Neil Doncaster hopes the rebranding of the First Division as the Scottish Championship can help reflect the "elevated" status of the second tier.

The new Scottish Professional Football League chief executive today revealed that the four divisions would be termed the Scottish Premiership, Scottish Championship, Scottish League One and Scottish League Two, replicating the names of the English leagues.

The lion-based logo of the SPFL, which was formed when the two league bodies merged, is also very similar to the Barclays Premier League insignia.

Amid accusations of a lack of imagination in the branding, Doncaster insisted the motif reflected the passion and drama of the Scottish game and feels the change of name for the second tier will send a message about its importance.

Doncaster, a former Football League director, said: "People are certainly familiar with what it represents. When the names changed in England, we saw the Championship elevated in terms of stature within the game and our sincere hope is that will also be the case here.

"So many of the changes we have created - the redistribution of £1.5million from the top flight to the second tier, the introduction of play-offs that will keep the Scottish Championship alive right to the end - so much of the benefit is about Championship clubs and ensuring full-time professional football is viable at that level."

The SPFL remains without a main sponsor ahead of the season opener between Partick Thistle and Dundee United a week on Friday, but Doncaster believes it is now in a stronger position to attract a key business partner.

"We've only been in existence for three weeks, we now have clarity and certainty about the structure people will be investing in and we now have the branding and names of the different tiers of Scottish football," he said.

"Let's see where that gets us.

"I'm confident, particularly with the benefit of at least four years of clarity with broadcasting contracts, that puts us in a very good place for conversations with partners and sponsors."