A 12–12–18 league structure was proposed during the 2012–13 season as part of wider talks about reconstruction of Scottish professional football.
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) voted on the proposal on 15 April 2013. Ten clubs voted for it, with St Mirren and Ross County against. Eleven votes were needed.
The Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League (SFL) merged two months later, forming the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL).
2012 voting dispute
Former first minister Henry McLeish published a review of Scottish football in 2010 which included recommendations on the organisation and governance of the professional game.
Ten SPL clubs met in March 2012 without Celtic or Rangers. One proposal was to change the majority for protected matters from 11–1 to 9–3.
Celtic opposed the proposal. Rangers were in administration, and administrators Duff & Phelps said the club would also vote against it. The April SPL meeting ended without a vote on the change.
Rangers' company voluntary arrangement failed in June. The business and assets were bought by a company controlled by Charles Green, which applied for the SPL share held by the old company.
Aberdeen, Dundee United and Heart of Midlothian announced that they would vote against the application. On 4 July it was rejected by ten votes to one, with Kilmarnock abstaining.
Rangers were admitted to the SFL and placed in the Third Division. Dundee took the vacant SPL place.
The proposal to change the voting requirement from 11–1 to 9–3 returned at an SPL meeting in October. Aberdeen joined Celtic in opposing the change. Aberdeen later said that voting reform, league structure and financial distribution had to be considered together rather than as separate issues.
Reconstruction group
Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Hearts, Kilmarnock and St Johnstone were appointed to an SPL reconstruction group in September 2012.
The SFL put forward a separate 16–10–16 model in November, which received unanimous backing from its clubs.
At the SPL meeting on 3 December, all 12 clubs agreed in principle to a model involving 24 clubs in two divisions of 12, which would later split into three groups of eight.
The proposed change from 11–1 to 9–3 voting on protected matters, which had been deferred on several occasions, was withdrawn at the same meeting.
The SPL, SFL and Scottish Football Association announced agreement in principle on the 12–12–18 plan on 8 January 2013.
12–12–18 proposal
The proposal called for a 12-club Premier League, a 12-club Championship and an 18-club National League. The two 12-club divisions would play 22 matches, with each club meeting the others once at home and once away, before splitting into three sections of eight.
The top eight Premier League clubs would form one section and play one another twice more, once at home and once away. The bottom four Premier League clubs and top four Championship clubs would form another. Those eight clubs would start on zero points and play one another twice, once at home and once away, with four places in the following season's Premier League available.
The remaining eight Championship clubs would form the third section and play against one another.
Changes to the distribution of league income were discussed with the new format. The plans also contained additional promotion and relegation play-offs and a merger of the SPL and SFL.
BBC Scotland reported in January that the existing 6,000-seat requirement for the top flight would be removed. Under-soil heating would no longer be compulsory and artificial pitches would be allowed.
A pyramid system was part of the January proposals.
Opposition
St Mirren said on 8 April that it would vote against the plan.
The club criticised the three groups of eight and questioned what supporters buying season tickets would know about their later fixtures. Its statement also objected to the voting arrangements.
Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor had reservations about the three-eights format. He supported greater payments to the second tier and additional play-offs.
Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne supported the proposal and criticised St Mirren for announcing its position before the clubs met.
15 April vote
Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Dundee United, Hearts, Hibernian, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and St Johnstone voted for the proposal at Hampden Park. St Mirren and Ross County voted against.
The proposal needed the support of 11 SPL clubs.
A change to 9–3 voting for future league reconstruction was put forward during the meeting. St Mirren and Ross County opposed it.
Milne said afterwards that the two clubs had put Scottish football "in jeopardy". He suggested the proposed format could have been reviewed after two or three years.
Aberdeen published its reconstruction statement on 17 April.
St Mirren argued that 9–3 voting should cover more than league reconstruction. It cited financial distribution, squad rules, under-21 requirements, the date on which the season began and a possible salary cap.
SPL–SFL merger
The SPL clubs approved another set of proposals on 7 May. These kept four divisions of 12, 10, 10 and 10 clubs. The SPL and SFL would be merged.
Financial redistribution and a play-off between the top two divisions were also included.
Later in May, some First Division clubs considered leaving the SFL and forming a second tier with the SPL if agreement on the merger was not reached.
On 12 June, 23 of the 29 SFL clubs entitled to vote supported the merger. Rangers, then an associate member, did not have a vote.
The Scottish Professional Football League was formed later that month.
See also
Scottish football league system Administration and liquidation of The Rangers Football Club plc
References