Scottish Professional Football League Considers First-Round Rule Change

The Scottish Professional Football League is "considering changing the rule that forces a club promoted to the Premiership to play in the opening round of the League Cup," according to the BBC. Hearts have been drawn against Arbroath while relegated St. Mirren has a bye. SPFL CEO Neil Doncaster said, "That is something we inherited from the Scottish Football League. But there are plans to look at that and bring it more into line with the other competitions." Doncaster said that he also "remains in discussion with several" potential sponsors for the competition. And he revealed that the SPFL's member clubs have "yet to propose a rule change to the ticket arrangements" for the end-of-season playoffs. Both Hibernian and Motherwell "slashed the allocation given to Rangers last season after the Ibrox club rejected their plea for extra tickets." The current rules state home teams should welcome a "reasonable number of visiting supporters" but do not outline firm numbers (BBC, 7/6).