Budge warned of second-tier woes
ANN BUDGE has been made fully aware of Championship clubs’ mounting concerns over a return to football next season as she prepares to present the league reconstruction plans she hopes will save Hearts from relegation.
The Tynecastle club have been involved in detailed discussions with second-tier clubs since the SPFL opted to ‘call’ the top-flight and demote the Gorgie outfit from the Premiership with eight games still outstanding.
Budge has been taking advice from clubs up and down the divisions as she pieces together a league revamp to help the clubs – Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer – relegated prematurely.
And it has been made clear that there will be huge implications for Hearts if her blueprint fails to receive the necessary support.
Dunfermline chairman Ross McArthur insists closed-door football is not viable for the Pars – one of the best supported clubs in the Championship – whilst Ayr United counterpart Lachlan Cameron has warned clubs will go to the wall if forced to play without fans.
And McArthur admits the needs of Hearts must be taken into account by rival clubs as they seek the right solution to getting football back up and running amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
He said: “I’ll be honest, from Dunfermline Athletic’s perspective, playing behind closed doors is not viable.
“And I don’t think it would be for too many clubs in the Championship.
“So, is there another way we can do it? And are there support mechanisms? I’m not saying there will be or there should be because the government have got to balance a lot of different things at the moment.
“But, until we get a consensus firmed up on what we believe is achievable, in the Premiership, the Championship and in Leagues One and Two, it’s difficult to ask if it’s going to be viable, individually and collectively.
“The clubs themselves, as I’m trying to do in the Championship, have got to get everybody together, brainstorm and work out what’s viable and what’s not viable, and really help themselves with this.”