Livingston chief adamant Gers must start in third division

It has been claimed that Scottish football will face financial meltdown if the Ibrox side are forced to play in the bottom tier.

And all three governing  bodies – the SFA, SPL and SFL – last night issued a joint statement confirming the offer of increasing the top flight to 16 teams and play-offs.

A one-off payment of £1 million to allow Rangers’ SFL games to be televised is also on the table.

However, many SFL clubs remain unhappy, not only with the ethics of the situation but also with the wording of the resolutions they are being asked to pass, and there are now fears that the SFL clubs may even refuse to vote on the situation come tomorrow.

But McDougall made his intentions clear in any case and said: “For me, nothing much has changed. I still favour the newco joining in the Third Division. That’s what their manager has said he wants and it’s quite clearly what their fans have said they want and I would support their wishes. The document will detail what the benefits are to the clubs, although there is still no clarity regarding Dundee and Dunfermline’s position, which is disappointing because that should have been dealt with some time ago. There will be comments on the 16-team SPL in the paper which Mr Longmuir will put out. Whether or not that will be enough to persuade people to allow Rangers into the First Division is up to the individual clubs.”