STEWART ROBERTSON and the Ibrox bosses have been told they must end their frustrating campaign against the SPFL if they lose their battle at the EGM on May 12.
A no-nonsense warning has been fired to the Govan hierarchy from the SPFL board that emphasises further action could cause “Incalculable” damage to the Scottish game.
Six of the seven board members have demanded an end to “recrimination and division” after the Ibrox outfit sparked a general meeting to propose an independent investigation.
The 42 clubs will vote next month on whether to instigate an external review of the circumstances surrounding the vote to end the three divisions outwith the Premiership with the possibility of calling an early halt to the top flight.
Inevitably, that would see Celtic crowned champions for the ninth successive season after leading the league by 13 points with only eight games to play when the game went into cold storage.
Robertson and Co received backing from Hearts and Stranraer to call the summit, but will need 32 of the 42 clubs to vote for an inquiry.
Now six of the club representatives on the league board, including Motherwell chief executive Alan Burrows and Hamilton’s Les Gray, have written an open letter to members stating their case and calling for “reconciliation and contrition from all parties”.
The letter stated: “As SPFL directors, we have volunteered our time freely, in uniquely difficult and challenging circumstances and have participated on a fully-functional SPFL board, which we believe has operated in an entirely fair and even-handed manner.
“We have each put our own self-interests behind us, to do what is best for Scottish football, but have had to endure our professionalism and integrity as well as our compliance with our legal duties to the company being openly called into question in recent weeks.”
It continued: “As a consequence, has everything been done perfectly and has it always been fully communicated? Of course it has not and this is a point we have already raised to ensure the organisation is future-proofed for subsequent boards after we stand down.
“We are unaware of any impropriety or any disregard for appropriate qualities of corporate governance.
“If Rangers Football Club has a dossier of evidence which shows anything to the contrary, then we would repeat the call for it to be brought forward immediately, because we, as club representative directors, have a clear duty to interrogate any allegations of misconduct or the like which it contains.
“The SPFL board is dealing with a fast-moving set of circumstances, with a skeleton staff trying hard to prioritise matters. It’s an unenviable job and we are sure the many fair-minded people in Scottish football fully understand this.
“All of the executive team retain our full support and admiration. Further recrimination and division will only decrease our chances of playing football matches in Scotland any time soon.
“The players, fans and officials deserve our best collective efforts. At a time when thousands of people in our communities are dying of Covid-19, Scottish football needs to reflect and consider how this looks to the outside world.”
The directors underlined that executives’ time would be spent on matters other than sorting the problems of this season and next while clubs’ money would be spent on legal fees if enough clubs backed the proposal.
“But if the resolution fails to gain the support of enough members and the requisitioners nonetheless continue on their current course, the cost to our game will be incalculable.”
The letter was addressed from Burrows, Gray, Ewen Cameron, of Alloa, Ross McArthur, of Dunfermline, Peter Davidson, of Montrose, and Brechin chairman Ken Ferguson.
The other club representative on the board is Ibrox managing director Stewart Robertson.
The Ibrox club claimed they would provide a dossier backing their case to clubs well ahead of the meeting after alleging some clubs were “bullied” ahead of the vote and that they had “alarming” evidence.
They had previously called for SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster and legal adviser Rod McKenzie to be immediately suspended while a probe took place, but did not detail their accusations against the pair.
