Neil Doncaster's incredible reconstruction u-turn

News that the SFA, SPL and SFL had fudged together a reconstruction document 48 hours before SFL clubs vote on whether to allow Sevco to join their ranks won’t have come as a surprise to anyone.

Equally unsurprising was the total lack of detail in the statement with a vague promise to increase the top division and another working party being formed to achieve it in November of this year.

Once again the integrity of the sport and the trust of the supporters is being taken for a ride with managers and fans preparing to start the SFL season unsure if they are playing for one or more promotion places.

Will there be relegation from the SPL if the top league is to expand?.

Apparently the chief executive’s of the SFA, SPL and SFL have been in talks for two years about increasing the size of the top division which must come as a surprise to anyone who has heard Neil Doncaster’s thoughts on the matter.

Doncaster knows better than most how precarious football finance can be after being sacked as Norwich Chief Executive after guiding the club from the Premiership to League One before Paul Lambert reversed the process.

Discussions, talks and working parties about league reconstruction is never far away in Scottish football with the most recent outbreak occurring 18 months ago.

The usual topics were raised about expanding the SPL to allow clubs to develop players in a less pressurised environment, allowing more clubs to benefit from home matches against two Glasgow teams and increasing the money paid out to clubs below the SPL.

Bold set-ups based on various models, including splits and play-off’s, were proposed with 14 and 16 team options put forward but after being failing to find approval it was SPL chief Doncaster who came out with his vision of the way forward.

Early in January 2011 he said: “A 10-team league will grow excitement, grow interest and grow the financial cake. However, a 16-team league will mean lots of meaningless mid-table matches and we would also lose two Old Firm games and two Edinburgh derbies.

“The reality is that fans do not want that to happen. We will discover where we are on Jan 17 but I don’t expect anyone to vote for Armageddon. All 12 clubs agree that there is a need to change.”

Armageddon seems to be a favoured phrase of Doncaster. As the Rangers crisis started to brew he explained how liquidation and a newco was effectively the same as exiting administration via an agreed CVA.

With no legislation in place to save a liquidated club he forced through a vote on share transfer for a newco that was overwhelmingly rejected by the SPL clubs.

Following the rejection in January 2011 of an expanded SPL Doncaster was on the front foot explaining why Scottish football couldn’t cope with a 14 or 16 team top division.

“Now we have a mandate to move forward after taking other, unworkable ideas off the table. This is a model designed to suit all clubs and not just the elite.

“You might have a 16 or an 18-team league in an ideal world but we have to face up to the reality that this isn’t financially viable.”

With supporters of every club overwhelmingly against the idea of Sevco being given a place anywhere other than the Third Division perhaps it’s time the SPL chief decided to listen to fans again.

During the last reconstruction talks he claimed:“It’s vitally important that the organisation is as transparent and accessible as possible.

“And it’s vital we meet as many key stakeholders in the game as possible, to enable us to hear their views and to explain our views to them. I’ve enjoyed my meetings with supporters this week and look forward to more meetings next week.”

It’s not known when Doncaster will next be setting up or attending a fans forum.

CLICK HERE for Clyde call for Regan and Doncaster to walk away

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