SPFL clubs warned failure to thrash out reconstruction will trigger Scottish football self destruction

Hearts owner Ann Budge has put forward a proposal to revamp the professional game from top to bottom.

Scotland's clubs will be warned next week that failure to thrash out league reconstruction in time for next season will effectively press the self destruct button on the professional game in this country.

Record Sport understands SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster is bracing himself for a series of monumental meetings next week - beginning on Monday when he will hold crisis talks with all 12 top flight clubs.

And Doncaster will attempt to hammer home the message that a radical overhaul of the current league structure - and in particular the lower three leagues - is no longer an option but an absolute necessity.

The move comes after an SPFL board held an emergency meeting to study a reconstruction ‘discussion paper’ put forward on Tuesday by Hearts owner Ann Budge.

Thursday’s meeting of the Hampden top brass also centred around growing concerns over next season’s Championship after a number of second tier clubs admitted earlier this week that they cannot afford to start up the next campaign behind closed doors.

And now Doncaster will have to spell out the dire consequences of any failure to agree on a new format in time for football’s big re-start.

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Under the league’s own rules, unless a new look structure is agreed by 75 per cent of all 42 clubs, season 2020/21 will automatically to go ahead as planned before the game was forced into lockdown by the coronavirus pandemic.

That means clubs from the Championship down would be expected to fulfil all 36 league fixtures. And any club which could not play their games could then be faced with the ultimate threat of expulsion from the SPFL

One source told us: “These are going to be very difficult conversations but that’s just the reality of the situation Scottish football now faces.

“Doncaster will meet with the Premiership clubs on Monday to discover if there is any consensus among them for what Ann has proposed, in terms of a 14 team top division for next season.

“If they can’t agree on that then everyone will be back to square one. And that’s when the chief executive is going to have to explain the next steps to clubs in the lower three tiers. As things stand, three leagues of ten clubs is not going to be possible.

“Some Championship clubs have already made it clear they’ll be in no position to play a full league campaign. But unless 75 per cent of all clubs can agree on some form of reconstruction, then the rules state it must be a 36 game season.

“If any club can’t fulfil its own fixtures it would become a disciplinary issue - one of the most serious disciplinary issues there is - and it would carry unlimited punishments.”

Budge has championed the temporary creation of a new three tier 14-14-14 set-up but has indicated she would also support a 14-14-16 structure.

However, Record Sport understands she is likely to encounter stiff resistance from a number of top flight clubs - with six of them already sinking a previous reconstruction proposal earlier this month.

And we believe a significant amount of Championship clubs are also against the plan which would initially catapult Inverness Caley Thistle into the Premiership - only for four of the remaining clubs to face possible relegation to their third tier in two year’s time.

But our source added: “What Ann Budge was really calling for was for clubs to confront the reality of the situation which Scottish football now faces. She has highlighted the need for flexibility at this time and she is absolutely correct.

“There is no other option now but to be flexible in the face of this crisis in order to protect as many clubs as possible.”

An SPFL spokesman said last night: “The board has now received Ann Budge’s paper to clubs on the topic of league reconstruction.

“As these matters are ultimately decided by clubs via a democratic process, we will now facilitate a series of divisional meetings, starting with the Premiership on Monday, at which all 42 clubs will have the chance to discuss the proposals in detail.