Hunter: SPL sowed seeds of trouble

Former Livingston chairman Bill Hunter believes “chickens are coming home to roost” for the Bank of Scotland Premier League in the ongoing wrangle over entry to the top flight.

The 12 SPL clubs are set for a second vote on June 22 over whether to allow Inverness Caledonian Thistle to ground-share with Aberdeen after initially blocking the proposal on Tuesday.

The confusion surrounds the March 31 deadline for meeting SPL stadia criteria with some top-flight clubs uncertain of the requirements for proposals for that time.

First Division clubs are expected to have a proposal prepared in time for that date to facilitate promotion.

But Caley, who only agreed the Pittodrie ground-share just over a week ago, and SPL bottom club Partick Thistle now face an anxious wait before they can begin making plans for next season.

Hunter was an outspoken critic of the SPL when Scotland’s leading clubs originally planned to break away from the rest of the Scottish Football League in 1997.

Now he has branded the SPL “an abysmal failure”.

He said: “The March 31 deadline was something I always fought against but the SPL were quite clear that anyone who did not fit the criteria by then would not be allowed in.

“People in the SPL have said that there is nothing in stone about March 31 but I always understood it to be then for the deadline.

“If clubs know for a fact March 31 is the deadline and they have to be ready for it. If they want to change the rules, notification should go forward to their members to give them notice before an AGM.

“I am a big fan of promotion and relegation and they should now bring in a 16-team league to do something positive about Scottish football.”

But, from experience, Hunter believes Partick are paying a heavy price for following SPL rules.

The ex-Livi chairman began rebuilding work at the West Lothian club before Dominic Keane took over in a bid to be ready for SPL status.

The Firhill club have bounced back from near-extinction in the 1990s to build up their ground and keep the club on a stable footing.

Now Hunter is advocating the abolition of the SPL in favour of a return to one governing body for Scottish league football.

He said: “One of the reasons I got into a little financial difficulty with Livingston was because I understood we required a 10,000-seater stadium with undersoil heating.

“I built one of the stands at Livingston and, if the criteria had been 6,000 seats, I would not have had those problems.

“You can understand why Partick are annoyed. Clubs such as they and St Mirren have struggled financially because the money went into the structure of the stadium.

“Partick had a mountain to climb after their own financial problems in the 1990s. They have had to spend money on Firhill after those problems and it says a lot for them that they are a sound financial footing although the playing side has suffered.

“I would be annoyed if I was in the same position as they are at the moment. Unless all clubs can get back under one umbrella, I cannot see Scottish football going anywhere. It is a worry for the game in Scotland.”