Daily Telegraph - Celtic to be awarded Premiership title with no league expansion as SPFL negotiate coronavirus crisis

We need to make a statement saying how embarrassing the celtic mouthpieces have been during a time where people are dying all around the world. They are the lowest of the low and if we get shafted and don't fight it to the death I know a lot of supporters this will be the last straw.
 
I don’t see this happening, on legal grounds. Should they award a league we could of won to them, and we accept it, we’re as well to chuck it tbh.
 
If clubs truly need the money to survive just split the Premier Division prize money equally 12 ways right now but hold off on calling the season complete until UEFA decree that it can be. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.
 
UEFAs main concern with what Belgium done is that it encourages one of the big boys to do the same.

The filth will get their place in the CL once all of this blows over. In the grand scheme of things UEFA don’t give a fûck about Scottish football and will leave the SPFL to it. All they care about is money generated from the bigger leagues and their clubs.

I suspect you’re spot on, but as it stands it would still be a gamble for them to take at this moment. I think they will be handed what they want I’m just not convinced it will be just yet.

If or when it does happen sadly I think despite Robertson’s words we will be found wanting.
 
If this happens and uefa banned scottish teams from Europe we should be taking the sfa/spl to court for less of revenue I hope we kill them

Should be whether allowed European football or not, we could potentially be playing Champions League instead of Europa.
 
If it goes through and they get title answers simple rangers should sue for potential champions League revenue loss from spfl.it would be a clear cut case and we'd win it the amount of potential money involved would ensure any top lawyer would be all over it and hopefully bankrupt the corrupt fuckers would also open floodgates for likes of at Johnstone and livi who aren't far behind Aberdeen for Europa cash as well as hearts.

Play games behind closed doors or null and void is only thing they can do
 
If this goes ahead we as fans must stop going to opposition matches. We need them to know this before they vote to do this.

Mind we said that when we got papped out the league?

It never happened and it never will. They’ll know we’ll still turn up in our droves.
 
I'll wait to see how Hearts respond to this latest propaganda to award that mob another tainted title. Hearts said they will not accept relegation while the League hasn't been completed. If they are allowed to stay in the top-flight, while titles are falsely awarded to that mob, then the game itself is done up here.
 
Celtic will be recognised as Scottish champions, Aberdeen will be awarded the country’s spare Europa League place, there will be no expansion of the SPFL Premiership, but the winter break would be axed, for next season at least, according to soundings taken by Telegraph Sport.
The SPFL has yet to resolve the many issues created by the truncation of its league schedules because of the Covid-19 lockdown and, as always, there are contending points of view amongst clubs, but a desperate need for income is now driving the agenda for many.
Hearts have already flagged a 50% wage reduction for staff and players, while Dundee United have placed almost all staff and players on furlough. This week, Celtic too placed some staff on furlough and promised to top up salaries after administration of the Government’s contribution of 80% of monthly income up to a limit of £2500.
Even had the campaign been proceeding normally, this would be the stage where cash flow is thinnest but, given the state of uncertainty about how and when next season will begin, most clubs badly need the money which is allotted according to final placings in the league tables. Nor can they afford to have their prospect of season ticket sales hindered by debates about league reconstruction.
Revenue from final placings would normally be distributed in May but that cannot be done for as long as the 2019-20 season is kept in abeyance, so there is a strong motive for those unaffected by title races and relegation struggles to move for the league campaign to be declared to be finished. That view has been reinforced by the decision of the Belgian Pro League to stop their competition now, with Club Brugge recognised as champions by virtue of their 15-point lead over KAA Gent, although Uefa still want national leagues to attempt to play to a finish – behind closed doors, if necessary – in July or even August.
The closed doors option has been ruled out unofficially in Scotland because, even in the event of lockdown being eased, it would require the co-operation of emergency services who are likely still to be overstretched or exhausted. There are differences between the views of the UK and Scottish governments about how long the lockdown is likely to be in place, with the Holyrood administration less inclined to contemplate a shortened quarantine.
As far as possible, clubs want to get on with selling season tickets for a set-up as close to the norm as possible, which is a barrier to those proposing league of three divisions with 14 in each. Another difficulty presented by any proposal for a truncated campaign is that those who paid for 2019-20 season tickets will not have had full value for their outlay.
One solution is to expand the scope of next season’s offers to include Scottish Cup and League Cup ties, or to issue vouchers for holders to bring along a guest for free for the equivalent of the missed games. That outcome would be beneficial for clubs with spare capacity at their grounds and would generate greater catering and merchandising revenues, but would be difficult for the likes of Celtic and Rangers, the bulk of whose spectators are season ticket holders, although they could be offered free or discounted tickets for European matches.
This season’s Scottish Cup semi-finals and semi-finals have been postponed indefinitely but could be played before December to yield a 2020 winner. The two Hampden semis– Hearts vs Hibs and Celtic vs Aberdeen – are money-spinning occasions which the contending clubs want to be played. Traditionally, the competition provides a European place for the winner or beaten finalist but, if the tournament is deferred, an entry to the Europa League would become available to the next available SPFL club – in this case Aberdeen, who are fourth in the table.

