IN THE MONEY

SPFL clubs pay Doncaster huge £90,000 bonus

SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster has been handed a whopping performance-related bonus of £90,000 by the nation’s clubs.

The SPFL annual report and financial statements to May 31, 2019 reveal an inflation-busting pay packet of £388,000 for the highest-paid director — up from £297,000 in 2018.

Doncaster’s 30-per-cent pay hike came as part of a long-term incentive plan, which rewarded the delivery of a new £160million, five-year Premiership TV deal with Sky Sports — beginning in season 2020-21.

A substantial increase in the chief executive’s take-home pay will raise eyebrows after the SPFL were heavily criticised for the fixtures fiasco which enveloped last season’s Betfred Cup semi-finals.

Following an outcry from clubs, supporters and the Scottish Police Federation, they were forced into an embarrassing U-turn over a decision to

play the Aberdeen-Rangers and Hearts-Celtic matches at Hampden on the same day. However, insisting the former Norwich City CEO is due every penny of his annual wage after marking ten years in the hotseat in July, a league source told Sportsmail : ‘Neil’s package reflects the ongoing and growing commercial success of the SPFL. ‘The new broadcast contracts delivered just under 20-percent more revenue to clubs. ‘Crucially, it also involves far fewer changes to kick-off times, with the disrupted kick-offs down from 60 to 48. ‘Attendances over the last five years have gone from 3.8m in 2013-14 to 4.5m now. Per capita, that gives Scotland the highest attendances in Europe.’ Overall, SPFL revenues have fallen by just over three per cent to £36.1m due to Scotland having no representative in the Champions League group stage. The report also confirmed that work is under way to replace key sponsors Ladbrokes, Betfred and Challenge Cup sponsors Tunnock’s when their commercial deals lapse at the end of this season.