Hearts and Jags seek £10m
● Relegated clubs lodge legal papers ● They will try to stop season ‘if necessary’
Hearts and Partick Thistle have lodged papers at the Court of Session in Edinburgh to begin their civil case against the Scottish Professional Football League over their relegations.
The two clubs want to be reinstated to the leagues in which they played last season – the Premiership and Championship respectively – and if the court rejects that, they want financial compensation.
Hearts are claiming £8 million and Thistle £2million.
The SPFL have seven days to respond to the petition. league officials maintain they acted legally after more than 80 per cent of member clubs voted to end the 2019/20 season early due to coronavirus – resulting in Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer being sent down.
Hearts and Thistle claim the SPFL “changed rules” on promotion and relegation and say they won’t hesitate to request an interdict to stop the 2020/21 Premiership campaign kicking off on 1 August if necessary.
If the Court of Session rejects their initial appeal then both will push for compensation as a second option. Any payout would likely need to be funded by the SPFL clubs, as chief executive Neil Doncaster has admitted the league do not hold large cash reserves.
A joint statement read: “Heart of Midlothian Football Club and Partick Thistle Football Club have today lodged a petition with the Court of Session to challenge the unfair and unjust decision of the SPFL to enforce relegations, to the extreme detriment of those clubs affected.
“Unfortunately, Scottish football has been unable to pull together at this time of national crisis to prevent the need for this legal challenge. We desperately hoped Court action would not be necessary, but we were left with no other option. Our petition does not seek to set aside or unravel the fee payments made to clubs, nor indeed the declaration of Champions, or the nomination of clubs who will participate in European competition.
“Instead, the petition primarily seeks to reduce the unfair resolution insofar as it changed the SPFL’S rules on promotion and relegation. If that remedy is not granted by the Court, we seek, in the alternative, awards of compensation relative to the significant financial loss which the unfair relegations will visit upon us.
“As matters stand, we have not asked the Court to grant an interim interdict which would prevent next Season commencing on 1 August. However, we have to reserve our right to do so in the event that becomes necessary.
“We have no wish to disrupt Scottish football but rather our aim is to have the proceedings litigated to a conclusion as quickly as possible. In that regard, the Court has today granted our motion to reduce the normal period within which the SPFL must answer our petition to seven days.
An SPFL spokesman said: “Our solicitors have this evening received a petition from Heart of Midlothian PLC and The Partick Thistle Football Club Limited.
“We are studying this carefully, along with our legal advisers.”
“Scottish football has been unable to pull together at this time of national crisis to prevent the need for this legal challenge”
Hearts manager Daniel Stendel wants to stay and finish the job at Tynecastle despite relegation – but said the decision lies with owner Ann Budge.
Stendel insists that he is not motivated by money and will discuss a new contract if the Tynecastle hierarchy want him in charge next season.
He is happy to work under a sporting director and Budge has put his future on hold whilst she attempts to recruit one as soon as possible.
The German remains at home in Hannover and is technically a free agent after Hearts were relegated to the Scottish Championship following the coronavirus outbreak.
The club are launching a legal challenge over the decision and Stendel, for the moment, is left in limbo.
His contract runs until summer 2022 but is only valid for the Premiership. He would need to sign a new deal, potentially on a reduced salary, to return to Edinburgh.
During talks with Budge, Stendel outlined plans to rebuild the team at Tynecastle and said he is ready for the challenge of trying to get promotion back to the top flight.
“I said to Ann I want to finish my work at Hearts. I told her I want to build up a new team and help them to get back to the Premiership,” he said.
“The decision is for Ann and for the club. At the moment, I have no answers. I do not have a contract in the Championship. In the end, I think it’s a question of what Ann and the club want. This is my feeling. If the club and Ann want to work with me, they can say ‘yes’. If not, they can say ‘no’.
“For me, it’s only a question of whether the club believe in what we spoke about when I came to Hearts.
“We wanted to build a new face for the club. We expected it would be a lot easier and quicker than it is. The fact we are relegated is very hard. It is not a normal season but we are relegated. This is the decision at the moment.
“When you want to do something and it does not happen at first, you need patience and positive thinking to finish the work. I want to finish the work at Hearts, but it is not my decision. Ann and the board will decide. I can only say that I want to do it, I want to help, I want to finish the job. But the ball is not in my court.”
Stendel has been working from home without wages since April after football was suspended. He feels that shows his commitment to the Tynecastle club comes before any financial reward.
“If I had a contract for the Championship, we would not need to talk about this,” he said. “When I came to Hearts, the expectation was that we would stay up in the Premiership.
“I understand the situation now and I know the financial situation. I have been working without a salary for the last two and a half months because I told Ann to keep my salary. You can see that money is not everything for me.
“My first idea was to help the club and to take responsibility for everybody who works for the club. Also, it was a sign to the supporters of Hearts that we did not come to Scotland only for money. We can feel a special feeling at Hearts.”
Stendel brought assistant coach Jorg Sievers to Scotland in January and his deal also expires in 2022. The appointment of first-team coach Dale Tonge followed, but his shortterm agreement expired at the end of the season.
Budge’s plan to appoint a sporting director would fill a void left by Craig Levein and help ease the workload on Stendel. He is keen to coach players and leave transfer business to others.
“Craig [Levein] was sporting director and then he was manager and sporting director,” he said. “I like to work with the team. I like to work on playing positively and being more successful. The decision is for the club about what they want in the future, on the structure, decision-making, communication. These are all decisions for Ann. They are not my responsibility.”
“It’s a question of what Ann and the club want. This is my feeling. If the club and Ann want to work with me, they can say ‘yes’. If not, they can say ‘no’”
DANIEL STENDEL