Following critical statements from Hearts and Hibs about the decision to stagger the final round of Championship fixtures the SPFL have issued their own response saying that ‘it is not clear why this has caused such surprise’.
For over 30 years all Scottish league fixtures have finished on the same day creating incredible moments of drama and a level playing field.
In 2007 St Johnstone were in the dressing room at Hamilton thinking that they had gained promotion to the SPL when James Grady scored an injury time goal for Gretna at Ross County to take the borders side into the top flight. There are other examples though few quite as dramatic.
By putting Sevco’s match with Hearts back 24 hours the Ibrox side will know exactly what outcome is required with Hibs and Queen of the South completing their league programme the previous day.
That scenario prompted angry statements from both Edinburgh clubs questioning the sporting integrity of the switch with Hearts revealing that they were kept in the dark about the decision until 10.43am when they received an email from the SPFL.
Apparently oblivious to the idea of fairness the SPFL stated: “In response to recent criticisms of the Championship fixture scheduling for the weekend 2/3 May, we’d like to clarify some specific points.
“On this weekend, the Hearts v Rangers match is scheduled for Sunday 3 May to be broadcast on television and it is not clear to us why this has caused so much surprise. This is a key game in the Championship season and will inevitably attract huge interest from fans around the world.
“It is unreasonable to expect all Championship fixtures that weekend to move to the Sunday when a number of them will be unaffected by the Hearts v Rangers tie. However, as a result of this fixture, all Championship clubs have been invited to submit a request should they wish to move games to the Sunday.
“To date, the only feedback we have received is from one Championship club which has asked for its match to remain scheduled for the Saturday. For the avoidance of doubt, we have had no request from Hibernian FC to move its fixture to the Sunday at the time of writing (8.45pm, Wednesday 15 April).
“We also note speculation that Police Scotland expressed concern to the SPFL about the scheduling of the Hearts v Rangers match. However, Police Scotland confirmed to us that there were no security issues with the scheduling of all Championship fixtures that weekend.
“Whilst we regret any inconvenience to supporters caused by rescheduled fixtures, the circumstances surrounding the matches on the weekend of 2/3 May are in no way unusual.”
The match at Tynecastle has been switched for the benefit of Sky Sports but the broadcaster hasn’t commented on the controversy.
Depending on the results the previous day the game at Tynecastle could be meaningless while a 12.30pm or 5pm kick off on Saturday would ensure a day of drama with three clubs in contention for second place and the most favourable placing in the play-off’s.
The surprise expressed by the SPFL over the reaction to the decision to put one fixture back 24 hours is almost as concerning as the original move!