POWER FAILURE

Clubs to reject new SPFL board bid for final say if second spike ruins season

SCOTLAND’S clubs are poised to reject a move by the new SPFL board to dictate what should happen if Covid-19 takes a wrecking ball to next season.

League chiefs asked their members to pass a resolution granting them power to decide the fate of the new campaign in the event of a predicted second spike.

The move came after clubs urged the central body to take steps to avoid a repeat of the infighting and squabbling, which has culminated in SFA arbitration to settle a bitter legal dispute between Hearts, Partick Thistle and the SPFL.

With votes due in by midnight

last night, however, senior figures within the SPFL were resigned to the resolution being rejected.

And that raises the prospect of Scottish football being plunged into a bitter winter of discontent if coronavirus returns with a vengeance at the end of the year.

Celtic’s Peter Lawwell and St Johnstone’s Steve Brown were inducted on to a reshaped board at yesterday’s league AGM, replacing Rangers’ Stewart Robertson and Alan Burrows of Motherwell.

But Sportsmail understands a number of clubs are uneasy over a situation where the Parkhead club could be granted a huge say over the fate of a campaign where they stand to win ten in a row.

Completed by Neil Doncaster, chairman Murdoch MacLennan, non-executive director Karyn McCluskey, Hamilton’s Les Gray, Championship representatives Dunfermline Athletic chairman Ross McArthur and Ewen Cameron of Alloa Athletic and Brechin City’s Ken Ferguson, the new board will meet to discuss the outcome of the resolution later this week.

And a revamped proposal featuring specific proposals for what should happen in the event of the season being prematurely curtailed could now be placed on the table.

The SPFL, meanwhile, have confirmed that all 42 clubs will take part in this season’s Betfred League Cup — with the group stage kicking off on October 6.

Clubs were given the chance to opt out after the Championship, League One and League Two voted for a shortened 27-game season commencing on October 17.

Confirming a full cast list also featuring Lowland League champions Kelty Hearts and Highland League champions Brora Rangers, however, SPFL chief executive Doncaster confirmed that the final will be pushed back to Sunday, February 28.

‘Last season’s Betfred Cup was a hugely successful competition and we are looking forward to the same combination of excitement and passion this season,’ said Doncaster.

‘The process of scheduling the SPFL’s premier cup competition has been made much more difficult this year due to the disruption caused by Covid-19.

‘But we are delighted to be in a position to confirm five uninterrupted rounds of fixtures once again.’