Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor has seen QC advice which gives him ‘more than a degree of certainty’ that any legal action against the SPFL to either reinstate Hearts to the top-flight or award compensation will not succeed.
All 42 clubs have been asked to give an indication of whether they could support a reconstruction plan for four divisions of 14-10-10-10 by Monday morning but early indications are that the proposition is unlikely to garner sufficient support.
It needs 11-clubs from the Premiership to vote for it but Ross County, for one, will vote against the plan.
That means one other top flight side could end the proposal whilst a number of Championship teams believed to have doubts.
Hearts’ fans have pointed to France where relegation was prevented by the courts but McGregor insists that the circumstances are different.
He told The Times: “I would be really surprised if that happened. It’s not like France where the government did it. This is the clubs.
“I would go with the QC advice I have seen which shows me that, unfair as it is, it was the only practical solution when you couldn’t finish the leagues.
“You never know with legal action but I’ve seen the evidence that gives me more than a degree of certainty.
“I think also it wouldn’t be the best for football that one club takes the other 11 to court.
“It would take a long time to heal that division. I don’t think it would be the best for Hearts in the long term.
“They are better to go and take their medicine and get back on the field. Put positive energy into it rather than negative.”
MacGregor insists he doesn’t support restructuring at this time. “At the moment, no. I don’t support the timing of it.
“And I would be surprised if that is not the view of a lot of clubs.
“A lot more thought has to go into it, without selfishness. I don’t think it’s something that should be done in a stressful situation.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
