Hearts owner Ann Budge has stated her belief that there’s a real appetite for league reconstruction in Scotland as she continues to fight against relegation.
Hearts are in a similar situation to Celtic in the sense that they’re waiting to see what their fate is for the 2019-20 season. Should the season end as it stands, the former could be relegated whilst Celtic would win nine-in-a-row.
However, league reconstruction could essentially halt the idea of relegation coming into play. Should relegation be taken off the agenda this season, it could leave all four of Scotland’s professional leagues with more clubs for the next campaign.
And speaking to Sky Sports, Budge confirmed that there’s a strong willingness for league reconstruction in Scotland – highlighting a recent meeting of club officials.
“I sat at a meeting last month where, amongst a whole host of things we were talking about, once again came up the question of ‘should we be looking at restructuring the leagues?’. A comment was made ‘how long are we going to talk about this and when are we actually going to do it?’
“So, yes, there was a few at the meeting: ‘Yes, let’s raise the priority of this’. Let’s look at these key issues, the structure of the league, the distribution model, all of these things, but let’s do it with a purpose, an action plan as opposed to just talking about it.
“Now, that conversation took place before any of this happened. That was the view of the people at that meeting, so let’s do it. None of us are playing football at the minute and may not be for a reasonable length of time. You can argue that there has never been a better time for us to sit down and say ‘right, let’s really look at this’.”
League reconstruction has reportedly been ruled out
There are plenty of variables when it comes to league reconstruction, but it doesn’t look as though it’ll happen anytime soon.
The Daily Record reported earlier this week that any notion of league reconstruction has been taken off the table. There were no reasons given as to why, but it would be a huge surprise to see anything come of it at the moment.
There is a strong argument that now is the perfect time for it. Clubs who are on the brink of relegation, such as Hearts, will feel that they shouldn’t be going down unfairly. Bringing clubs up who have just about earned promotion, however, would stop the likes of Hearts, Partick Thistle, and Stranraer from having any financial disasters whilst still giving those close to promotion their chance to compete in a higher league next season.
The whole issue, however, is where the line in the sand is drawn. There’s a playoff system in Scotland that could have plenty of other clubs furious. For example, those in the playoff places will feel as though their chance to get promoted shouldn’t be taken from them. The SFA/SPFL would then have to decide how many came up from those spots.
Then you would have the likes of clubs sitting fifth and sixth who are close to the playoff positions displeased with the decision too. League reconstruction may be an option for some, but too many could be left furious by it.
For now, there has to be a desire to get these games completed before June 30th – the UEFA cut-off date (Daily Record). Regardless of whether there’s an appetite for it – it could leave far too many unsatisfied.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