The fact that three of the four semi-finalists are SPFL clubs plus the likelihood that Hearts, even if relegated, would not be involved before the fourth round of the 2020-21 Scottish Cup - to be played next January - clears the way for a deferred finale to this season’s tournament to be played before the end of the year.
The extra fixtures would, however, add to congestion which will be created if next season starts later than the first week in August, meaning that the winter break would almost certainly have to be cancelled. Much to-and-fro will occur over the next few weeks but, barring a near-miraculous early end to the Covid-19 shutdown, the chance of a fulfilled SPFL schedule is remote.
The possibility of a wartime-style season – in which the title would have unofficial status – is adamantly opposed by most clubs sounded by Telegraph Sport. “There were no TV deals and large-scale commercial contracts during the war,” said one source. “It’s just not going to happen.”
That read like a total cluster %^*&.
 
I'll wait to see how Hearts respond to this latest propaganda to award that mob another tainted title. Hearts said they will not accept relegation while the League hasn't been completed. If they are allowed to stay in the top-flight, while titles are falsely awarded to that mob, then the game itself is done up here.
They're not relegating Hearts, just making the filth League winners. Makes it all the more corrupt
 
Use our brain here. Offer an alternative. How about: all money is shared EQUALLY with the entire league to help the WHOLE of the Scottish game, not just 1 club. The league, rightly, is voided and clubs can begin to plan for next year. It's important that we become leaders in the Scottish game and we have to withhold the integrity of our competition.
 
Douglas Park's first job as chairman. Him v the SPFL.


giphy.webp

Time to circle the buses.
 
Let's imagine there was only a 1 point deficit...surely the principle is still the same.

Also, let's imagine it was the other way round...even Covid-19 would have played second fiddle to the yahoo and media campaigning to ensure Rangers weren't given the title.
 
If they are handed the title then we need to take drastic action in one way or another,smarter minds than my own may know what that may be.
 
And dragged out of Europe at that. Celtic won’t care as they would fail to qualify for champions league anyway and they can have their tainted 9th.
 
Use our brain here. Offer an alternative. How about: all money is shared EQUALLY with the entire league to help the WHOLE of the Scottish game, not just 1 club. The league, rightly, is voided and clubs can begin to plan for next year. It's important that we become leaders in the Scottish game and we have to withhold the integrity of our competition.

That’s the most laughable bit of all of this.

They are hiding behind the excuse of the smaller clubs needing payouts asap as their reason for settling on current standings. Yet by doing so they are set to hand the filth £3-4m prize money for a trophy they haven’t won whilst handing the bulk of the remaining clubs absolute pennies.

If the SPFL really cared about their member clubs financial issues they would distribute the pile of cash they are sitting on evenly between all clubs.

The financial issues of the diddy clubs is just a smoke screen to allow them to hand the mentally challengeds the title. That’s all that matters.
 
