THERE was another embarrassing defeat for Douglas Park and the Ibrox hierarchy when the club failed in their attempt to force an independent inquiry into the SPFL’s handling of the resolution to bring the season in the lower leagues to an early conclusion.
All 42 SPFL clubs met at an 11am conference call to vote on the Govan club’s demand for a fresh probe into the vote on Good Friday which saw Dundee change their ‘no’ vote to ‘yes’.
Interim chairman Park and Co required the support of another 31 members to activate the investigation, but they fell way short of that number with only 13 clubs voting for the resolution, according to media reports.
Twenty seven opposed the proposal with two clubs abstaining.
The Ibrox side must now consider whether to drop their crusade against the game’s Scottish football’s hierarchy – or consider costly further proceedings at the Court of Abritration for Sport or perhaps the civil courts.
Ibrox chiefs had already called for the immediate suspension of SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster and legal advisor Rod McKenzie in the fall-out of last month’s ballot.
The Hampden hierarchy had been cleared of any wrongdoing by Deloitte’s investigation in the aftermath of calls for a probe.
The Ibrox outfit were backed by Hearts and Stranraer, two clubs facing relegation, in forcing the EGM.
They also had public support from the likes of Aberdeen, Inverness Caley Thistle, Partick Thistle, Falkirk and Stenhousemuir.
But it was not enough to persuade another 29 clubs to back their doomed effort.
Meanwhile, Celtic await being crowned Premiership champions for the ninth successive season after sitting on top of the league 13 points clear with only eight games to play when the game went into cold storage in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers were handed the titles for their respective divisions.
ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT…
CQN would like to thank our readers for their patience in the interruption to the launch of Alex Gordon’s latest Celtic book, ‘Fifty Flags’, which was due to be published in March.
Unfortunately, production of the tome, which thoroughly examines the glorious half-century of seasons in which the Parkhead men were crowned Scotland champions, came to an unfortunate halt due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
The support for ‘Fifty Flags’ has been overwhelming and author Alex said: “The response to the book has been utterly astonishing and I can only say how totally grateful I am to CQN readers for their backing. I can only hope it will be worth the wait.
“We are depending on the printers letting us know when the run will commence and we are in their hands at the moment. It will be published this year and CQN will keep the readers up to date. Thanks for your patience, folks. It’s much appreciated.
“Main thing, though, in these testing times is to take care and stay safe. See you all when we get the green light.”
