SPFL vote on season end undecided with one club still to vote

The Scottish Professional Football League’s proposal to call an early end to the season has failed to win the support of member clubs so far – but one club has yet to cast a deciding vote.

All 42 senior clubs were asked to vote on whether they wanted to immediately end the Championship, and League 1 and 2, with the SPFL board having the power to call the Premiership at a later date.

Prize money would have been paid out on the basis of average points per game and league titles, promotion and relegation would have been put into motion.

Votes were to be submitted to the league by 5pm on Friday and 39 of the 42 clubs submitted their ballot.

However, the 5pm close was a request, with laws allowing clubs 28 days to make their decision.

The vote required 75% of Premiership clubs to be in favour, 75% of the Championship sides, and 75% of League 1 and 2 combined.

The SPFL has confirmed that the proposal has been carried in three leagues but one Championship club still has a decisive move to make.

A spokesman said: “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.”

After giving the club’s reasons for supporting the proposal, Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack criticised the league for the short time-frame given to make a decision.

He said: “We feel strongly that the SPFL board should not have asked member clubs to cast a vote on this resolution with less than 48 hours’ notice, especially when these resolutions allow for 28 days.

“This request was made during a one hour video conference with no room for constructive discussion or debate, leaving us scrambling for time to review the resolution legal document and then discuss the merits of it with our board. Open and transparent governance and communication is critical to the survival of Scottish Football and should include our most important assets, our fans. We ignore the fans at our peril.

“While we, like most clubs, want a stake in the ground for the 2020/21 season, we would prefer to see the league completed if at all possible. We recognise that this will be challenging, perhaps even unlikely, but there are a number of key issues that need robust debate. For example, UEFA’s clarification on the competitions’ framework and calendar, the current position of our broadcasters and main sponsors, and what if we have to play games behind closed doors and there’s no cross-border travel in Europe for the foreseeable future?”