Breakaway threat real, warns Nelms
DUNDEE CHIEF SAYS TOP CLUBS COULD QUIT SPFL
DUNDEE chief John Nelms last night warned Scotland’s elite clubs could break away from the rest of the SPFL if the way the game is run does not change.
In 2013, the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League merged to form one 42-club governing body.
However, citing the recent disagreements over whether to allow Colt teams into the senior set-up, Nelms believes conflicting interests between full-time and part-time clubs could force fresh change.
‘I could see that happening,’ the Dens Park managing director said. ‘There was a bit of a change ten years or so ago.
‘Since then there hasn’t been a whole lot. How does it happen? I don’t know. It could get ugly. You could have breakaway groups.
‘If the upper tier feels so passionately about something they’re trying to do and they can’t do it because the lower leagues say no, then yeah I think that could happen.’
Nelms also believes the top clubs in Scotland could work together after any breakaway to maximise revenue. He said: ‘Scottish football does get left behind a bit. Our TV deal doesn’t allow us to do much. We are behind financially.
‘We need more investment and need to be able to do things to make our product more saleable.
‘The ones at the top are the ones on TV earning the money, so to speak. They’re the ones that have the ideas and creativity to make some of these things happen.
‘We have 42 teams and you have three different groups that have very different ideals and wants and needs.
‘Although the sport connects us all, the way that we do certain things and run the business is night and day.’
Nelms also addressed the controversial issue of Dundee’s ‘missing’ vote when the SPFL halted last season early due to the onset of the global pandemic in the spring.
The Dens Park club were the last of the 42 clubs to cast their vote, missing the April 10 deadline before crucially voting in favour of calling the leagues.
It later emerged they had tried to vote on April 10 but their email got stuck in quarantine.
An independent investigation by the SPFL found ‘no improper behaviour’ by governing body staff amid rumours Dundee had been encouraged to change their vote from no to yes. Speaking after Dundee’s promotion to the Scottish Premiership via the play-offs on Monday night, Nelms (left) insisted there had been no dodgy backroom dealings. ‘Nobody tried to bribe me to vote a certain way,’ he said. ‘People are very emotional because their business is about to go under. I don’t know what could be an incentive for us to change our vote. Did you see half a dozen loan players at Dundee?
‘It was the best solution for a very bad situation. The other solutions on the table, other people just weren’t going to contemplate that.
‘There were pressures. Financially, a lot of clubs wanted this done because they needed that (prize) money.
‘When I eventually voted the way I did, that was very evident. They were days away from insolvency.
‘Could that have been done another way? Probably. But there was no firm answer to these questions. Then you have 42 clubs — the majority of them wanted to go down this path.’