The start of the Scottish Football League was thrown into chaos on Friday night after Livingston refused to play Saturday's Irn-Bru Third Division fixture against East Stirlingshire.

The SFL relegated debt-ridden Livi from the First Division on Wednesday for breaching the league's insolvency rules.

The club have now decided to appeal that sanction and insist they will not play a Third Division fixture until their case is heard.

The appeal was lodged by interim manager Donald McGruther, who has been running Livi for the past fortnight.

McGruther, of administrators Mazars, was appointed by the Court of Session in Edinburgh after West Lothian Council took legal action to reclaim a £330,000 debt.

McGruther has been frantically attempting to negotiate the sale of the club to a consortium led by former Cowdenbeath owner Gordon McDougall, ex-Dumbarton chairman Neil Rankine and ex-Livi director Ged Nixon.

A statement on the Livi's official website, www.livingstonfc.co.uk, McDougall said: "We, the consortium, understand that the appeal submitted from the interim manager, Donald McGruther, has now been received and acknowledged by the Scottish Football League.

"Accordingly, Livingston Football Club remains a First Division football club at this stage and therefore is unwilling to fulfil a fixture in the Third Division.

"Before the appeal was lodged, Livingston Football Club informed SFL chief executive David Longmuir that they were able to fulfil the First Division fixture at Ross County on Saturday 8 August."

A separate statement from the consortium added: "From the consortium's perspective, we regret the need to take this step and the implications it could have on football people throughout Scotland, but we feel strongly that this action is entirely justified."