Doncaster keen on ‘colts’
● Admitting top-flight U20 teams to SPFL can help players develop, says league chief
SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster has refused to rule out Premiership “colt” clubs joining the league after hailing their participation in the Irn-bru Cup as a success.
However, he has emphasised that any proposals must suit Scottish football as a whole, not just the Old Firm.
Top-flight under-20 sides took part in the Challenge Cup for the first time this season, with Celtic’s U20s the last of the colt sides to be knocked out when they lost at the thirdround stage with a 5-1 defeat by Livingston last Saturday.
Doncaster insists feedback has been positive, albeit he concedes talks so far have been limited to gauging the reaction of Premiership sides.
It has been reported that the next step could be a place in the SPFL for colt sides, with Celtic and Rangers keen for their sides to join League 2.
After conducting the draw for the fourth round of the Irn-bru Cup yesterday, Doncaster urged clubs to keep “an open mind” regarding the future of colt teams joining the league.
“We’ve already seen interest created by the colt teams playing in the early rounds,” Doncaster said. “[Colts in league football] wouldn’t be new. If you look at Spain or Germany, both of those very successful leagues have colt teams playing in the lower reaches of those leagues.
“The general view is that this structure helps player development, having talented young players competing against seasoned professionals; it helps them. That’s certainly the feedback we’ve had from Premiership clubs so far.
“It’s not without precedent. It seems to be a fairly well established way of developing young players and ensuring that they get competitive games under their belts at an early stage. Let’s have an open mind.
“Like all change, any potential change can only and should only follow a process of discussion with the clubs. We continue to discuss the cups and the leagues with all clubs, to see what change is possible and what change clubs want.”
While no colts sides reached the last 16 of the Irn-bru Cup, the inclusion of Welsh and Northern Irish clubs this season will represent a historic upheaval.
Yesterday’s draw handed Livingston and Alloa crossborder trips to Crusaders of Northern Ireland and Bala Town of Wales respectively, while Forfar host The New Saints and Linfield travel to face Queen of the South.
While keen not to be drawn on specifics, Doncaster believes cross-border competition is destined to become more common.
“There is no question that cross-border competition throughout Europe is going to be an increasingly prevalent
Uefa presidential front-runner Aleksander Ceferin has angrily rejected suggestions from rival Michael van Praag that he is a “power-hungry politician” who cannot be trusted and instead claimed the Dutchman is “making up stories to pollute the pre-election” period.
Van Praag criticised Ceferin in three tweets that referenced a Swedish online article that claims the 48-year-old Slovenian’s candidacy is being supported by Fifa president Gianni Infantino, contrary to rules which state the boss of world football’s governing body must stay out of confederation-level politics.
The article, posted on the Josimar website and titled “The President’s Man”, also suggested Ceferin had gained support from Scandinavian football associations by promising them the European Championships in 2024 or 2028, and offering a senior Uefa role for Swedish FA president Karl-erik Nilsson.
Van Praag, the 68-year-old president of the Dutch FA, is quoted in the article saying he had heard rumours that Infantino’s new strategic director Kjetil Siem, who had previously been the secretary general of the Norwegian FA, had lobbied for Ceferin on the Fifa president’s behalf at a key meeting of Nordic FAS in Milan in May. Siem told Josimar that he was only at that meeting to tell his former colleagues that he was moving on and to bid his farewells, and Fifa has issued a statement to say he was there on Norwegian FA business as he had not started his new role yet.
But Van Praag tweeted that he was “shocked’ after reading the Josimar article.
“If it is true, then we are back to the old-school way of doing business in the football world,” he wrote.
Ceferin, who was invited to the meeting by the Nordic FAS to discuss his then-potential run for Uefa’s top job, insisted that the article “is almost completely not true”.
The Slovenian FA president, a practising lawyer, also said “it is a lie” Siem told him he had Infantino’s support at that Milan meeting, claiming Siem did not mention Infantino.
“I never promised the Nordics that they will host any Euro,” he added. “Everybody knows that that is decided by the [executive committee] and notbythepresident–theynever said that they will place a bid for the Euro.
“I never promised Karl-erik Nilsson he would become an Exco member, again it is obvious that Exco members are voted by the congress and not appointed by the president.”
The vote for a successor to Michel Platini, which also has Spain’s Angel Maria Villar on the ballot, takes place at a Uefa extraordinary congress in Athens on 14 September.