Hearts will restart football in the second tier of Scottish football after reconstruction talks were halted.
As it stands the Jambos sit at the bottom of the Premiership with little prospect of the last eight matches being played.
Ann Budge was part of a 15 strong group tasked with examining ways of reconstructing the 12-10-10-10 set up but today STV report that talks have been scrapped.
The prospect of league reconstruction for next season has been quashed after Scottish Premiership clubs indicated there isn’t enough support for any changes at this time.
This development comes after a meeting of top flight clubs earlier and means Hearts face being relegated to the Championship if the Premiership season is ended, with Partick Thistle starting next season in League One and Stranraer being demoted to the bottom tier.
All divisions below the Premiership have already come to an end as they stand. There is a desire among top-flight clubs, however, to revisit the issue of revamping the league structure in the future.
With just four wins from 30 matches Budge faces the humiliation of starting next season in the second tier unless a top flight club goes into liquidation.
If that happens the SPFL would have to decide whether Hearts or Inverness Caley Thistle take their place in the Premiership.
Within a week of losing to St Mirren on March 11 Budge announced her intention to impose pay cuts among the playing staff sparking a stand-off.
A deal was finally struck with the first team squad but it’s believed some players have negotiated their exit in return for taking a pay cut. Loyal captain Steven Naismith agreed a 50% pay cut but at £3,500/week he will be the highest paid player in the second tier next season.
