'Completely inappropriate' Rangers tweets land St Mirren chairman John Needham £6,000 fine and SFA censure

St Mirren chairman John Needham has been hit with a £6,000 fine by the Scottish Football Association over tweets about Rangers fans.

St Mirren chairman John Needham apologised for the remarks online after they were highlighted. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

The Saints supremo was charged with making "discriminatory or offensive" comments by the SFA compliance officer after historic tweets of his were highlighted ahead of St Mirren's 2-1 defeat by Rangers in October.

Needham apologised after the match for his social media activity.

Writing on Twitter, he said: "On Friday 22 October a number of tweets I created in the past referring to Rangers fans were highlighted on Twitter. As a club chairman I have extra responsibility for the conduct and example I show.

"These posts are completely inappropriate and do not reflect my character or beliefs as a person and I very much regret them.

"I apologise unreservedly to the Directors and fans of Rangers and to everyone at St Mirren. I am acutely aware of my responsibilities. This won't happen again."

However, at a hearing on Thursday he was fined £6,000, with £5,000 payable immediately and £1,000 suspended until the end of this season should there be a further breach of disciplinary rules 71, 73 or 77 in this time period.

Needham joined the Saints board in September 2020 and became chairman when the fans' takeover was completed in July of this year.

Meanwhile, Livingston manager Davie Martindale's disciplinary hearing over a charge of ‘misconduct’ from a match in October against Dundee United has been rescheduled for Thursday, December 16. It was originally scheduled for December 2.

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