Scottish football: Hearts & Partick Thistle fight might mean next season is delayed
- Published
Edinburgh side Hearts are taking their fight against relegation to court
The Premier League might have restarted in England - but in Scotland it's a different story.
Scottish football was ended early because of concerns over coronavirus. It meant Celtic were crowned champions, even though not all the games had been played, because they were top of the league by 13 points.
It also meant Hearts, who were sitting at the bottom of the Scottish Premier League at the time, were relegated.
A lot of club owners weren't happy about the decision by the SPFL, which runs Scotland's four main football divisions.
Hearts chairman Ann Budge asked the SPFL to reconstruct the Scottish leagues, asking for the Premier League to switch from 12 to 14 teams, which would see her club stay in the top flight next year.
The SPFL decided to ask all 42 clubs to vote on what they wanted to happen. Only 16 clubs voted in favour of a structure change, so the Scottish Premier League will continue to have 12 teams.
It means Hearts are relegated from the Premier League, Partick Thistle are relegated from the Championship, and Stranraer will drop from League One to League Two.
Celtic were named as champions when the season ended early
When will Scottish football restart?
Nobody knows when the football might start again. That's because Hearts and Partick are fighting the decision to relegate them in the courts. If the decision is not overturned, the two clubs want 拢10m in compensation.
Until this is all cleared up, it might be difficult to start a new season because nobody would know which division the clubs should be in.
The pair issued a joint statement which said they "have no wish to disrupt" Scottish football and want everything sorted out "as quickly as possible". But they added they could still ask for the league to be delayed if while they fight against being relegated.