SFL clubs prepare to vote

The future of Scottish football will be up for grabs when Scottish Football League clubs meet at Hampden to vote on whether to admit Rangers newco into the First Division or Third Division on Friday.

The vast majority of SFL clubs who have made their views known favour putting the Ibrox club into the bottom tier, a prospect which, according to Scottish Football chief executive Stewart Regan, would bring financial catastrophe and a "slow, lingering death" of the game.

To ward off that apocalyptic scenario, the SFA, the Scottish Premier League and the SFL issued a radical package of reforms which would see the SPL increase to 14 teams for the beginning of the 2013/14 season, with a mechanism in place to add two more at a later date.

Changes to the size of the other leagues as well as the merging of the ruling bodies, the redistribution of monies, parachute payments, play-offs and a pyramid system are also on the agenda.

However, on the eve of one of the most important days in the game's history, there are no guarantees that those proposals have turned the tide in the favour of Rangers being voted into the First Division.

Dunfermline chairman John Yorkston told Press Association Sport: "We had to look at the proposals and we are not against them, but we are against them being linked to the newco being put into the First Division."

Clyde added another layer of uncertainty when they claimed insufficient knowledge of Rangers newco made it "impossible" and "irresponsible" for any of the SFL clubs to consider admitting the Ibrox club into the organisation at all, never mind straight into the First Division.

"We discussed that issue as well and there will be questions asked at the meeting before the vote takes place," said Yorkston.

However, should Charles Green's newco not be allowed into the second tier - or not allowed into the SFL at all - then almost certainly there would be the creation of an SPL 2 to accommodate the Ibrox club and protect television and sponsorship monies, which would bring further disruption and chaos to a game already on its knees.

Yorkston was reluctant to discuss the prospect of an SPL 2 but said: "They would need to get 10 clubs. Would they get 10 clubs to accept?"