Budge fires back at SPFL in League Cup row

Ann Budge has hit back at the SPFL in the row over the new look League Cup.

The Hearts owner has no real complaints about the format of the revived competition, or the BT Sport broadcasting deal, but has slammed the way that the SPFL handled the announcement while keeping clubs in the dark.

Unlike the Five Way Agreement of 2012 the SPFL chose to go into great detail about the consultation period involved claiming that Hearts had been kept upto speed with developments.

In a club statement issued yesterday Budge admitted: “I am also very happy to confirm that I did indeed approve the BT broadcasting deal, which committed us to a new format for the League Cup, including a July group stage. No further detail regarding the League Cup was known/agreed at that time.

“Similarly, I am happy to confirm full awareness of the existence of the Competitions Working Group. I would stress, however, that contrary to what has been reported, Hearts did not have a representative on the Working Group.

“In terms of detail in the press statement, I would take issue with comments, such as:-

“… all 42 clubs were again fully consulted on the considerations and recommendations of the working group…”

and

“… all clubs were given a detailed update on intentions for the Scottish League Cup…”

I have full notes from all of the meetings attended and do not consider the above remarks to accurately reflect the level of discussion/briefing.

The statement added: “The key factors underlying this difference of opinion, centre around two questions. Firstly, what is the purpose of setting up Working Groups if their findings and recommendations are not to be shared with all member clubs?

“Secondly, to what extent is it the responsibility of League representatives on the SPFL Board to keep the member clubs they represent fully briefed on key discussions/decisions; and indeed, to what extent should they consult the member clubs before casting a vote, ostensibly on their behalf?

“I would emphasise that I am not alone in expressing surprise and disappointment that no final discussion/briefing on this matter took place with those member clubs, who were not involved in the Working Group and do not have seats on the SPFL Board.

“There was widespread expectation that such a meeting would take place before any public announcement.

“We have been contacted by a number of other clubs, over the past 48 hours, who have expressed the view that they share our dissatisfaction with the process.  They absolutely expected a meeting to enable full understanding of the implications of the proposed format, prior to any announcement being made.  Those who have contacted us include individuals who were themselves on the Working Group!

Tellingly the statement concludes by saying: “I also believe that the SPFL must address the fact that, whether real or perceived, there is a widely-held view that communication between the SPFL and its members, is poor.

“Poor communication was one of the main findings of the Deloitte strategy review discussed at the SPFL Board meeting in August 2014; notes of which were then circulated to member clubs.

“The Board agreed at that time to establish seven Working Groups to address the key recommendations in the Deloitte Report. One of those working groups was the Competition Working Group involved here; another was to address Communications.

“Hearts is represented on the Communications Working Group.  As of today, more than a year later, there have been no meetings of the Communication Working Group.”

Opening the communications issue could be a can of worms for the SPFL to deal with, picking a fight with Hearts while letting others go scot-free could back-fire spectacularly.

Once the SPFL communicate to clubs and supporters key issues such as licencing they’ll be in a position to move forward without suspicious minds wondering what their real motives are.