Ex-Jags director Tom says sense of decency will stop M8 Alliance pushing button on interdict
FORMER Partick chairman Tom Hughes insists a sense of decency they were denied by rival clubs is preventing Hearts and the Jags leading Scottish football over the abyss. Hughes has outlined the legal strategy he reckons could end up costing the SPFL up to £10million in damages. However, he believes there is still too much fair play around Firhill and Tynecastle, despite the wrongs of their relegation, preventing Jacqui Low and Ann Budge pressing the nuclear button – yet. The clubs launched court action against the SPFL yesterday afternoon but Hughes, who has been through bitter legal disputes with league bosses before, is adamant the M8 Alliance will stop short of an interdict, despite reserving the right to do so. A court demand for multimillions to be ring-fenced to cover potential compensation and legal fees is an option still open to both clubs. They could also call for the temporary suspension of the new Premiership season but it would plunge the game into chaos. The SPFL have already been forced into agreeing a pay back plan for £1.5m to Sky Sports for matches that were not screened last season and BT Sport look set to land £2.3m in compensation after being sold short by Covid-19. A successful interdict would have a staggering financial impact on clubs desperate for their first tranche of broadcast cash from the new Sky deal in August. It would force many clubs struggling to cope with the economic ravages of coronavirus to the wall and despite
BY GARY RALSTON the harm inflicted on them by many members, Hughes maintains the Jambos and Jags won’t go so far, despite the temptation of fans.
He said: “Freezing assets is not in the character of Ann Budge and Jacqui Low at this stage, even though they’ve bent over backwards to accommodate other league clubs.
“If that happened and they were successful, the league would be finished, it would burst them all. They’re not daft as that would mean pulling their own clubs down as well.
“The situation is a shambles but, sadly, Scottish football has always been a shambles.”
In 2004, Hughes was at the helm when the Jags took the SPL to the Court of Session in their fight to avoid relegation and lost.
Two years previously, Thistle spent heavily to bring Firhill up to the league’s 10,000-seater capacity requirement so they could gain promotion.
Falkirk were denied a place in the top flight the following year and the Jags insisted the rules meant the same should happen to Inverness in 2004.
Caley Thistle had a ground share plan with Aberdeen but missed the relevant deadline for approval. The Highlanders required the backing of eight of the 12 SPL clubs but secured only seven votes.
Hearts and Hibs joined forces to request a second ballot, effectively claiming the rules had been misinterpreted and Thistle lost, 10-2.
Hughes said: “We tried to get an interdict against the second vote and even Lord Brodie admitted every time he tried to understand the SPL’s rules, they kept slipping through his fingers.
“Rod McKenzie was still the SPL’s legal advisor then and his argument was that a court was the wrong forum for the dispute as it could be heard by the SFA’s appeals process instead.
“Lord Brodie refused our interdict on the back of it and told us to go to the SFA, only for the same SPL lawyer to argue later the SFA had no jurisdiction and we had no right of appeal! Apparently, it was a vote that relegated Thistle and not a decision.
“The QC now dealing with this case is, I understand, our junior counsel from back then so he knows exactly what he’s up against.
“I’m sure he didn’t proceed with an interdict this time.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if the clubs now go down the civil route instead and argue they’ve been ‘prejudiced’ against by an organisation that shouldn’t prejudice its own members.” 1986: Spain’s Emilio Butragueno scored four goals in a World Cup clash with Denmark.