DOOMED to FAIL
Clubs poised to reject Budge’s plans for SPFL reconstruction
SCOTTISH Championship clubs are set to torpedo a reconstruction proposal put forward by Hearts owner Ann Budge.
A document detailing plans for three leagues of 14 for the next two seasons was sent to chairmen across the country yesterday afternoon.
The SPFL board will meet this morning to discuss the details of a blueprint which would save Hearts and Partick Thistle from relegation despite the season failing to finish.
A 14-14-16 structure could also be introduced if clubs voted to include Brora Rangers and Kelty Hearts.
Budge insists the proposal is ‘a better way for Scottish football to deal with the current emergency, while at the same time righting an unintended injustice’.
And it states: ‘The Premiership needs Hearts more than the Championship does. The Championship needs Partick Thistle more than the lower leagues do. Let’s focus on dealing with the problem of
saving Scottish football from a position which plays to our strengths and minimises our weaknesses.’
Critically, however, the Hearts resolution proposes the changes for the next two seasons only.
And last night a number of Championship clubs told Sportsmail there is no possibility of them voting for a concept which could see six of their number relegated to League One in two years’ time. One second tier source told
Sportsmail: ‘Clubs in our league will not vote for this.
‘Right now we know that one club will definitely go down in any given year with another going into a relegation play-off.
‘In two years’ time this plan could potentially mean six clubs being relegated. Why would clubs who could be affected vote for that? It’s fantasy.
‘This is a mountainous problem. Add in the fact that if Hearts and Inverness go up we will need to find another six clubs for the Championship next season at a time when there is real doubt about League One and Two teams playing at all. The plan lacks credibility.
‘As things stand, it’s hard enough to plan nine home games and nine away games with the ten teams we have let alone add another six teams to the equation when teams in the lower leagues don’t even know if they can afford to play.’
Championship opposition to the plan is further heightened by ill-feeling towards Inverness chief executive Scot Gardiner following a bitter civil war over the SPFL’s resolution to end the season.
Relations between senior figures in the second tier have become terse and strained, damaging hopes of a 75 per vote in favour of a proposal which will benefit the Highland club.
Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack is ‘supportive in principle’ of Budge’s plan, saying: ‘For the survival of Scottish football, I hope every club feels they can get behind this approach.’
Celtic and Rangers are also believed to be willing to back proposals which would see the Premiership split after 26 games into a top six and bottom eight. The top six would play 36 games overall, with a 40-game season for the bottom eight. The extra games would atone for the loss of games against Celtic and Rangers.
However, the need to change the distribution of prize money model would necessitate an 11-1 vote from Premiership clubs. And while Budge argues that the change would save a £300,000 relegation parachute payment to her club this summer, the possibility of three teams being relegated in 2022 if the format reverts to the existing 12-10-10-10 will inevitably worry some.
A Hearts statement last night read: ‘We can confirm that Heart of Midlothian circulated today a paper to all 42 clubs in the SPFL asking for feedback and urgent action to address the situation Scottish Football finds itself in due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is clear that the situation is changing daily and decisions need to be made quickly to safeguard as many clubs as possible.
‘Flexibility and collaboration are of paramount importance to find a path to deal with this emergency situation.’
The urgency for Hearts is heightened by the possibility of the Championship being mothballed until autumn or early next year until supporters are allowed back into stadia.
Dunfermline and Raith Rovers believe a prolonged period of games behind closed doors, with a weekly cost of £4,500 for testing players, is unviable.
That could leave Hearts with no gate income and no teams to play against for up to six months.
Scotland’s League Two clubs met by Zoom last night to discuss restart plans. The SFA and SPFL will meet Scottish Sports Minister Joe FitzPatrick on Friday to plot a timeline for the return of the Scottish game. And chairmen from the bottom tier want to explore every possible means of restarting their leagues as safely as possible, even if it means additional cost.