Dundee FC have received details of proposals from the Scottish Football League that are likely to open the door to a dramatic promotion to the Scottish Premier League.
The Dark Blues and the 29 other SFL members have been given a “logical and positive communication” formulated in the wake of talks with the Scottish Football Association and the SPL.
If accepted by the clubs, the SFL will accommodate a newco Rangers in Division One, leaving the Dens Park club filling the vacancy left in the top flight.
However, in a further twist on Thursday, Aberdeen made public their view that the new Rangers should apply to join the SFL at the Third Division level. Then it was claimed that SFL clubs are being threatened with the formation of a breakaway SPL2 if they say no to the plan.
Wherever the newco ends up, the likelihood is that Dundee, who finished runners-up in the First Division, will be invited by the SPL to join them for the new campaign, although Dunfermline, relegated at the end of last season, will make a case for their club to win the nomination.
Even after receiving the document, the Dark Blues issued a carefully worded statement which read: “Following the proposals/presentation released today to all SFL clubs, the board of directors of Dundee Football Club, the manager and chief executive officer would like to assure our fans, our players and our staff, that we will spend the weekend carefully studying each proposal prior to Tuesday’s meeting of all SFL clubs.
“We will then come to an educated decision based on the facts as presented and what is best for the future of Dundee Football Club and Scottish football as a whole.”
SFL chief executive David Longmuir said: ”The Scottish Football League will today send a briefing document to its member clubs a logical and positive communication which will hopefully eliminate some of the understandable doubt, threats and insecurities that are apparent within the game at the moment.
”The consultation document will fully explain the short and long-term benefits of a number of scenarios which we will be considering at a full club meeting next week.”
The SPL held a meeting on Thursday, with Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson taking part via conference call from abroad.
There was little clarity to be garnered from that get-together, though, with their statement saying: ”Following today’s meeting, the SPL will continue to work with the Scottish FA and SFL to discuss the best way forward for Scottish football.”
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The suggestion that the new Rangers could go into the First Division moved Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne to ”restate” his board’s position.
Milne said: ”The statement that I issued on Monday was both clear and unambiguous and for the avoidance of any doubt I will restate it: Rangers newco should apply to the SFA for admission and apply direct to the SFL in the same way that any other new club would do.”
The SFL teams will gather at Hampden on Tuesday to pore over the plans, a day before the SPL sides meet at the national stadium to vote on whether or not to allow the transfer of the old Rangers SPL share to Charles Green’s newco.
Dundee chief executive Scot Gardiner would like the whole business to be cleared up as quickly as possible.
“We are in an intolerable, impossible position,” said Gardiner. ”At the moment we only have a strategy for the SFL. When I speak to our manager Barry Smith we are still talking about players who we are trying to sign for the First Division. If we did anything else other than that it would be crazy.
”But this is beginning to impact on the running of our football club absolutely. The game is in limbo for some people and we are absolutely one of those clubs. Time is running out because the season is looming large.
”All the players are back, we have our first pre-season games next week and we have complications over a cup tournament that starts early (the Ramsdens Cup on July 28). If you are an SFL team you are in that cup, if you are an SPL side then you are not.
”My understanding is that there has to be a nominated club (for the SPL) if indeed a club is to go up and that’s not certain yet and that club has to be nominated by July 1, which is this Sunday.
”No matter what happens today, tomorrow or by July 1, the only time a new SPL team can be ratified by the SPL and the SFA is the 16th of July. It can’t happen before then apparently. Can you imagine what turmoil would ensue if everyone had to wait until then?”