his report for the future of Scottish football.
"To have clarity on the names of each division
and to have a logo that demonstrates the
passion, the excitement and the drama of
Scottish football, I'm thrilled."
Pressed on the branding's similarity with the
English Premier League, Doncaster said:
"People are certainly familiar with what it
represents and when the names changed in
England we saw the Championship being
elevated in terms of stature within the game.
"And our sincere hope is that will also be the
case here. So many of the changes we've
created in terms of redistribution - around
£1.5m being re-distributed away from the top
division into the second tier; to have play-offs
to keep the division alive within the Scottish
Championship right the way to the end and so
much of the benefit will be about the
Championship clubs and ensuring full-time
professional football is viable at that level."
Asked about the search for a new sponsor for the league, Doncaster said:
"We've only been in existence for three weeks and have the clarity and
certainty as to the structure that people would be investing in. We've now
got the branding and the names that people can now start associating with
the different tiers of football in this country; let's see where we get to.
"With the benefit of four years of clarity and certainty with broadcasters,
with Sky Sports and BT, that puts us in a very good place for
conversations with partners and sponsors moving forward.
"Today gives us the chance to think about all the positivity that should be
ahead and a real, exciting season, I hope at every level of the game. We
should see a stronger, more vibrant championship and more vibrant bottom
of the table in the Premiership with play-offs now introduced.