With the season more-or-less at an end, it’s time that clubs will be thinking towards next season – and more specifically how they will spend their prize money on bolstering their squads to have a better campaign next time around.
With the merger of the SPL (Premier League) and SFL (Football League) to form the SPFL (Professional Football League), there was a shift in the distribution of prize money throughout the leagues which was largely welcomed. Rather than having a massive gulf between the top 12, who benefitted from the spoils of TV contracts, and the rest – the new structure bridges the gap by passing some of the profits further down the ladder.
However, while Championship clubs gained hugely from this rebalancing act, both League One and League Two teams barely received any boost – with 6 positions actually receiving LESS money than they did last campaign. Here’s an overview of the prize monies for each league and league position from last season and this season:
Overall
| League | 2012/13 | Share | 2013/14 | Share | Change |
| Premiership | £16,000,002 | 91.31% | £14,689,981 | 81.77% | -10.45% |
| Championship | £629,000 | 3.59% | £2,301,320 | 12.81% | +256.86% |
| League One | £508,002 | 2.90% | £588,535 | 3.28% | +13.00% |
| League Two | £386,001 | 2.20% | £385,351 | 2.14% | -2.63% |
| TOTAL | £17,523,005 | £17,965,187 | +2.52% |
Premiership
| Pos. | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Change |
| 1 | £2,720,001 | £2,405,514 | -12% |
| 2 | £2,400,000 | £1,717,454 | -28% |
| 3 | £1,520,001 | £1,460,555 | -4% |
| 4 | £1,360,000 | £1,288,629 | -5% |
| 5 | £1,280,000 | £1,202,757 | -6% |
| 6 | £1,200,000 | £1,116,884 | -7% |
| 7 | £1,120,000 | £1,056,701 | -6% |
| 8 | £1,040,000 | £1,005,142 | -3% |
| 9 | £960,000 | £987,895 | +3% |
| 10 | £880,000 | £902,023 | +3% |
| 11 | £800,000 | £816,150 | +2% |
| 12 | £720,000 | £730,277 | +1% |
| TOTAL | £16,000,002 | £14,689,981 | -8% |
Championship
| Pos. | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Change |
| 1 | £68,000 | £386,248 | +468% |
| 2 | £67,000 | £343,132 | +412% |
| 3 | £66,000 | £300,016 | +355% |
| 4 | £65,000 | £256,900 | +295% |
| 5 | £64,000 | £240,731 | +276% |
| 6 | £62,000 | £188,633 | +204% |
| 7 | £61,000 | £172,464 | +183% |
| 8 | £60,000 | £154,499 | +157% |
| 9 | £59,000 | £138,331 | +134% |
| 10 | £57,000 | £120,366 | +111% |
| TOTAL | £629,000 | £2,301,320 | +266% |
League One
| Pos. | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Change |
| 1 | £56,000 | £102,401 | +83% |
| 2 | £55,000 | £86,232 | +57% |
| 3 | £54,000 | £56,769 | +5% |
| 4 | £53,001 | £52,099 | -2% |
| 5 | £51,000 | £51,200 | +0% |
| 6 | £50,000 | £50,302 | +1% |
| 7 | £49,000 | £49,404 | +1% |
| 8 | £48,000 | £48,506 | +1% |
| 9 | £47,000 | £46,709 | -1% |
| 10 | £45,001 | £44,913 | 0% |
| TOTAL | £508,002 | £588,535 | +16% |
League Two
| Pos. | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Change |
| 1 | £44,000 | £43,116 | -2% |
| 2 | £43,000 | £42,218 | -2% |
| 3 | £42,001 | £41,320 | -2% |
| 4 | £40,000 | £40,421 | +1% |
| 5 | £39,000 | £39,523 | +1% |
| 6 | £38,000 | £38,625 | +2% |
| 7 | £37,000 | £37,727 | +2% |
| 8 | £36,000 | £35,930 | 0% |
| 9 | £34,000 | £34,134 | 0% |
| 10 | £33,000 | £32,337 | -2% |
| TOTAL | £386,001 | £385,351 | 0% |
It’s great that Championship teams earn more money, and I think it’s vital to ensure that the top of our game is more competitive, but I can’t help but feel that the teams lower down the pyramid are getting a raw deal. The problem of inequality isn’t really being solved, but just shifted down a league or so.
