In some pleasing news for Celtic, the SPFL have approved a recommendation making the multi-ball system compulsory next season.
The guidance will apply to Premiership clubs and was announced by the SPFL on Monday afternoon.
Hidden away at the bottom of their statement it was revealed that clubs had voted “unanimously” to approve: “a recommendation from the competitions working group chaired by Steven Gunn of Aberdeen that Premiership clubs be required to operate a multi-ball system in league matches.”
Multi-ball is defined as “a system of replacement balls” in the SPFL rulebook. It is what we’ve seen at Celtic Park for a number of years. When one ball exits the pitch, a different one can be thrown back in to the action.
Prior to today’s ruling, it appears that top-flight clubs could choose whether to use multi-ball or a single match ball.
It’s not totally clear which clubs used what, but it is fair to say that some Premiership teams have been slowing the play down as much as possible against us over the past few seasons.
Having a multi-ball system in as a requirement is good news for Celtic. It should mean that the ball is in play for longer, which will suit our relentless playing style, even under new management.
It is also better news for the product of Scottish football as a whole, although there may be some reservations over whether clubs can still circumvent the rules.
It’s one thing having multiple balls around the pitch, but ballboys and ballgirls also need to be given the encouragement to do their jobs correctly.
It’s a blow for some sides who try to stop us using nefarious methods. But we’ll wait and see how things plays out for real.
In other news, Celtic have announced some of the finer details for the first-team’s visit to Japan
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