Falkirk’s reconstruction plan revealed after chairman slams SPFL ‘cabal’

News broke last Friday following a meeting of the top 12 sides, plus Championship winners Dundee United, that there was a lack of appetite for a change in league set-up and any future vote would fail to gather enough support to pass.

Mr Deans slammed the decision of a “cabal” and branded Scottish football “an utter shambles” and pledged to “embark upon discussions with other clubs who share my anger and will be considering the next steps to take”.

All planning scenarios open to the Bairns for the next season – now almost certain to be as a League One club – are still being scrutinised and directors met by video conference on Monday morning to discuss the Premiership’s conclusion and Mr Deans’ weekend talks.

He told The Falkirk Herald: “I genuinely don’t understand the decision. I’ve been told and seen statements that we should focus on getting back to playing football – but when is that likely to happen? It’s a decision out of our control.

“I had many conversations over the weekend – I was asked if I felt I over-stepped the mark on Friday and I still don’t feel I did and after a lengthy conversation the person who asked understood where I was coming from.

“We’ve made our case that league reconstruction was a means of getting through the current crisis and through this disrupted season and a disrupted season potentially to come. It’s not just about fairness – it’s about getting the best structure we can to get clubs through the current situation.”

Mr Deans’ frustrations stem, not only from the failure of the talks at the first hurdle, and the time wasted in setting up initial discussions and plans, but in that no proposal had actually crystalised enough to be presented to the clubs in a formal debate and vote before the entire topic was dismissed out of hand.

Falkirk had proposed a temporary 14-10-10-10 scenario for two years while on-going reconstruction talks could continue to analyse and assess the set-up for a long-term solution.

However momentum began to build behind three 14-team divisions and an option for 14-14-16.

The Bairns chairman added: “I’d proposed a staged process to get us to that point – if there was a way to jump there in one go I’d back it – anything that was innovative and avoided playing teams four times every season. My own view was 14-14-16 because that included Brora and Kelty but what was being mentioned to the top division clubs was a top division of 14 but the reconstruction group had not settled and was not finished work.

“This meeting was sounding out the top division clubs about a 14-team league and the answer returned was no.”

That news fell on Friday evening and Mr Deans then launched a statement where he admitted to approaching the process “with eyes wide open and tempered optimism, hoping that the SPFL and other clubs might see the bigger picture and act in the best interests of Scottish football” but there are now doubts emerging whether it was ever a viable and serious option.

His statement went on: “Once again progress has been hampered by the short sightedness and self-preservation of a small cabal within Scotland’s top division. You will share my anger at this latest injustice, the failed promises and the general mismanagement that has occurred at the top of Scottish football for many years.

“The handling of this entire situation has been farcical ranging from the decisions made by the SPFL board to those clubs who have, what could only be charitably described as, misled and deceived. The principle of ‘do no harm’ to Scottish football during the pandemic was thrown out of the window a long time ago and the decision taken will cause harm to many clubs – Falkirk included.”

The Bairns have several scenarios mapped out depending on circumstances. However while football uncertainty remains, they re still some way off making defining football decisions.