This sense of unfairness is only heightened when you look at the prize money received by the 1st and 2nd finishers in League One which, as was widely predicted, were Rangers and Dunfermline – two big clubs who have undergone financial troubles of late and could compete at the top level once again with a little help. These positions earn a lot more money for clubs this season than they have before, but the rest of the league saw very little in the way of extra cash. There’s a touch of nepotism about it that I don’t like. In a 42-team league, the SPFL should be looking to ensure that all teams are getting the best deal whilst being fair to other clubs.
So, I figured out a fairer way of distributing the cash whilst keeping the intention of what they were going for. I adjusted the total percentage of the prize pool that each league received so that they worked out as round numbers and gave the lower leagues a little more. Each Premiership club would then receive the same share of the Premiership prize pool as they do at the moment. I averaged out the share of the prize money for positions in the Championship, League One and League Two so that no team received an unnatural financial advantage:
| Pos. | Prem | C’Ship | League 1 | League 2 | Avg of Last 3 |
| 1 | 16.375% | 16.784% | 17.399% | 11.189% | 15.124% |
| 2 | 11.691% | 14.910% | 14.652% | 10.956% | 13.506% |
| 3 | 9.943% | 13.037% | 9.646% | 10.723% | 11.135% |
| 4 | 8.772% | 11.163% | 8.852% | 10.489% | 10.168% |
| 5 | 8.188% | 10.461% | 8.700% | 10.256% | 9.805% |
| 6 | 7.603% | 8.197% | 8.547% | 10.023% | 8.922% |
| 7 | 7.193% | 7.494% | 8.394% | 9.790% | 8.560% |
| 8 | 6.842% | 6.713% | 8.242% | 9.324% | 8.093% |
| 9 | 6.725% | 6.011% | 7.936% | 8.858% | 7.602% |
| 10 | 6.140% | 5.230% | 7.631% | 8.392% | 7.084% |
| 11 | 5.556% | ||||
| 12 | 4.971% |
With these percentages, and assuming the prize pool stays exactly the same as it did this season, this is how I would envisage a fairer split of the cash in our game (with current prize money on the left and proposed prize money on the right):
Premiership
| Pos. | Curr. Prize | Curr. Share | Prop. Prize | Prop. Share | Change |
| 1 | £2,405,514 | 13.390% | £2,353,468 | 13.1% | -2.16% |
| 2 | £1,717,454 | 9.560% | £1,680,295 | 9.4% | -2.16% |
| 3 | £1,460,555 | 8.130% | £1,428,955 | 8.0% | -2.16% |
| 4 | £1,288,629 | 7.173% | £1,260,748 | 7.0% | -2.16% |
| 5 | £1,202,757 | 6.695% | £1,176,734 | 6.6% | -2.16% |
| 6 | £1,116,884 | 6.217% | £1,092,719 | 6.1% | -2.16% |
| 7 | £1,056,701 | 5.882% | £1,033,838 | 5.8% | -2.16% |
| 8 | £1,005,142 | 5.595% | £983,395 | 5.5% | -2.16% |
| 9 | £987,895 | 5.499% | £966,521 | 5.4% | -2.16% |
| 10 | £902,023 | 5.021% | £882,507 | 4.9% | -2.16% |
| 11 | £816,150 | 4.543% | £798,492 | 4.4% | -2.16% |
