Scottish leagues to combine

Scottish clubs will be reunited in a new professional league next season after smaller teams backed a plan designed to spread limited revenues more evenly.

The agreement reverses a breakaway by top clubs to form the Scottish Premier League (SPL) 15 years ago and will allow more money to filter down to the second tier.

Scottish Football League clubs approved the changes yesterday, marking the end of the road for a league body set up in 1890. The shake-up has already won the blessing of SPL teams.

The main change that fans will notice is the introduction of end-of-season play-offs to decide one of the places in the top division. The current structure of a 12-team top flight and three lower divisions of top 10 teams each will remain.

Many clubs are facing a struggle to survive financially in Scotland after Rangers collapsed under a pile of debt last year.

Rangers have just been promoted to the third tier after they were forced to relaunch from the bottom level of the national game.

Scottish Football League president Jim Ballantyne felt the deal was more of a takeover than a merger.

“It is not a feeling, it is a fact,” he said. “It is a takeover. We are joining their company, their organisation.

“They have swallowed us up... it is a takeover. The original plan was for a new merged body but as things went on it became clear that that wasn’t going to happen.

“It is very sad that the Scottish Football League has had to be a casualty but unfortunately we were left with one option.”