Stewart Regan: Former Scottish FA chief says season must be played to finish

  • Published
Stewart Regan says Scottish football needs leadership... and a lot moreImage source, SNS
Image caption,

Stewart Regan says Scottish football needs leadership... and a lot more

The current SPFL season must be played to a finish, says former Scottish FA chief executive Stewart Regan.

And Regan, who left his post two years ago, says any moves to null and void the campaign would be a "fudge".

With football stopped until at least 30 April due to the coronavirus outbreak, Regan has called for strong leadership.

"If we can agree to move the World Cup from the summer to the winter, surely we can come up with a solution for the current challenges," he said.

Hearts owner Ann Budge says her club - who are currently bottom of the Scottish Premiership - will seek legal advice should they be relegated before the fixtures are completed.

Rangers managing director Stewart Robertson has also called for the term to be completed, but Motherwell chief executive Alan Burrows says it would be "very optimistic" to finish the campaign by June.

"I don't envy the job the board of the Scottish FA and the SPFL have to do," Regan told BBC Scotland's Sportsound. "But I believe strongly you cannot end the season almost completed.

"I think the most pragmatic outcome is to treat this period as a pause, and when it's safe to come back and start football again you recommence the season at that point and finish it.

"It's possible to do that with the will of all parties concerned, and that will allow a fair outcome for all the teams that are involved at the top and bottom of every division."

Regan believes that administrative matters such as transfer windows and player registrations can be resolved with emergency regulations.

The Yorkshireman was in charge as Scottish football dealt with the administration, then liquidation, of Rangers in 2012, and the Ibrox club eventually being placed in the bottom tier.

And he believes the current crisis has parallels with eight years ago, with different clubs all wanting different things.

"In 2012, you were damned if you did and damned if you didn't," he said.

"You do need leadership but you also need more than that. You need collaboration, you need all of the parties involved in the game to come together led by, in my opinion, the Scottish FA.

"There are always going to be agendas. But when you have a situation that effects everybody, you can't come up with a solution or an outcome that gives everybody what they want. So there has to be a little bit of compromise."