Reconstruction: Anger at Gilmour and MacGregor

AN ORGANISATION which was set up to prevent what they saw as progress and profit being restricted by the tail wagging the dog found itself spectacularly undone by its own undemocratic rulebook yesterday.

After months of debate over the merits or otherwise of 12-12-18, the figures which really mattered in a four-hour meeting on Hampden’s sixth floor which ended in acrimony were 10-2, 11-1 and 9-3.

Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor joined his St Mirren counterpart Stewart Gilmour to exercise the power of veto which the existing SPL regulations allow just two of their 12 clubs to hold on major issues.

The irony of Gilmour’s opposition to the reconstruction plan on the table being largely based on the retention of an 11-1 voting structure was impossible to avoid. Even a last-ditch concession, with the offer of a 9-3 majority being required for any future league reconstruction, could not persuade Gilmour or MacGregor to change their minds.

For MacGregor, of course, the major stumbling block has always been the abomination of a split after 22 games of the season into three divisions of eight clubs. Had that structure been in place during the current campaign, Ross County would have been battling against relegation instead of enjoying their current bid to secure European football.

Gilmour was the first to leave Hampden, racing past reporters down the front steps and declining to be interviewed. If this was a victory for the St Mirren supremo, he did not appear especially happy about it.

There was no mistaking the depth of emotion felt by Hearts chief executive David Southern and Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne when they emerged through the front door.

The Tynecastle club, of course, had released one of the longest statements in recent Scottish football history last week as they outlined in around 3,000 words why they felt the reconstruction plan had to be approved.

Mercifully, Southern was more succinct yesterday but he attempted to make his point in the most graphic and lyrical terms possible.

“It is like we are all in a burning building but there are certain people that won’t step outside because it’s raining,” was Southern’s critique of the block which Gilmour and MacGregor had placed in front of the other ten clubs.

“That’s the best way to describe it. Today was an opportunity to move the game forward and for having one single league body, a pyramid system and a better distribution of wealth but, unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.

“Is it a terminal blow? I hope not. The bottom line is that we all go back to doing what we did before we walked in this morning. But there now have to be serious questions asked about the structure of Scottish football. There are also serious questions to be asked about the people who are happy to settle for the status quo.

“I don’t want to talk about agendas but it was very clear today that, in spite of what was said in the last seven days about the 11-1 vote required to push things through [being a stumbling block], when it was agreed to change that to 9-3 for votes on further reconstruction, that particular club decided to step back from it.

“That’s a question for St Mirren to answer. The clubs who didn’t want to vote for change in Scottish football should also be asked why they didn’t raise these matters in December or January.

“It was never about a 12-team solution – this was always about a 42-team solution. There has been compromise. Compromises have been made in the last seven months and all the way along, right up until the last minute today.

“Celtic, in particular, made a quite significant compromise to try and get this over the line. However, when it came down to whites-of-the-eyes time, there were certain clubs not prepared to make that move.

“The clubs who voted against change said only seven days ago that that was the stumbling block but when that was removed it became clear that that was not the reason for them voting the way they did.

“So we go back to our day jobs – a 12-team SPL, one team relegated every season, one team up from the SFL. It’s business as usual plus an even tougher economic climate. It may well have been a once-in-a lifetime opportunity. People talk about cherry picking but to come back to the word consensus, you’ve got 12 clubs and to get them all over the line is difficult. But we got very close.

“Admittedly, we know it was not perfect but it could have moved the game on and refreshed things for the supporters, the broadcasters, the commercial partners. We had a chance for progress but unfortunately, for reasons that other clubs should be asked about, we haven’t been able to do that.”

Milne’s reaction was even more emotive. Gilmour bore the brunt of Milne’s furious reaction and he all but accused both the St Mirren chairman and MacGregor of going back on their word from previous meetings of all 12 top flight clubs.

“It has been worked on very hard over the last seven or eight months,” said Milne. “There are huge concessions made from all quarters to get a plan everyone can get behind. Back in December and January we had 12 clubs behind that plan, now we have two clubs that have walked away from the plan. I think that is very, very disappointing for the game as a whole. We are supposed to be the organisation at the top of Scottish football.

“It’s not ironic that the voting structure has killed this. That is another red herring that Stewart throws on the table. If it was so important why was he not prepared to back the change that was offered on the table today, that future reconstruction would be dealt with in the normal 75% vote? You try to get an answer to that question.

“I am very angry for today we have let down Scottish football. There is one person in particular. I think St Mirren Football Club have really got to go and pose themselves the question of why they are prepared to put the rest of Scottish football in jeopardy just because of their own selfish interests which they have been unable to explain in reasonable terms around the table today.

“I am disappointed in Ross County as well. Very disappointed. Again it was stressed to Roy today that he has a responsibility that goes beyond Ross County. He has a responsibility as part of the SPL set-up and to the wider interest of Scottish football. Roy has given his reasons that he is not prepared to back it at this stage, which is very disappointing.

“We have to focus on the current structure and see what we can do beyond that. We have lost an opportunity to bring something new into Scottish football which would have given us a platform to address the major fundamental issues facing the game. This is a massive, massive opportunity that has been blown, particularly on the whims of one individual club.”