Rangers BETTER be ready to go to war on this, I swear to god if they roll over and take this I'm done with Scottish football and rangers, my two season tickets will be done with and I won't be back inside Ibrox again, anyone else that doesn't follow suite needs their skull read.
So your leading a campaign for everyone to walk away from rangers. Well done, that should finish the club for good.
 
Yes that was my thought. What do no TV deals have to do with anything? I can see it has financial implications if games are not played because the season is truncated and fewer games are played, games which the TV companies have payed for. However it has no implications with regard to who are champions.

Absolutely.

It reads like something Lawwell has said in the expectation that no-one in the Scottish media would ever dare to highlight the sleight of hand and absence of logic.

Just like no ‘journalist’ will mention Lawwell’s bonus for Celtic winning the title!
 
That’s the most laughable bit of all of this.

They are hiding behind the excuse of the smaller clubs needing payouts asap as their reason for settling on current standings. Yet by doing so they are set to hand the filth £3-4m prize money for a trophy they haven’t won whilst handing the bulk of the remaining clubs absolute pennies.

If the SPFL really cared about their member clubs financial issues they would distribute the pile of cash they are sitting on evenly between all clubs.

The financial issues of the diddy clubs is just a smoke screen to allow them to hand the mentally challengeds the title. That’s all that matters.
Spot on
 
They're not relegating Hearts, just making the filth League winners. Makes it all the more corrupt

If they award that mob a title, but don't relegate Hearts, then the game is over for Scottish football, especially if Dundee Hibs don't get promoted.
 
I would hope Rangers will not let celtic just get handed the title, I would expect My club Rangers to fight it all the way, I've been a season ticket holder for well over 25 years and would seriously consider not renewing again if we just bend over and take it, even if it f() ck the game in Scotland I hope we fight it all the way. Anything less won't be expected.
 
Hearts need to be relegated then. You can’t end the season and give Celtic the title prematurely and not promote DUFC and therefore relegate Hearts.

It’s a very strange article. It includes the phrase ‘even if relegated’ when referring to Hearts but states that there would be no change to the number of teams in each division. Hearts are an afterthought. They would have to be relegated under this plan.

It looks as if this has come straight from Lawwell.


There also doesn’t seem to be any appreciation that Covid-19 is likely to strike again next season.
 
I just hope the club comes through this unscathed. No point talking about legalities as who knows what will come of this.

Let them disgrace themselves by getting a gift from a season that basically ended 2 weeks ago. As for the scottish cup story, never heard anything like it in my life.

This isn't rangers rolling over, it's common decency in a time of national crisis.
 
It’s a very strange article. It includes the phrase ‘even if relegated’ when referring to Hearts but states that there would be no change to the number of teams in each division. Hearts are an afterthought. They would have to be relegated under this plan.

It looks as if this has come straight from Lawwell.


There also doesn’t seem to be any appreciation that Covid-19 is likely to strike again next season.

I feel like the majority of the clubs would allow Celtic to win the league, such is their despise for us. But if other teams get dragged into it (I.e. Hearts) then it becomes a bigger story. Having threatened legal action, awarding title wins/relegation/promotion is gonna be suddenly opening a can of worms for the SPFL. But you can’t have one without the other...

I still fully expect we’ll get shafted out of all this anyway and they’ll find a way to appease Hearts and Dundee United.
 
If they are awarded the title I don’t think I could watch Scottish football ever again. The most corrupt footballing country ever and they don’t even try to hide it anymore. Honestly sick of it.
 
They gloat about deaths week in week out so accepting a tainted title when a season still has 25% to run due to this pandemic will not phase them one single iota.
 
None of us are going to be surprised when this happens, no point kidding ourselves, SPFL will wait till the virus is at its height then sneak it out there
They’ve been buttering us up for weeks that this will be the outcome to take the shock out of it, it’s like a white paper being released the morning Diana and the Queen Mother dying .
 
Give them next seasons title too, might as well because what’s the point of us showing up to compete in a league where Celtic can be awarded a title they haven’t actually won?
 
Iam surprised that some people are surprised at this decision. Scummy basta*ds the lot of them.
 
