SPFL chief calls for clubs to move forward at last with relegations finalised
MURDOCH MacLENNAN, the chairman of the SPFL, expressed hope yesterday that Scottish football could finally move forward together and confront the challenges presented by the Covid-19 crisis after a summer beset by acrimony and division.
MacLennan was speaking after an independent SFA arbitration panel unanimously dismissed the challenge by Hearts and Partick Thistle to the controversial resolution on the end of the season after a week of “forensic examination”.
The Tynecastle and Firhill clubs, who were relegated after final placings were decided on a points per game basis and league reconstruction proposals were rejected last month, had been seeking to either have the ruling overturned or be awarded £10m in compensation.
However, the members of the three-strong panel, set up by the SFA after Lord Clark decided the matter should not proceed at the Court of Session earlier this month, all agreed the SPFL had acted appropriately throughout.
The outcome of the arbitration process means that Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer will play in the Championship, League One and League Two respectively in the 2020/21 campaign and the promotions of Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers will all stand.
MacLennan and his SPFL colleagues – not least chief executive Neil Doncaster and legal adviser Rod McKenzie – were subjected to scathing criticism and serious accusations about their impartiality as a result of their actions after football was shutdown back in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Rangers, who were denied the chance to pip their city rivals Celtic to the Premiership title, called for Doncaster and McKenzie to be suspended and demanded an independent inquiry into the vote on the resolution on the end of the season in April.
That was subsequently rejected by their fellow affiliated clubs at an EGM. But MacLennan is hopeful the scrutiny which he and his associates were put under by the panel will bring an end to accusations of subterfuge and draw a line under the episode.
“The formation of this SFA arbitration panel was an important step for Scottish football and one which enabled a minutely detailed examination of the entire process of ‘calling the season’,” he said.
“Directors and officials from the SPFL co-operated with the panel to the fullest possible extent, during which they were subjected to forensic examination by QCs, all under the scrutiny of a Senator of the College of Justice and two experienced Sheriffs.
“No-one should be under any illusion about the rigorous and challenging nature of this process. I would fully expect all those involved to agree that no stone was left unturned, no allegation left unanswered.
“Every aspect of the various arguments put forward by both Heart of Midlothian and Partick Thistle was examined minutely, with full access to all relevant documents, records, emails and telephone logs.
“The panel heard from many witnesses, including senior figures from across our game and three members of the SPFL executive team. Thousands of pages of evidence were considered.
“I’m therefore very pleased that the tribunal unanimously held that the challenges to the written resolution of April 15, 2020, failed and that the SPFL were entitled to pass, and give effect to, the written resolution and all that flowed from it.”
“Throughout the process, and whilst under the most severe pressure, criticism and media scrutiny, the SPFL has followed appropriate legal guidance and acted in accordance with the best interests of the SPFL as a whole at all times.”
The Premier League in England has been played to a finish since lockdown restrictions were eased, but MacLennan was, while expressing sympathy with the fate suffered by Hearts, Partick Thistle and Stranraer, adamant the SPFL had no option but to take the course of action they did and end the leagues prematurely.
“It is regrettable that the league had to be concluded in the way that it was,” he said. “However, despite calls to the contrary from some parties, subsequent events, including the virtual shutdown of our entire country for months, confirm that there was no viable alternative.
“With contact training only being allowed to resume on June 29, it was simply impossible for games to be played or for Season 2019/20 to continue.”