ceo part 3

Last updated : 19 July 2012 By Shaded

LAST MINUTE
We asked Scot about the last minute application for a place in the SPL which was submitted with less than an hour to spare "It was last minute, what happened that particular week was that the Rangers situation was becoming bleaker, sadly for them, and we knew that if we were going to apply that it had to be in by the 31st of March" he said "It was expensive and there was a huge amount of work to be done to do that. We had a dilemma on that as we were around 12 points behind County, who also had about four games in hand at that stage, so it looked highly unlikely and the wording of the application was that it was to be a candidate club, which meant the team that would be champions.

"I tried every day that week to speak to someone at the SPL and I couldn't get a definitive answer, I asked what are the guidelines, what happens if the doomsday scenario happens for Rangers."

"I asked if I don't put this application in then will I have an opportunity to apply further down the line and the last line we got which was on the morning of the 31st was that there are no guidelines, it's up to you whether you put it in.

"In fairness to the SPL there weren't any guidelines, they weren't stonewalling me, it was an extremely complex situation which nobody had encountered in relation to that candidate application. Jim Thomson and myself were running around on the 31st getting one last piece of information which had to be slotted in, the document is about the size of the bible.

"Once completed, we knew we had to get it to Hampden for 5pm and Barry (Smith) said Graham Bayne could take it, we told him 'This is absolutely crucial, don't go for lunch, don't leave it in the car and forget it - because if it's not in by five o'clock that's it' - he got it in between four and five and let us know it was there.

"It was probably one of the most valuable things a player could ever do for us in hindsight, because it turned out later that we were told only the clubs who fully complied by the 31st of March were valid candidates so Falkirk, Ross County and Dunfermline as well as us were the only clubs who could have been entertained for that 12th share."