Conference League: Scottish FA scraps vote for new fifth tier featuring top-flight B teams
Plans for a new fifth tier of Scottish football featuring top-flight B teams have been withdrawn following a fresh wave of opposition in the run-up to Tuesday’s scheduled vote.
Livingston and St Mirren are among more than a dozen clubs to publicly come out against the proposals.
The SFA has now shelved the resolution less than 24 hours before the meeting and will go back to the drawing board.
A 10-team Conference League would have seen up to four B teams compete alongside several Lowland and Highland League teams, in a stated bid to aid the development of young players.
Not all clubs were in favor of the initial proposal
Second-string teams from Celtic, Rangers and Hearts currently compete in the Lowland League but cannot get promoted and they would have remained in the Conference League under the new plans which emerged following the Deloitte review of the Scottish Professional Football League, which was commissioned by Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibernian, Dundee and Dundee Utd.
The proposals were criticized for effectively relegating 200 clubs further down the pyramid and were hit by a double whammy last month when Aberdeen declared they would not be entering a team and Rangers manager Michael Beale expressed major reservations about the set-up.
Postecoglou agrees terms in principle with Spurs | Rodgers in running for Celtic job
Gordon Duncan says Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has been given permission to speak to Tottenham about their vacant head coach position
Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has agreed to become Tottenham’s new manager on a two-year contract.
The 57-year-old told Celtic principal shareholder Dermot Desmond on Saturday night of his decision to leave the Glasgow club and has now agreed a deal in principle with Spurs, with the option to extend.
Former Australia head coach Postecoglou admitted on Saturday, after Celtic’s Scottish FA Cup final win over Inverness had secured them the domestic treble, that his celebrations would soon be disrupted.
Sky Sports News’ Gordon Duncan reports that Brendan Rodgers has been linked with a return to Celtic Park should Ange Postecoglou move to Tottenham
Neither club have commented but an announcement will be made when the finer details of the contract have been finalised.
Tottenham have been searching for a permanent new manager since sacking Antonio Conte in March, with first Cristian Stellini and then Ryan Mason placed in temporary charge.
When repeatedly pressed on his future after Celtic’s 3-1 Hampden win over Inverness on Saturday, Postecoglou said: “I anticipate enjoying this moment for the next 24-48 hours, as long as I can, before someone drags me away and takes my attention away from enjoying something that’s been hard-earned.
“The reality is, there’s probably players in that dressing room who won’t be here next year. That’s the nature of football.
“But I want them to enjoy it, I am going to enjoy it, and that’s all I am going to focus on until someone grabs me by the collar and tells me that I have to answer certain questions.”
