Tannadice men don’t want title by default

DUNDEE UNITED insist they don’t want to be crowned winners of the Championship on a technicality. With the second tier in limbo after coronavirus forced football into a shutdown, Robbie Neilson’s side are currently 14 points clear of second-placed Inverness Caley Thistle at the summit. Rather than seeing the Tannadice club being awarded the title on current league placings, however, managing director Mal Brannigan says he would prefer United to go up after completing their season — and backed UEFA’s decision to postpone Euro 2020 by a year to allow leagues across the continent time to finish. Celtic are leading the Scottish Premiership by 13 points with eight games left to play and their boss Neil Lennon has already called for them to be crowned champions if the

season can’t be finished. Rangers, however, have already warned the SPFL they would not accept that scenario.

Brannigan said: ‘My opinion, and that of the board, would be that we would like to see the season through.

‘I know the statement that has come through from UEFA very much gives us a bit of a clear run as regards getting the league campaign finished.

‘We can see the Euros will be held in 2021 and we’re not quite sure yet what is going to happen with the UEFA competitions, the Champions League and Europa League.

‘But I think the most important thing is that the national leagues be completed.

‘We are top and we have been top since day one. We are 14 points clear and we are there on merit.

‘We would like to see the season through and if we are still there by the end of the season then we have deserved to be promoted.

‘It is much more important to us as an organisation to have that delivered because of what we have achieved rather than by default.

‘The football authorities have a big job on their hands. They have a number of issues to look at and an enormous amount of intricacies to tie up.

‘The current situation is that nobody is quite sure where we can be from one day to another.’

Asked about the possibility of the current campaign being declared null and void, he replied: ‘I can’t see that happening. If the current positions were allowed to stand, I wouldn’t like that either.’

PFA Scotland have already rejected calls for games to be played in empty stadiums, insisting that such a scenario would still leave their members at risk of contracting the virus.

But Brannigan believes it would be an acceptable last resort to allow the season to be played out to its natural conclusion.

He said: ‘I think there has to be that view that the season has to play out.

‘If that has to be behind closed doors, then there are other stakeholders like the players, SPFL and SFA who will be involved.

‘If that is the only option for us to win the Championship on merit, then I would like to see that happen.’