Top Clubs Voice Concerns Over New League Format | |
03 March 2013 Two top shinty clubs have voiced their concerns over the new league format which is due to come in at the start of the 2014 shinty season. The new structure introduces a second national league but also reduces shinty’s top division from ten clubs to eight clubs. Speaking on Radio Scotland’s SPORTNATION programme on Saturday 2 March 2013, shinty historian and commentator Dr Hugh Dan MacLennan told John Beattie, "The logic behind the league structure is the classic dilemma between the administration of any sport and the clubs which make up that sport. Shinty is run now by a Board of Directors, although the clubs have a big say in how these Directors are appointed, but the dilemma, like any other sport, is that the administration takes the view looking at the whole sport but the clubs have separate views on how the game is run and I believe Newtonmore are articulating a lot of concerns held by the players themselves.” MacLennan added, “One problem that we have is that this season is starting today and the players need to know today what they are playing for.” Newtonmore have officially lodged their objections and their President and former first team manager Norman MacArthur said, “Our main concern is that this decision has been taken by the Board of Directors after consultation which is fine as it is their right to do that. But I don’t think I have spoken to anyone yet who is in favour with the change that they have come up with. From our point of view, shinty’s Premier League has been the sport’s most successful competition over the last five years. It has been a very competitive league and the standard is getting better. Fixture reversals have eradicated the fixture backlog problems and we as a club feel that we need to maintain the ten club top league and that the season is short enough as it is. I think Fort William’s last game last season was on 25 August 2012 so by the time they play again this season, that’s six months since their last competitive game so it is just not acceptable. This is an amateur sport and to keep players interested and fit, we need to be playing every Saturday.” James Perlich from Kyles Athletic supported MacArthur’s view. He said, “We don’t agree with the new structure and agree with a lot of the points that Newtonmore make. It is important to keep players interested and to keep the momentum going throughout the year. My biggest issue is the ten teams being reduced to eight in the Premier League. I’m a big believer in that if it’s not broken then you don’t need to fix it and in the last five years, the Premier League has gone from strength to strength and is attracting more sponsors, more TV coverage and more media and I think that the change is taking a step back the way.” Perlich was also critical of plans to introduce a second national division. He added, “The restructure goes beyond the Premier League and whilst I do believe that something does need to be done to make it not such a big gap for South teams joining the Premier League, that can be done in other ways. I don’t understand how these proposals will help South shinty and they undermine and are counter-productive to the progress that the ten team Premier League has made. Click on the following link to hear the discussion in full and it starts approximately 12 minutes, 40 second into the programme SPORTNATION |