Sam McClelland will receive a Championship winner’s medal with Dundee United despite failing to meet the appearance threshold.
The on-loan St Johnstone defender has been outstanding since coming into the United side as a deputy for the injured Declan Gallagher, helping the Tangerines to four clean sheets in five games.
The Northern Ireland international is in line for his sixth outing against Partick Thistle on Friday night – still falling short of the nine required to automatically qualify for silverware.
Section C39 of the SPFL rules and regulations state that: “Only those players who participated in 25% or more of the league matches for the champion club in the relevant season will be eligible to receive such medals.”
However, Tannadice chiefs are determined to ensure that any players who contributed to their success this term are not overlooked.
United will automatically receive 25 medals to dish out to players who meet the criteria, and staff.
However, the rules also state that “additional league championship medals may be purchased from the company with the prior consent of the board”, giving United extra scope to recognise those within their group.
The SPFL are unlikely to deny that request and are understood to be open to clubs using their own discretion regarding who receives those medals.
What other Dundee United players are in the same situation?
Of those who have started at least one game for United in the league, Kieran Freeman – now at St Patrick’s Athletic in Ireland – and David Wotherspoon are the only other players who don’t qualify for a medal automatically.
However, Wotherspoon will hit the nine-game threshold with an appearance against Thistle.
Rory MacLeod (three), Owen Stirton (one) and Scott Constable (one) have all played a small part off the bench in the league, while Jack Newman has served as able deputy to Jack Walton all season without getting on the field.
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