Hearts' chief Ann Budge has been warned not to light the fuse under a new civil war in Scottish football.
Budge will submit a last ditch plea for league reconstruction in her desperate bid to keep her club in the Premiership - but Mail Sport understands the move is doomed to fail.
In a bizarre new Votergate twist, the Tynecastle owner was given consent on Friday to put forward her proposal for a 14-team top-flight.
She is racing against time to table it at the SPFL board meeting at 10am on Monday – when they’re expected to declare Celtic champs and relegate the Jambos.
Budge led a taskforce to look at reconstruction following the SPFL vote to end the lower leagues’ season due to Covid-19.
It was quickly doomed when six Premiership clubs decided they weren’t in favour of re-jigging the league set-up. And she is expected to face similar opposition this week.
She needs two clubs to back her, possibly fellow relegated sides Partick Thistle and Stranraer, but still needs an 11-1 Premiership vote to push it through.
Three quarters of clubs in the lower leagues also need to lend support but Stenhousemuir chairman Iain McMenemy has already cast doubts.
McMenemy can’t believe reconstruction talks are back on the agenda – and says Budge must get the proposal out quickly to avoid more weeks of in-fighting. McMenemy said: “When I heard, it was a bit of surprise, a feeling of deja vu.
“The message from the SPFL EGM was to draw a line under the last few weeks after Votegate – Dundee’s magic vote – and reconstruction talks that completely fell apart, come together and move on.
“Now, one of the big divisive issues is back again.
“If they’ve got something they want us to discuss, they have to let us know as soon as possible to avoid six more weeks of civil war.”
Lower league clubs were united in backing a new 14-14-14 system – but it remains to be seen if Budge will propose that or a 14-10-10-10 set-up.
SPFL players, in a survey by PFA Scotland, are in favour of three leagues of 14.
Their head Fraser Wishart told BBC Sportsound on Saturday: “75 per cent said they want 14-14-14. It’s a strong mandate – make it permanent.
“For some, it’s to protect jobs but there’s a view it would bring freshness and give more clubs an opportunity at the top level.”
