What you describe in Netherlands IS a pyramid, just one adapted to their own particular circumstances.
Re. the Business Plan, they presumably think it essential, since promotion to the 2nd level entails going from Amateur to Professional. It is not needed eg in England, since clubs in the 5th tier all f-t, and those in the 6th, 7th and 8th tiers etc are p-t.
As for the stadium requirements, exactly the same exists eg in England, where teams getting promoted from the 5th tier to the EFL need a grass pitch, in a stadium which holds at least 5k spectators. Initially 1k of these have to be seats, with this raised to 2k by the end of a third consecutive season at that level. And I'm pretty sure that simply bolting seats onto terraces doesn't count - i.e. they have to be properly installed and under cover etc, with proper turmstiles, exits, toilets and catering facilities etc.
Meaning that since Harrogate Town gained promotion to the EFL for season 2021/22, they've needed to spend £3.4m upgrading their stadium and pitch to the required standard, while ground-sharing with Doncaster until the minimum work was completed:
https://www.thestadiumbusiness.com/2...-improvements/
"A much smaller country where the population is spread out", is it?
Scotalnd has just 400k more people than ROI, but is also more spread out, while NI has only 40% of the ROI's population, albeit with greater population density [insert own joke here].
Both easily maintain a footballing pyramid.
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