Budge steps up legal threat
● Hearts consider using restriction of trade argument after taking advice from two QCS
Hearts owner Ann Budge has warned that she will have no option but to follow through on her threat of legal action if the Tynecastle club is left languishing in the Championship when the new season finally kicks off.
That could throw Scottish football into further turmoil and possibly derail the resumption of competitive action, but Budge is adamant she must take a stand if something is not done to mitigate a decision she maintains is “unfair” and “wrong”.
The Tynecastle chief executive has produced a plan for league reconstruction based on three divisions of 14 teams which seeks to redress the decision to relegate Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer after the SPFL ended the season with eight rounds of fixtures remaining due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The proposition is to be discussed by the existing four divisions next week, with Budge desperate for a decision that would allow everyone to move on.
“It could drift and drift and drift and I for one don’t want that anymore than anyone else,” she said. “As if there weren’t enough uncertainties about. I know some people will say ‘just give up then’ but that takes us full circle to me saying ‘I’m not giving up because this is wrong’.”
The initial grievance of being relegated with eight matches remaining has been compounded by the consequences of that decision, most pertinently the possibility that
Hearts may have to sit out half of next season because several second-tier sides have said they are unable and unwilling to complete a season which will start behind closed doors.
“If it unfortunately becomes clear that we will be starting the season in the Championship I don’t have any choice but to go ahead with a legal battle,” said Budge.
“Do I want to do that? Absolutely not. We could have done it straight away but I didn’t do it because it wasn’t the right thing to do without exploring other options.
“Other clubs have admitted that we should be given financial compensation but who benefits out of that? If it is the clubs compensating us then they are basically admitting that something wasn’t fair.
“We have already got two QCS who have looked over that original decision and that is just one angle. If we are in the Championship and the Championship isn’t playing then it is effectively a restriction of trade.”
Budge denied that her pursuit of justice was driven by a fear that Hearts would be unable to survive the drop.
“No, I’m still fighting because it is wrong,” she said. “I have said before that we had planned to make sure we could see ourselves through to late August/september, when we hoped we would be able to return, but we have revised that and now have a business plan that takes us through to next year. So, it isn’t so much about that, it’s because it is wrong and, at the end of the day, if I have exhausted all other avenues then I think I owe it to the supporters to say we will not take this lying down.”
Scottish football clubs need to decide whether they have the wherewithal to see out next season or make it clear that they are looking to sit it out, according to Ann Budge, the woman who has been fighting to find a structure that will serve the needs of everyone.
Only then can they all work together to finalise a league set-up and move on to drawing up a fixture list and determining where the opening matches can be safely staged.
The Hearts owner submitted a proposal to clubs earlier this week, outlining a possible 14-14-14 team format.
It has already been met with some opposition, particularly from lower league clubs, but Budge said it was only meant as an outline, insisting it will be impossible for anyone to draw up more concrete plans until every club’s needs and their stance on when and if they feel able to resume competitive action.
While work is underway to map out the best way to kickstart the game, with Premiership clubs looking to get the season started behind closed doors to meet Government restrictions, Budge was involved in a Championship discussion in which several clubs raised concerns about the cost of operating without gate receipts and mooting the possibility of an 18-game term in the hope that, by the time they start back, fans will be allowed back into grounds.
Others, in lower divisions, have said they are struggling to see how they will survive if they are not “mothballed” for the duration of the next campaign.
Budge said: “The League 1 and League 2 clubs have phoned and I have had a couple of emails from clubs saying ‘you’re not thinking about us’. I have gone back to everybody and we have had long chats and the thing I have tried to get through to them is that all I’m really trying to do is encourage the different groups to talk about what is possible.
“My starting point was a 14-team Premiership because that addresses the unfairness of the April vote for ourselves, Partick and Stranraer, and is also acceptable to the TV company.
“Under that, I split the remaining clubs 14-14 but it doesn’t need to be 14-14.
“What I am trying to do is get clubs who are like-minded, with the same problems and challenges, to sit down and say this will work for us or that won’t work for us or this will only work if such and such happens.
“They need to drive it themselves,” added Budge.
“I just had to get something down to get that debate going. It might turn out to be 14-1414 or 14-10-10, or even 14-12-0 depending on how much of the season teams can sign up to and under what circumstances.
“But, now we need to know that so we can move on and try to finalise this because this is not easy for any of us and we all need to make plans.”
Which is why, although club representatives will hold division-by-division meetings next week to discuss her reconstruction consultation paper, Budge would like the meetings to serve a more useful purpose and conclude with a clear indication of how many clubs want to be actively involved next season and on what basis.”
Budge is adamant that in such unprecedented times clubs are right to find a solution for their own individual needs and ensure their own survival, which is why there has to be flexibility to protect everyone’s interests.
She added: “I would like clubs to use next week’s divisional meetings to say what their plans or capabilities are.
“That question has been asked but there are no definitive answers and we are running out of time,” continued Budge.
“If there is any hope at all of the Premiership being played by anything like the dates being suggested we need to get the fixtures done.
“I was told that we have to get that done within the next couple of weeks but how do you do that when we don’t know who is able to play, or who can play behind closed doors and who can’t?
“We need more clarity on which grouping clubs fall into and once we know the size of these groups, we have a better chance of finding a structure that fits.”
“I would like clubs to use next week’s divisional meetings to say what their plans or capabilities are. That question has been asked but there are no definitive answers and we are running out of time”
ANN BUDGE