SPFL proposes expanding Premiership to 14 teams

Scottish clubs have been asked to consider introducing an expanded 14-team top flight which would leave the rest of the league as it stands.

The move comes after the failure to garner enough support for Hearts owner Ann Budge’s suggestion for three divisions of 14, and a proposal from Rangers to have an 18-team bottom tier involving colts teams from themselves and Celtic.

Both ideas were doomed to fail because they effectively consigned six teams to playing in the bottom division, who would be in League One under the scenario put forward by the Scottish Professional Football League hierarchy.

The move has been described as a permanent fix, after a number of clubs baulked at Budge’s two-year plan, which would have resulted in mass relegation in two years’ time.

However, the likes of Aberdeen, while happy with a temporary solution to the predicament facing relegated clubs, have previously indicated that they do not believe a crisis is the right time to make lasting decisions on league structure.

Budge has threatened legal action if Hearts are relegated as a result of the decision to end the season early, a fate also awaiting Partick Thistle and Stranraer if no reconstruction is passed.

The revised plan would see Highland League champions Brora Rangers and Lowland League winners Kelty Hearts join the SPFL with no relegation in any division and the respective runners-up – Inverness, Falkirk and Edinburgh City – all gaining promotion.

Clubs have been asked to give their opinion on the proposal by Monday with the possibility of a formal vote to follow in the next week.

A 14-team top flight would likely involve a split into a top six and a bottom eight, resulting in some Premiership teams playing four more games than others.