League clubs to vote on reconstruction by 19 April

SCOTTISH Football League clubs will vote on league reconstruction no later than Friday, 19 April, it was announced last night.

After talks held yesterday by the SFA’s Professional Game Board between the Scottish Premier League and SFL board members, the SFL committed to make clear their decision in the same week as their SPL counterparts. SPL clubs will hold their vote on Monday, 15 April, with the votes of 11 out of 12 top-flight teams needed to approve reconstruction plans which include the proposed 12-12-18 structure, which would split into 8-8-8-18 after 22 games.

In the SFL, 22 out of 29 eligible sides must vote in favour of plans, which also include a merger which would leave one ruling body and the change in the financial distribution model. An SFA statement read: “The Scottish FA today facilitated a special meeting of the Professional Game Board at Hampden Park to establish both the current position and next steps from the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League in relation to the ongoing league reconstruction process.

“At the meeting – which also included representation from the SPL and SFL board of directors – a number of issues were debated openly in order to provide clarification and certainty on a number of issues that arose following the SFL members’ meeting on 28 March. Following today’s discussions, there is now a commitment by the Scottish Football League to vote on the reconstruction proposals no later than Friday, 19 April, with the Scottish Premier League committed to voting on the proposals on Monday, 15 April.

“The Scottish FA’s position on league reconstruction is clear: Scottish football requires urgent, radical change in its league structures as a first, essential step to rejuvenating the national game. To that end, in order to provide greater comfort to both sides, we have agreed to undertake a period of due diligence on behalf of both the SPL and SFL to provide independent verification of projected distributable revenue of any single league body.”

A meeting last week between the SPL clubs reportedly ended in an informal 14-14 vote. Dunfermline were not present, while Rangers do not have a vote due to their associate member status.