Following on from the article where I broke down Celtic’s coefficient I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the Scottish coefficient. This is important to us for two reasons.
Firstly it will directly affect our coefficient because we get 20% of the SPL coefficient added to ours. So the stronger the SPL is and the more points it has the higher the number of points we will get. Secondly it dictates what round we enter a competition.
Last season the SPL was ranked the 15th best league in Europe with 25.141 points which allowed Scotland two entries into the Champions League, with us starting in the third qualifying round and needing to beat two teams to reach the group stage.
This year the SPL dropped to 18th in the UEFA rankings with 21.141 points and that means we are Scotland’s sole representatives in the Champions League and we only enter the competition in the second qualifying round. Things are going to get worse.
The league coefficient is calculated like this. Every team that represents the SPL earns points. Those points are added together to get a total. The total is then divided by the number of teams that played in Europe from the SPL. Example, the SPL had 5 teams in Europe last year. This is how they did.
2012-13 Season
Celtic 16.860
Motherwell 2.360
Hearts 2.360
Dundee Utd 1.860
St Johnstone 1.360
Total 24.80
That total is then divided by the 5 representatives and means the SPL only earned 4.96 points for last season.
Now, here is where it gets worse. This season’s European Rankings, where we lie 18th, was calculated from the 07-08 season through 11-12 and does not include last year’s points. Now we know what points were earned last season, we already know what the rankings will be for next year. You would think that with us reaching the last 16 of the Champions League would be beneficial to the SPL but it’s not. The SPL will be ranked 24th with only 15.191 points accumulated from 08-09 through 12-13.
What does this mean for us? It means that unless another Scottish team improves dramatically and starts qualifying for Europa League group stages on a regular basis, Celtic are stuck in the Second Qualifying round for at least the next 5 years. We might be able to improve the league rankings by ourselves but would need to make the last 16 of the Champions League every year for this to be plausible.
There are pros and cons to us entering at the Second Qualifying round. We would be virtually guaranteed a easy tie against a team from the lower ranked leagues in Europe, ie Irish, Welsh, Maltese, Icelandic etc. There would be no pressure on us to perform and it would be a nice comfortable way to start the season.
The cons would be an early start to the season and an extra two competitive games that could take its toll later in the season. Also say goodbye to our lucrative summer tours, unless we can talk the likes of Real Madrid into starting their season early.
We missed out on the Guinness International Champions Cup series in America this year that would have made of a good deal of money. Of course, if we make it to the Champions’ League group stages again, we will do alright financially.
We seriously need these other clubs to step up…even if one of them can qualify for the group stages of the Europa League every season and obtain a win or two that would help massively. I just don’t see it happening though…
I can understand Jim Goodwin’s complaint…he’s a footballer who is itching to get the season started and get out there playing…but at the end of the day, this option to opt out of their second fixture is available to all Premier League teams, and if St. Mirren were capable of interesting a major sponsored tournament to take part, they’d be there in a shot to take the bumper payday.
The Introduction of More Legislation Is Futile as this country Is run By People whose sole Aim Is to protect and Ensure the Existence Of Rangers ,However they May Behave. What we Need Is Men Who Will Speak Out and Highlight the Nepotism which Is Polluted within the Rotten SFA .Sadly Our Own People Who We Look Too For Support are sadly Lacking In Our Defence.
What’s with the capitals yogi? No other team in Scotland can even hope to compete! Its not very good but unfortunately that’s where we are! So we will just need to pump everybody that stands in our way to the Champions League promised land.
Following on from the article where I broke down Celtic’s coefficient I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the Scottish coefficient. This is important to us for two reasons. 
I wonder if Jim Goodwin would like to comment on Celtic’s single handed efforts to keep Scottish football alive.
We seriously need these other clubs to step up…even if one of them can qualify for the group stages of the Europa League every season and obtain a win or two that would help massively. I just don’t see it happening though…
I can understand Jim Goodwin’s complaint…he’s a footballer who is itching to get the season started and get out there playing…but at the end of the day, this option to opt out of their second fixture is available to all Premier League teams, and if St. Mirren were capable of interesting a major sponsored tournament to take part, they’d be there in a shot to take the bumper payday.
The Introduction of More Legislation Is Futile as this country Is run By People whose sole Aim Is to protect and Ensure the Existence Of Rangers ,However they May Behave. What we Need Is Men Who Will Speak Out and Highlight the Nepotism which Is Polluted within the Rotten SFA .Sadly Our Own People Who We Look Too For Support are sadly Lacking In Our Defence.
What’s with the capitals yogi? No other team in Scotland can even hope to compete! Its not very good but unfortunately that’s where we are! So we will just need to pump everybody that stands in our way to the Champions League promised land.
Hail Hail
Sorry Gav,Dont Know What You Mean By The Capitals.
Aberdeen will hopefully qualify next season. St Johnstone, ICT etc have no interest in Europe