| 12 | £730,277 | 4.065% | £714,477 | 4.0% | -2.16% |
| TOTAL | £14,689,981 | 81.769% | £14,372,150 | 80.0% | -2.16% |
Championship
| Pos. | Curr. Prize | Curr. Share | Prop. Prize | Prop. Share | Change |
| 1 | £386,248 | 2.150% | £326,045 | 1.81% | -15.59% |
| 2 | £343,132 | 1.910% | £291,165 | 1.62% | -15.14% |
| 3 | £300,016 | 1.670% | £240,052 | 1.34% | -19.99% |
| 4 | £256,900 | 1.430% | £219,210 | 1.22% | -14.67% |
| 5 | £240,731 | 1.340% | £211,389 | 1.18% | -12.19% |
| 6 | £188,633 | 1.050% | £192,350 | 1.07% | +1.97% |
| 7 | £172,464 | 0.960% | £184,530 | 1.03% | +7.00% |
| 8 | £154,499 | 0.860% | £174,473 | 0.97% | +12.93% |
| 9 | £138,331 | 0.770% | £163,881 | 0.91% | +18.47% |
| 10 | £120,366 | 0.670% | £152,727 | 0.85% | +26.89% |
| TOTAL | £2,301,320 | 12.810% | £2,155,822 | 12.00% | -6.32% |
League One
| Pos. | Curr. Prize | Curr. Share | Prop. Prize | Prop. Share | Change |
| 1 | £102,401 | 0.570% | £149,437 | 0.83% | +45.93% |
| 2 | £86,232 | 0.480% | £133,451 | 0.74% | +54.76% |
| 3 | £56,769 | 0.316% | £110,024 | 0.61% | +93.81% |
| 4 | £52,099 | 0.290% | £100,471 | 0.56% | +92.85% |
| 5 | £51,200 | 0.285% | £96,887 | 0.54% | +89.23% |
| 6 | £50,302 | 0.280% | £88,160 | 0.49% | +75.26% |
| 7 | £49,404 | 0.275% | £84,576 | 0.47% | +71.19% |
| 8 | £48,506 | 0.270% | £79,967 | 0.45% | +64.86% |
| 9 | £46,709 | 0.260% | £75,112 | 0.42% | +60.81% |
| 10 | £44,913 | 0.250% | £70,000 | 0.39% | +55.86% |
| TOTAL | £588,535 | 3.276% | £988,085 | 5.50% | +67.89% |
League Two
| Pos. | Curr. Prize | Curr. Share | Prop. Prize | Prop. Share | Change |
| 1 | £43,116 | 0.240% | £67,926 | 0.38% | +57.54% |
| 2 | £42,218 | 0.235% | £60,659 | 0.34% | +43.68% |
| 3 | £41,320 | 0.230% | £50,011 | 0.28% | +21.03% |
| 4 | £40,421 | 0.225% | £45,669 | 0.25% | +12.98% |
| 5 | £39,523 | 0.220% | £44,039 | 0.25% | +11.43% |
| 6 | £38,625 | 0.215% | £40,073 | 0.22% | +3.75% |
| 7 | £37,727 | 0.210% | £38,444 | 0.21% | +1.90% |
| 8 | £35,930 | 0.200% | £36,348 | 0.20% | +1.16% |
| 9 | £34,134 | 0.190% | £34,142 | 0.19% | +0.02% |
| 10 | £32,337 | 0.180% | £31,818 | 0.18% | -1.60% |
| TOTAL | £385,351 | 2.145% | £449,130 | 2.50% | +16.55% |
Although all Premiership and all but one Championship team would take a slight hit, the benefits for the rest of the game are huge. Taking a small percentage from the teams at the top end up making a big difference to the balance sheets of those at the bottom. This would ensure ample cash for the teams in the lower reaches to develop, whilst not depriving those at the top from the funds to keep them going either.
The SPFL have taken steps in the right direction to make Scottish football a little fairer. They only need to take a few more before they’ve actually achieved their goal.