Lowland League clubs tonight opened the door to Rangers and Celtic B teams joining their set-up next season by backing the Colts plan in a vote.
Record Sport told last week how the Glasgow giants could be parachuted into the fifth tier of the Scottish football set-up for one season only after attempts to join League 2 were thwarted.
Both Old Firm clubs presented to Lowland League officials at a meeting on Monday night.
And the colts plan was given the thumbs up by the majority of member clubs in an indicative vote ahead of it being confirmed at the league AGM in two weeks’ time.
Record Sport understands 11 of the 17 clubs voted in favour with five against and one abstention.
The proposal - which would see the two teams frozen out of promotion or relegation - has split opinion among some managers in the Lowland League.
Rangers and Celtic pledged to pay £25,000 each to join as they look to get regular competitive action for their youngsters after more than a year in covid cold storage.
Lowland League chairman George Fraser insists the pyramid would be unaffected by the plan which he described as the chance to demonstrate “the Lowland League leading the way in how to modernise our football structures for the benefit of all”.
But a joint statement from the three divisions a rung below the Lowland League - those being the West, East and South of Scotland Leagues - poured scorn on the idea blasting that there was “no sporting integrity with this proposal”.
It added: “If this proposal goes ahead, it will have ramifications for clubs from tier five and below, clubs who are ambitious and committed to the Scottish football pyramid and who have worked hard to meet the criteria to allow their club the opportunity to progress through the leagues.
"It has been stated that the Colt teams could not be promoted next season but no discussion regarding this has taken place with the SPFL.
"Should one of the Colt teams win the league, what guarantee would there be that the second placed club would enter the promotion play-offs?
"The SPFL would be within their rights to deny any runners-up the opportunity to play in the SPFL play-offs as they were not the champion club and as a result existing Lowland League clubs, plus in future clubs from the other three tier six leagues and below, could be denied the same opportunity that Kelty Hearts have been given this season.
"The three leagues see no benefit in this proposal other than self interest and a small financial reward for SLFL clubs but can see a serious risk to the future of the pyramid structure in Scottish football if this is allowed to go ahead and ask all SLFL clubs to express their commitment to the pyramid by rejecting this proposal."
