SPFL to discuss Hearts owner Ann Budge's league reconstruction plan at board meeting on Wednesday

Hearts owner Ann Budge with SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster.

The Scottish Professional Football League will hold a board meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss a league reconstruction plan devised by the Hearts owner Ann Budge.

League officials are growing increasingly concerned after several Championship teams indicated they cannot afford to play matches without income from fans during the coronavirus pandemic.

That makes starting the 2020/21 campaign behind closed doors virtually impossible for the second tier, including clubs like Hearts, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Dundee.

Budge is proposing a three-division system with 14 teams in each, which would see Hearts spared relegation. It would also keep Partick Thistle in the second tier and Stranraer in the third.

Hearts were officially sent down to the Championship with eight matches remaining last week when the SPFL brought this season's Premiership to a premature end.

The Edinburgh businesswoman hopes to prompt a rethink after previous reconstruction attempts were dismissed by some of Scotland’s leading clubs earlier this month.

She favours a 14-team top division but a 16-team league has not entirely been ruled out. She has consulted chairmen and chief executives across the country over the last week to learn their concerns and factor them into her restructuring proposal.

It was sent out on Tuesday afternoon. For her plan to succeed, it would require a vote with 11 of the 12 Premiership clubs in favour, plus eight in the Championship and 15 across League One and League Two.

The only way a 9-3 Premiership vote would be sufficient is if the proposal did not involve adding more teams to the SPFL or altering prize money distribution. Voting requirements across the other divisions remain the same regardless.

A number of Championship sides feel the cost of paying wages and bills without gate income would make closed-door matches impractical.

They have talked of hibernating until sport with fans is permitted, which would be late this year or potentially even into 2021.

Hearts are firmly against such a scenario and want to ensure they get back playing when Scottish football eventually restarts.

The SPFL will also meet Scottish Government officials on Friday to discuss whether the professional game can resume in August as intended.

That is the date the Premiership season is due to begin and, crucially, when the new Sky Sports broadcasting deal worth £150m is set to take effect.

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