Summary

  • Scottish football clubs cast their votes on the future of the 2019-20 season

  1. Goodbyepublished at 19:10

    That will do us for just now. Please keep across our Digital content for any further updates tonight.

    Saturday Sportsound promises to be a cracking listen tomorrow, with further reaction, interviews and analysis of another fascinating chapter in the story of Scottish football.

  2. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 19:04 British Summer Time 10 April 2020

    @bbcsportscot

    Iain McColl: Finish the season on the park, let it take as long as it takes and make changes to season 20/21, play all teams twice: 1 home 1 away next season, so there is a level playing field for all and 'sporting integrity' is maintained.

  3. 'Championship always the battleground'published at 18:55

    Tom English
    BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

    It would help if the SPFL indicated any abstentions in the vote. As it stands, only one Premiership club has voted against it but we know that two very publicly signalled their opposition to it [Hearts and Rangers]. It’s odd that only one of them has voted against the resolution. A real puzzler.

    It’s immaterial in a sense because the resolution needed nine votes from the Premiership and it has 10. Job done in that regard. The Championship always looked like the battleground, the place where the vote would rise or fall. The resolution needs eight votes but they’ve only got seven, with two voting against and with one club unaccounted for as yet.

    SPFL chief executive Neil DoncasterImage source, SNS
    Image caption,

    SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster is a man in demand

    Is that an abstention? In which case it’s effectively a vote against and the resolution dies. We’re attempting to get clarity on that.

    Earlier in the day, we heard that they thing was doomed because Dundee, Partick Thistle and Inverness all intended to vote against it. If [SPFL chief executive] Neil Doncaster would answer his phone then we’d know more. I might not be the only one trying to get hold of him, to be fair...

  4. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 18:52 British Summer Time 10 April 2020

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    Scott: Surely the SPFL has an opportunity here to breathe life into a tired format and go for league reconstruction? Three leagues of 14 all day long.

    Joppa Jings: Also why did the @SPFL not put an embargo on clubs issuing statements before the vote deadline on how they voted? some clubs could be influenced? Shambles.

    Joachim Hacker: I do agree with ending the season. Should be done for all leagues and no relegation plus league reconstruction. Two up from all leagues. 14-team Premiership. But to not call the vote when the deadline has passed is bizarre...

  5. Postpublished at 18:45 British Summer Time 10 April 2020

    There have been no meetings held at Hampden in recent weeks, with all conferences done remotely. This weekend was meant to be the Scottish Cup semi-finals here. When will they get played now?

    Hampden
  6. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 18:41 British Summer Time 10 April 2020

    @bbcsportscot

    Ben Whiting: As a Dundee United fan, I can't help but worry that we've actually forgotten to vote and it's US holding it all up...

  7. 'The plot thickens'published at 18:36 British Summer Time 10 April 2020

    Tyrone Smith
    BBC Scotland

    The 5pm deadline may have come and gone, but it wasn’t a 'hard’ deadline as such.

    Because the resolution being voted for is a written one, legally, clubs actually have got 28 days to make their vote, so the waiting and the watching continues.

    It's probably worth mentioning that an abstention counts as a NO vote, but as things stand, we are talking about a late submission, rather than a club having abstained.

    The saga continues, the plot thickens - will their be another twist or turn, we should find out soon, or maybe not...

  8. St Mirren reflect on 'unprecedented times'published at 18:31

    Scottish Premiership outfit St Mirren described the current situation as "unprecedented".

    "St Mirren, in common with all other football people, would have always preferred to play the season to its proper conclusion.

    "However, for the protection of both fans and players, football should take a break until after the summer and hopefully be able to start season 2020-21 as soon as possible, safely.

    "As both the UK and Scottish Governments make clear daily, everybody must stay at home as much as possible, to protect the NHS and save lives. Putting increased pressure on clubs to end this season, and potentially start next season early, is not what society needs right now."

  9. Where are we now?published at 18:28

    Some clubs have gone public with their stance on the plan put forward by the SPFL, with Hibernian, Livingston and St Mirren publicly backing it in the Premiership.

    However, Rangers and Hearts both publicly condemned the plan, which would have seen the latter relegated if the SPFL deemed top flight fixtures could not be completed.

    Rangers also said they were going to resubmit their own proposal to free up final placing money to cash-strapped clubs without calling the Premiership season now. However, they were told by the league that the resolution was legally "ineffective".

