The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Frans hopes to have reason for double promotion party
Former Dundee United defender Frederic Frans hopes to be toasting a double promotion as he urged Scottish football to follow Belgium’s lead.
Frans, 31, could become one of the major beneficiaries after Jupiler Pro League chiefs sent shockwaves across Europe by becoming the first country to cancel their campaign amid the coronavirus pandemic.
It has been recommended that Club Brugge are handed the title and that decision is expected to be ratified by the Belgian FA general assembly on April 14.
Relegation and promotion issues will be ironed out at that crunch meeting but, under mooted plans, bottom club Waasland-Beveren would be spared, while second-tier sides OH Leuven and Beerschot – where Frans now plies his trade – are expected to go up.
The Pro League would then be expanded from 16 to 18 clubs.
And Frans believes now is the perfect opportunity for Scottish football to follow suit, including awarding United the title and shaking up the top flight.
He said: “My team, Beerschot, reached the promotion play-off final against Leuven and won the home game 1-0 but we cannot play the second leg because of the virus.
“It looks like, based on the suggestions this week, that both teams are going to get promoted and no team will be relegated from the top flight.
“So, we will probably go from 16 teams to 18 teams and I don’t think there will be many unhappy people. It is a good plan.
“If you look at the league in Scotland, it is very similar. Let’s be honest, Celtic have won the league, so just say so.
“Dundee United have won the Championship so they should come up.
“But it would be so harsh to relegate Hearts so why not look at reconstruction? It’s a great chance to be brave and shake up the league.”
Frans, who gives similarly short shrift to the notion of voiding the campaign, has no doubt that the Tannadice club would be a welcome addition to the Premiership.
The ex-Partick Thistle man joined United in the summer of 2018. However, he was unable to help them win promotion back to the top flight and returned to his homeland a year later.
He continued: “In my view, Dundee United are the champions and they will be a great addition to the Premiership.
“I’ve really enjoyed seeing the changes in United and, since I left in 2019, they are a very different football club. They have quality players, the fans are behind them and there is so much positivity.
“I saw the derby and the passion of the supporters and thought ‘this is big!’
“Imagine them back in the top flight, with a good owner, they have all the potential.”