The Scottish FA has unveiled plans which could see a total restructure of the SPFL's lower leagues.

The proposals on the table from the SFA's chiefs could ultimately allow for Celtic, Rangers, and Hearts' B teams to progress further up the divisions.

A new ten-team Scottish Conference, which would sit below League Two and above the Highland and Lowland League, has been revealed.

As first reported by the Daily Mail, the blueprint for the new fifth tier would see four B teams from the Premiership join it. They would be accompanied by six clubs from the Highland and Lowland Leagues from the 2024/25 season.

Currently, the SPFL is made up of four divisions - the Premiership, Championship, and Leagues One and Two.

Underneath, the Highland and Lowland Leagues make up the fifth tier jointly, with a collection of leagues forming the sixth tier and below.

Celtic and Rangers' B teams have been competing in the Lowland League for the past two years, while Hearts joined them this term.

As things stand, none of the B teams are able to gain promotion to League Two. The purpose of their inclusion is purely to allow some of their young players the chance to play men's football.

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However, as part of new proposals put forward by SFA chief Ian Maxwell, a restructure could take place that could either see the fourth tier expanded to include B teams - or the creation of a new division altogether, the Conference.

The SFA hosted a meeting of the Pyramid Working Group at Hampden earlier this week, inviting SPFL chiefs and five clubs mainly from League Two. Three plans were put on the table and discussed.

On the Conference League, it's expected that Aberdeen would join Rangers, Celtic, and Hearts in the new setup.

Their entry fees, believed to be £100K each, would bankroll the league. 

This new league would establish itself as a separate company in the hope that it would have no financial impact on the 38 other teams in the SPFL.

As a result, the Conference would bypass the requirement for 75 percent of the SPFL clubs to vote in favour of such a move.

Ultimately, one of the toughest issues will be whether the Premiership B clubs will be allowed to gain promotion.

Two of the options would permit this, although, the likes of Celtic and Rangers B would not be allowed to porgress beyond League One.

Should either of these propsals be passed, they would need to meet the 75 percent support threshold - which seems highly unlikely.

The first option is the aforementioned ten-team Conference division.

The second would be to expand League Two from ten teams to 16. This increase in size would see the inclusion of B teams and a couple from the Lowland and Highland Leagues.

The third and final option is to introduce the new ten-team Conference tier without promotion.

It's believed that respective lower league bodies will meet for talks in the coming days regarding the proposals.