Clydekeeper targetsSFAin leagueblast
Clyde goalkeeper David Mitchell believes the football authorities don’t care about the lower leagues – and the only reason the Championship is still going is because the SFA are running scared of Hearts.
League One and Two clubs were hopeful of receiving the green light to restart last week but were dealt a devastating blow when prohibited.
Although all 20 clubs had agreed to test, like the top two leagues in the Premiership and Championship, their proposal was rejected, leaving Mitchell exasperated by another hammer blow.
And he claims the Championship who also have part-time clubs in Alloa and Arbroath - is only playing on because of Hearts’involvement and fears they may take the authorities to court again, just as they did last season when they were relegated from the top flight.
He said:“I’m totally baffled by it. I don’t understand why all of a sudden they just, out of the blue, brought it to a halt.
“If they thought this was going to be the case then why even start the league in the first place?
“Then not even giving the clubs the option to continue if they test like the Championship clubs.
“There are two part time teams in that league that are still continuing to play but League One and Two clubs weren’t even given that opportunity.
“I’ve always been under the impression that the lower leagues, under the Championship, aren’t really cared about enough.
“I think ever since the pandemic, that’s been confirmed for me. As long as the Premiership is fine then they are quite happy. I don’t think enough care and attention is given to lower leagues.
“I reckon the Championship is allowed to continue because they’re scared of the backlash from Hearts again – they wouldn’t want another court case.
“I’ve tried not to think about it that much because it just gets you so frustrated and angry. There’s nothing that the clubs can do to change it.”
The 30 year-old has played in every league in senior football in Scotland with a career including spells at Falkirk, Stranraer, Falkirk and Dundee.
Mitchell is perfectly qualified to discuss how clubs at different levels in the SPFL are treated by the authorities and is bemused as to why the same offer to test wasn’t originally made to clubs in the entire SPFL.
He added:“That is where the frustration and anger stems from.
“This opportunity was never presented to L1 and L2 despite the subsequent agreement from all 20 teams they’d commit to the financial costs involved with testing players.
“It’s disappointing but there are more important things than football right now.”
Clyde goalkeeper David Mitchell has taken aim at the SFA after the lower league suspension was extended until next month.
The Bully Wee No.1 has accused the governing body of showing a complete disregard for clubs in League One and Two, who remain suspended despite a commitment to Covid testing like the Premiership.
Mitchell also said: “I found out about the original decision to postpone the leagues because one of the boys put it in our group chat after seeing it on Twitter - it’s absolutely ridiculous.
“It just shows the lack of respect. It’s so frustrating.”
We’ve taken a completed crossword puzzle and replaced each letter in the grid with the same number throughout. The starter word shows you that
and so write these letters wherever their numbers appear in the grid. The completed grid will include all letters of the alphabet. Remember, none of the answers are proper nouns.