HELICOPTER FRIDAY
Find out how your club plans to vote as league title could be decided today
SCOTTISH football’s D-Day coronavirus vote was hanging in the balance last night.
An exclusive Record Sport straw poll of the country’s 42 clubs suggests the chances of the SPFL’s emergency measures to end the current season may be no better than 50-50.
We understand the game’s fate is now in the hands of a small group of key undeclared clubs including the likes of
Aberdeen, Hibs and Championship battlers Inverness Caley Thistle.
And Record Sport now understands the Dons are on the brink of voting no.
A counter proposal tabled by Rangers – which would stall any decision to end the 2019/20 campaign – will also go in front of the league’s board this morning and could also be put to the vote today if it is declared legally sound.
But the Ibrox club’s attempt to keep the season alive until all remaining games are played suffered a hammer blow last night when the SFA announced that football will stay in lockdown until June 10 – ultimately meaning likely the end of July at the earliest with the extra six-week pre-season.
That declaration has ended any remaining possibility that the remaining matches could be played out over the summer and squeezed in before the scheduled start of next season – when multi-million-pound new TV contracts with Sky Sports and Premier Sports are due to kick in.
And any perceived threat to that TV cash could swing voting in the SPFL’s favour today as Hampden’s sixth floor braces itself ahead of tonight’s 5pm deadline.
League bosses want to bring the shutters down on the Championship, League One and League Two with immediate effect.
They also want topflight clubs to agree that the season should be ended and Celtic declared champions by the end of this month if there is no prospect by then of restarting the game over the summer.
Last night’s statement from SFA president Rod Petrie has also effectively torpedoed any hopes of salvaging what’s left of the season this side of August.
In a statement released by the Joint Response Group it was announced that the SFA has extended the suspension of all levels of the game until June 10, on the advice of Government and medical experts.
That means all clubs will be prohibited from holding group training sessions until that date at the earliest.
The statement went on to reveal that the SFA has received a letter from Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, Joe FitzPatrick, in which he states restrictions banning gatherings of more than two people are likely to stay in place for at least 13 weeks.
It is also claimed that FitzPatrick “notes the medical advice that competitive matches could not take place for about six weeks after training and conditioning recommences”.
Petrie said: “The message is clear – the Government restrictions introduced to save lives must be adhered to and there is no prospect of an early resumption of training let alone organised football in Scotland for several weeks.”
And that stark warning could have a material effect on today’s voting.
Our poll – most of which was carried out before last night’s surprise plot twist – points to a tight finish. In order to push the proposals through the SPFL needs the backing of nine top flight clubs, eight from the Championship and 15 more from the other tiers.
On Gers’ resolution, a source said: “The Rangers resolution can only be put to the clubs if it is found to be competent. Right now that’s a big if.”