  10. get involved

    Get Involved - SPFL votepublished at 18:25 British Summer Time 10 April 2020

    @bbcsportscot

    Danny: Bad for Scottish sport. The vast majority of clubs must need the finances. As fans we would all love the season to be played till the end. If these clubs veto this vote they could be causing the collapse of Scottish football.

  11. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 18:21 British Summer Time 10 April 2020

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  12. 28 Days Later...published at 18:20

    Chris McLaughlin
    BBC Sport Scotland

    "Clubs have 28 days to vote on SPFL resolutions. Today’s 5pm marker was a request. Those clubs who haven’t voted, still can."

  13. League reconstruction in the post?published at 18:10

    Brian McLauchlin
    BBC Sport Scotland

    This has all the drama of a penalty shoot-out for a place in the top flight!

    The outcome of this vote, however, may well have consequences for a huge number of clubs. My understanding is that during the lobbying by SPFL officials, assurances [were given] that "serious" talks regarding league reconstruction would take place with three tiers of 14 clubs, at the top of the list of possibilities.

    However, no guarantees were given as the threshold for pushing this through would be very high.

  14. get involved

    Get Involved - SPFL votepublished at 18:15 British Summer Time 10 April 2020

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    Grant Bell: #SPFL vote is an utter joke. Clubs taking the King's shilling and sporting integrity out of the window. As a @PartickThistle fan, I'll be picking and choosing my away games henceforth

    Mikey: I think this is the right thing to do There is no danger the season can be finished before the start of the next one with it being suspended until June. Let's just call it as is, and move on and look forward to next season.

  15. get involved

    Get Involved - SPFL votepublished at 18:06 British Summer Time 10 April 2020

    @bbcsportscot

    Linda Rose: Need to change the league structure and make it 16 clubs in top flight as fans are fed up playing one another four times in the league - more if they get drawn together in the cup.

    Kieran McLauchlan: I’m reading not enough clubs in the Championship have agreed to it and so it won’t pass.

  16. Resolution is the 'least worst' available option - Hibspublished at 17:55

    Hibernian are in favour of the SPFL's proposal.

    In a statement issued by the Edinburgh club in the last hour, they stated there is "no silver bullet" that will suit all clubs.

    "The club appreciates that such an outcome will not be agreed by all and has sympathy for those clubs who will be detrimentally affected," Hibs said.

    "Indeed, our own club will suffer some negative impact in that we will be demoted by one place and see a subsequent reduction in prize money.

    "However, there is no 'silver bullet' that would provide a remedy suitable for all clubs, and with 30 matches played Hibernian believes there is no genuine or realistic prospect of bringing this season to a conclusion by playing eight rounds of matches without potentially creating massive disruption to next season as well as this season.

    "The top priority for Hibernian throughout this crisis has been the welfare of its people, supporters, and the wider community.

    "Whilst Hibernian, like every club, would rather the season could be played to a conclusion, all the available evidence suggests there is no prospect of an imminent return to training or safely playing matches. In that context we believe the SPFL resolution is the 'least worst' available option open to our national sport."

  17. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 17:56 British Summer Time 10 April 2020

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    Do you think the SPFL vote will be carried? What is the best way to tackle the unfinished football season?

    Tweet @bbcsportscot with your comments.

  18. How many votes needed?published at 17:46

    To recap: for the SPFL vote to be carried it would require:

    • nine Premiership clubs to vote in favour (10 have already done so)
    • eight in the Championship (seven have done so)
    • 15 in League One & Two (16 have voted in favour)
  19. 'We await the voting slip from one Championship club'published at 17:47

    A spokesman for the SPFL added: "It is very important that clubs consider carefully the resolution and we are grateful to those clubs who have voted already.

    “With the Ladbrokes Premiership and Ladbrokes Leagues 1 & 2 divisions each having approved the resolution, we await the voting slip from the one Ladbrokes Championship club that has yet to vote. We will provide an update as soon as we are in a position to do so.”

  20. Three clubs yet to vote - SPFLpublished at 17:44

    In a statement, the SPFL says: "The SPFL board met this evening to consider the responses to the resolution sent to clubs on 8 April.

    "As at 5pm, the SPFL had received 39 responses, 85% of which have been in favour, as follows:

    • Premiership - 10 votes in favour; one against
    • Championship - seven in favour; two against
    • Leagues One & Two - 16 in favour; three against

    "With three clubs yet to vote, the SPFL will issue further updates in due course."