A significant number of Scottish Professional Football League clubs are considering an option to crown Celtic as Scottish champions, to award Aberdeen the country’s spare Europa League place and proceed next season without an expansion of the SPFL Premiership, but for the winter break to be axed, for 2021-22 at least - according to soundings taken by Telegraph Sport.

The SPFL has yet to resolve the many issues created by the truncation of its league schedules because of the Covid-19 lockdown and, as always, there are contending points of view amongst clubs, but a desperate need for income is now driving the agenda for many.

Such a course, if implemented, would set the Scots on a collision course with Uefa as matters stand, but the governing body of European football is itself engaged in a battle against time to resolve its own competitions and the clock is running down for clubs in smaller leagues, with survival at stake for some.

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Hearts have already flagged a 50 per cent wage reduction for staff and players, while Dundee United have placed almost all staff and players on furlough. This week Celtic also placed some staff on furlough and promised to top up salaries after administration of the Government’s contribution of 80% of monthly income up to a limit of £2,500.

Even had the campaign been proceeding normally, this would be the stage where cash flow is thinnest but, given the state of uncertainty about how and when next season will begin, most clubs badly need the money which is allotted according to final placings in the league tables. Nor can they afford to have their prospect of season ticket sales hindered by debates about league reconstruction.

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Revenue from final placings would normally be distributed in May but that cannot be done for as long as the 2019-20 season is kept in abeyance, so there is a strong motive for those unaffected by title races and relegation struggles to move for the league campaign to be declared to be finished. That view has been reinforced by the decision of the Belgian Pro League to stop their competition now, with Club Brugge recognised as champions by virtue of their 15-point lead over KAA Gent, although Uefa still want national leagues to attempt to play to a finish – behind closed doors, if necessary – in July or even August.
 
The closed doors option has been ruled out unofficially in Scotland because, even in the event of lockdown being eased, it would require the co-operation of emergency services who are likely still to be overstretched or exhausted. There are differences between the views of the UK and Scottish governments about how long the lockdown is likely to be in place, with the Holyrood administration less inclined to contemplate a shortened quarantine.
As far as possible, clubs want to get on with selling season tickets for a set-up as close to the norm as possible, which is a barrier to those proposing league of three divisions with 14 in each. Another difficulty presented by any proposal for a truncated campaign is that those who paid for 2019-20 season tickets will not have had full value for their outlay.
One solution is to expand the scope of next season’s offers to include Scottish Cup and League Cup ties, or to issue vouchers for holders to bring along a guest for free for the equivalent of the missed games. That outcome would be beneficial for clubs with spare capacity at their grounds and would generate greater catering and merchandising revenues, but would be difficult for the likes of Celtic and Rangers, the bulk of whose spectators are season ticket holders, although they could be offered free or discounted tickets for European matches.
This season’s Scottish Cup semi-finals and semi-finals have been postponed indefinitely but could be played before December to yield a 2020 winner. The two Hampden semis – Hearts v Hibs and Celtic v Aberdeen – are money-spinning occasions which the contending clubs want to be played. Traditionally, the competition provides a European place for the winner or beaten finalist but, if the tournament is deferred, an entry to the Europa League would become available to the next available SPFL club – in this case Aberdeen, who are fourth in the table.
The fact that three of the four semi-finalists are SPFL clubs plus the likelihood that Hearts, even if relegated, would not be involved before the fourth round of the 2020-21 Scottish Cup - to be played next January - clears the way for a deferred finale to this season’s tournament to be played before the end of the year.
The extra fixtures would, however, add to congestion which will be created if next season starts later than the first week in August, meaning that the winter break would almost certainly have to be cancelled. Much to-and-fro will occur over the next few weeks but, barring a near-miraculous early end to the Covid-19 shutdown, the chance of a fulfilled SPFL schedule is remote.
The possibility of a wartime-style season – in which the title would have unofficial status – is adamantly opposed by most clubs sounded out by Telegraph Sport. “There were no TV deals and large-scale commercial contracts during the war,” said one source. “It’s just not going to happen.”
 
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