Bonnyrigg Rose say SPFL ignored rules by cancelling League Two play-offs

Bonnyrigg Rose's New Dundas Park is closed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Bonnyrigg Rose have questioned whether the Scottish Football League ignored rules by cancelling play-offs for the right to enter League Two.

The Lowland League side are dismayed by politics at a higher level after Scottish football’s pyramid was closed by last month’s controversial vote to end the season.

The vote included an agreement to scrap play-offs across all four divisions of the SPFL, thus denying Highland and Lowland League teams a pathway into the senior system – and sparing Brechin City possible relegation from League Two.

Normal procedure is for Highland and Lowland League champions to play each other at the end of each season, with the winner entering a play-off against the bottom League Two club for the right to a place in that division.

This year would have seen Kelty Hearts take on Brora Rangers and the prevailing club then meet Brechin. None of the above will happen this year after football’s coronavirus shutdown.

Brechin, whose chairman Ken Ferguson sits on the SPFL board which proposed cancelling play-offs, will now remain in the SPFL regardless.

Bonnyrigg, sitting second in the Lowland League before their campaign was halted, retain some hope of an invitation into the senior set-up via reconstruction.

However their treasurer, Brendan Parkinson, believes the pyramid should not have been closed in the first place without proper discussions.

“What we’re ending up with is a sticking plaster at best and an absolute carve-up at worst,” he told the Evening News.

“For teams who moved into the Lowland League from the juniors, one of the criticisms of the juniors was that you could only go so far before you hit a glass ceiling.

“It looks now like we’ve swapped one glass ceiling for another if reconstruction doesn’t include Highland and Lowland League teams.

“It’s all well and good for the SPFL to say there are no play-offs. That’s fine for the Championship and League One, but it needs an agreement to cancel the Highland/Lowland League play-off.

“That’s in the rules and, to our knowledge, that hasn’t been agreed. It appears to have been missed.

“The agreement to cancel the League Two relegation play-off isn’t just down to the SPFL. It requires the SPFL, SFA, Highland League and Lowland League to agree to it.

“We are hoping the Highland League and Lowland League representatives on the reconstruction group would be able to use that as leverage to get, as a minimum, the Highland and Lowland League champions into the SPFL.

The Lowland League and Highland League both have representatives on the SPFL’s reconstruction panel, which is being steered by Hearts owner Ann Budge and Hamilton vice-chair Les Gray.

“We would obviously like to be included in those chats as well,” added Parkinson. “Personally, I don’t see the issue with expanding the professional leagues.

“If it turns out ourselves, Kelty, Brora, whoever, aren’t good enough to be there, we get relegated. Simple as that.

“If you look at what Edinburgh City and Cove Rangers have done, these teams coming up might be expected to strengthen the league if anything. That might be the problem.

“I’ve seen terms like ‘financial apartheid’ used by SPFL lower-league chairmen about the leagues above them. I’m overwhelmed by the irony of that.

“With the collusion of League Two clubs intending to vote only for a 14-14-14 system, that’s exactly what they are trying to inflict on our leagues. In any other walk of life, public or private sector, that’s a cartel. It’s a multi-club cartel.”

Like many clubs across the country, Bonyrigg were left frustrated by their league’s decision to call an end to the 2019/20 campaign. They felt they had a real chance to catch leaders Kelty and claim the title.

Had they ended up in League Two, their balance sheet would have swelled by a minimum of £60,000.

“We felt a bit aggrieved at how things ended up,” explained Parkinson. “The players, ourselves and the supporters felt that, with the run-in we had, we had a fair chance of winning the league.

“Were we favourites? No. We had six games left, we were six points behind Kelty, we had a game in hand over Kelty and they still had to come to our place. We have only lost something like six home games in five seasons.

“The board made the decision to end the season rather than the members, which is different to how the Highland League did it.

“Apparently, no club is meant to be financially disadvantaged by calling leagues early and that’s why they are looking at reconstruction. If we don’t get into League Two through reconstruction, and this goes for Kelty as well, we lose out on about £60,000.

“That’s prize money if you finish bottom in League Two next season, plus League Cup payments and things like that. An amount like that is huge for a club of our size.

“The vote to call the SPFL lower leagues early was primarily driven by clubs wanting payments, but at least two of them have said the payments they actually got wouldn’t cover a week’s wages.”

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