Stranraer fall in alongside Hearts in battle to avoid relegation
Stranraer have joined Hearts in the fight against premature relegation enforced by the Scottish Professional Football League.
Iain Dougan, chairman at Stair Park, is seething that his club have been demoted to League 2 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and refuses to accept their fate.
Last month’s SPFL vote brought an end to the Championship, League 1 and League 2, decidingtitlewinnersandrelegation based on average points per game. That sent Stranraer down to League 2 though they were eight points adrift at in League 1 with nine games left. Partick Thistle were relegated from the Championship at the same time.
Hearts also face demotion from the Premiership if and when the SPFL officially end the top-flight campaign. Officials at Tynecastle are weighing up options to challenge any such decision, which could come in a matter of days.
Thistle have said they won’t pursue legal action but Hearts and Stranraer intend to fight back. Dougan, inset, stressed he is “not great at lying down and shutting up and being told what is happening”.
“I’ve heard calls that it’s time to move on and put it behind us for the greater good of Scottish football and to heal wounds,” he said.
“That’s easy to say if you’re not one of the affected clubs or you don’t feel wronged by the decisions made. From our point of view we still feel very much affected, both financially and from a sporting point of view.
“When the resolution was taken, Partick Thistle and Stranraer were the only teams in Europe to be officially relegated because of the pandemic.
“Since then France has called their league and has unofficially relegated clubs, but there has been intervention from the French government to push for this to be reversed because they feel it is wrong. “For two clubs in Scotland to be the only ones currently affected with automatic relegation, it feels wrong to me. “We’re in talks with other like-minded clubs to see where we go from here. I’m not great at lying down and shutting up and being told what is happening.”
Dougan declared his dismay that league reconstruction talks collapsed last week.
“I would have thought that before a task force was put together, there would have been at least a green light or a nod from the Premiership clubs – who ultimately could be the ones to scupper any plans – that reconstruction would have been palatable,” he added. It’s them that would be most affected with extra clubs going into [the Premiership] and revenues going out to other clubs. If these soundings weren’t taken, what was the point of it?”