Doncaster could face court grilling over vote

FOOTBALL EXTRA

NEIL DONCASTER could be cross-examined in open court if the lawyer acting for Hearts and Partick Thistle is granted his demand for a public hearing. And David Thomson QC insisted that communications between the SPFL chief executive and Dundee managing director John Nelms must be made available to the clubs taking action against the league. Thomson described a decision taken by SPFL clubs to relegate the two sides from the Premiership and the Championship as a ‘debacle.’ Referencing the famous vote that saw Thistle drop into League One, while paving the way for the SPFL board to call time on the top flight and send Hearts into the second tier, the QC focused on Dundee’s U-turn after they changed their ‘no’ to a ‘yes’ on ending the season. Asked if

he would want to call witnesses, Thomson told presiding judge Lord Clark: ‘Cross-examination might be necessary. The concern of the petitioners is not to have some kind of public inquiry. ‘The focus of their case is very largely upon the documents, and what the documents establish as to the unfairly prejudicial conduct upon which they found. ‘The Dundee vote and all the communications between Mr Doncaster and Mr Nelms, that’s the kind of thing that might be the subject of evidence.’ Hearts and Thistle want the case to proceed quickly to a full hearing in the Court of Session, with the new Premiership season due to kick off on August 1. Thomson said the decision was of ‘significant public interest’ and that the best forum to resolve the dispute between the sides and SPFL was for the matter to be heard in the Court of Session. ‘It is a debacle,’ he insisted. ‘It is of significant public interest and concern. ‘Given the legitimate public interest present in the case, the matter ought to be determined in a public forum like a court because it serves the public interest to do so.’ In day two of the virtual hearing at the Court of Session, the lawyer acting on behalf of Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers — who are all at risk of having their promotions overturned — insisted the case should be dealt with by the SFA. The SPFL’s lawyer, Gerry Moynihan QC, said the rules could result in Hearts or Thistle being hit with a £1million fine or thrown out of the game. Yesterday, Thomson said the SFA’s arbitration rules didn’t apply in this case because the two clubs were suing the SPFL. The lawyer said there was no evidence that the SFA’s rules were incorporated into the SPFL’s structures and this meant the two clubs were entitled to bring the matter to court. He added: ‘It is my submission that the arbitration provisions in Article 99 have not been incorporated. That is why I say this is not a football dispute.’ The hearing continues today, with the court due to convene at 10am.