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American looking for an SPFL team


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7 hours ago, AmericanFan said:

Random questions: Do other fans cheer for the teams in European competitions to do well so the league's co-efficient rating improves (will everyone outside of Hamilton be rooting for Motherwell to do well in Europa League qualifying)?

In that case yes, but some of the finest nights of European football in recent years for me were Rangers getting pumped out of the Europa League by Progrès Niederkorn of Luxembourg and Celtic losing away to the Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar in the Champions League.

Edited by welshbairn
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7 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

In that case yes, but some of the finest nights of European football in recent years for me were Rangers getting pumped out of the Europa League by Progrès Niederkorn of Luxembourg and Celtic losing away to Lincoln Reds of Gibraltar in the Champions League.

Lincoln Red Imps, done forget the Imps.

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12 hours ago, Arabdownunder said:

He'll probably appoint you as the next manager. 

Fun fact. William Taft was the US president last time Dundee won the Scottish Cup

 

12 hours ago, johnnydun said:

He might just end up supporting us when he discovers your teams nickname.

 

6 hours ago, hk blues said:

Funnier fact - Bill Clinton was the US President the first time you won the Scottish Cup! 

 

5 hours ago, Arabdownunder said:

Keeping it relatable for our American friend. The USA only had 46 states last time Dundee won the Scottish cup. 

I'm getting the impression Dundee F.C. and Dundee United don't like each other, haha.

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3 hours ago, welshbairn said:

In that case yes, but some of the finest nights of European football in recent years for me were Rangers getting pumped out of the Europa League by Progrès Niederkorn of Luxembourg and Celtic losing away to the Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar in the Champions League.

haha. That Celtic loss actually got some attention over here as apparently the Red Imps are a semi-pro team and some British sports station interviewed one of their players whose main job was a police officer.

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1 hour ago, AmericanFan said:

haha. That Celtic loss actually got some attention over here as apparently the Red Imps are a semi-pro team and some British sports station interviewed one of their players whose main job was a police officer.

More than half of the 42 clubs in the Scottish Professional Football League are semi-pro as well. Hearts will be playing two of them next season in the Championship - Arbroath, and the mighty Alloa Athletic of Clackmannanshire in the Forth Valley.

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Rumour has it that 29th President Warren G. Harding was so shocked by the news of Morton's Scottish Cup triumph against original recipe Rangers that his wife never got to tell him who scored their goal.

Before anyone starts on me, bear in mind you'll be looking pretty foolish when 60th President Barron Trump sends his regards after we win our first major trophy in 2080.

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The cup winners would probably get a letter of congratulation back from the president if they dropped him a line celebrating their accomplishment, and maybe enclosing a wee pennant. You could always kid on that it was completely unsolicited.

Sounds pointless, but I bet Dunfermline's letter from Kennedy would be taking pride of place at East End Park these days.

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10 hours ago, BigFatTabbyDave said:

More than half of the 42 clubs in the Scottish Professional Football League are semi-pro as well. Hearts will be playing two of them next season in the Championship - Arbroath, and the mighty Alloa Athletic of Clackmannanshire in the Forth Valley.

Appreciate the insight. That's pretty impressive a couple of semi-pro teams are in the second division. Alloa Athletic is your squad, correct?

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5 hours ago, AmericanFan said:

How important is the Scottish Cup in regards to league play? Do clubs place more importance on Cup matches vs. regular matches?

Order of importance -

League > League Cup > Challenge Cup > Forfarshire Cup > Scottish Cup 

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4 hours ago, AmericanFan said:

Appreciate the insight. That's pretty impressive a couple of semi-pro teams are in the second division. Alloa Athletic is your squad, correct?

Yes indeed. We've done well in recent years. There are usually one or two semi-pro (or part-time, as they're generally called here) clubs in the second tier, and it's quite tough for them to stay at this level. Dumbarton managed it for six consecutive seasons recently, and even had a year where they had an outside chance of promotion to the Premiership, the money from which would've enabled them to turn fully professional, at least temporarily.

Hamilton are an example of a club who were on their knees financially in the recent past and had to drop down to part-time status, but gradually worked their way back to becoming fully professional, and have been a permanent fixture in the Premiership for about a decade. That's the dream for most of our clubs, but it takes a long time and a lot of work.

5 hours ago, AmericanFan said:

How important is the Scottish Cup in regards to league play? Do clubs place more importance on Cup matches vs. regular matches?

It's the most important trophy that Premiership (and a few Championship) clubs who aren't Celtic have a chance of winning. Clubs take it seriously for that reason, and the smaller teams do also as it brings in big crowds, so a decent run of wins in the cup can bring in enough money to fund stadium improvements, additional youth development projects, and that kind of thing. Plus, the cup is one of the few occasions where smaller clubs will have the opportunity to take on the big names and maybe embarrass them, so you can understand why that would be popular. It's also still considered prestigious to have won it - there are fans who still insist their diddy club is important because they managed a single Scottish Cup win back at the dawn of the 20th century. It's not unheard of for a team to rest important players for a league game if there's a Scottish Cup tie in a few days, especially in the latter stages.

The League Cup isn't as big a deal. The top clubs will rest some of their best players until the semi-final or final, as league matches are considered more important. It doesn't attract crowds in the same way, and there have been moves in recent seasons to alter the format to make it more appealing to fans. Cup games generally aren't included in a supporter's season ticket and, while most people will pay the extra money to see a Scottish Cup tie, a lot of people won't bother with the League Cup unless the club has reached the latter stages.

There's also the Challenge Cup, which is a tournament invented for a single season about thirty years ago, but it was popular enough that it continued through to the present day. It's essentially the Scottish Cup, but without the teams from the top division, so it's a tournament that all the other clubs have a feasible chance of winning. It was a nice idea, but unfortunately it's unlikely to be around much longer. Crowds are risible even in comparison to unimportant league games, and nobody takes it seriously until their club has reached the semi-finals, at least. The SPFL have attempted to breathe life back into it in recent years by adding Premiership youth teams, and random semi-pro teams from England, Wales, and Ireland that are generally even smaller than the Scottish clubs, but if anything that's made matters worse, leading to double-digit crowds at some games and a general feeling that the tournament has been devalued even further. Best put out of its misery as soon as possible.

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