By Andrew Warshaw
June 16 – Scottish professional football has been plunged into yet more disarray after Heart of Midlothian, arguably the country’s biggest club after Celtic and Rangers, announced it was taking legal action following relegation from the top flight because of the curtailed season.
The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) said on Monday that not enough clubs had voted for a league reconstruction which would have seen a 14-team Premiership instead of the current 12 from next season, an idea proposed by Hearts.
Only 16 of the 42 clubs throughout the four Scottish divisions supported the plan, leaving the SPFL to “draw a line” under reconstruction talks which, if passed, would have saved Hearts from demotion.
But the Edinburgh club have reacted angrily and will now pursue several million pounds worth of damages from the SPFL, citing the premature abandonment of other domestic league seasons in France and Belgium where legal actions have also been mounted.
Hearts were four points adrift with eight fixtures to play when coronavirus halted the season but argued no club should be disadvantaged unnecessarily by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Now that all other avenues are closed, we are left with no choice but to proceed with a legal challenge,” Hearts said in a statement. “The club has tried throughout these last few months to avoid this course of action but we must now do the right thing by our supporters, our employees, our players and our sponsors, all of whom have been unwavering in their commitment and support. We can hold our heads up high as we have acted at all times with integrity, common sense and with the best interests of Scottish football at heart.”
“To our amazing fans we say that we cannot, and will not, sit idly by and watch the decisions made in the past few months further damage Heart of Midlothian Football Club.
Hearts are not the only club to suffer. Partick Thistle, not so long ago in the top flight, have been relegated from the second-tier Championship on a points-per-game basis despite having a game in hand.
“As a member of the SPFL, we feel badly let down especially by its board and chairman,” said Partick.
Neil Doncaster, the SPFL’s chief executive, commented: “Now that we have a confirmed structure for next season, the SPFL’s fixturing team will begin work on the Premiership fixture list, which will start on the weekend of August 1, and the Championship fixture list, which will start on the weekend of 17 October.”
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