STEWART GILMOUR admits the Grim Reaper is set to come calling on an SPL that is paying for sins of the past.
The St Mirren chairman could hear the death knell being sounded from his Troon home after Friday’s SFL vote sent newco Rangers into the Third Division.
At least five top-flight clubs now face being placed into administration due to the financial catastrophe created by a decision Gilmour believes was borne out of REVENGE.
The Angel of Death could get to work on those sides before next month is out and the Buddies supremo insists if a routine SPL income distribution payment of £645,000 isn’t made on August 6 then it’s a Doomsday scenario.
The SPL’s broadcast deals look set to be renegotiated now Rangers are no longer in the top flight so league chiefs are predicting a huge drop in income.
He said: “Clubs were expecting to receive their commercial income as per normal in the first week in August but, with the way things are shaping up, that’s not going to be there.
“If you asked me whether a handful of clubs could be placed into administration by the end of August then I’d have to say it was very feasible.
“What we need to do in the next week is to investigate what cuts we can make.
“It won’t be the footballers who suffer as they have contracts.
“Clubs are now on life support and every team needs that payment on August 6.
“It’s as simple as that. Nobody wants to see teams going into administration and liquidation but the reality is that players have contracts. They need to be honoured and that brings its own problems.”
But Gilmour is still baffled at why SFL outfits moved the goalposts for historic change in our game by reusing to allow Charles Green’s club into Division One.
“I don’t think many people know where they are with it.
“The SFA thought they were delivering Rangers into Division One as I believed that was the agreed arrangement. We had the announcement that the SPL would change next season into a bigger league and there would be radical reform.
“I was under the impression that was all part of the deal. I believed that was the right way forward for football.
“We now know the majority of SFL clubs didn’t buy into it and I just hope they haven’t cut off their nose to spite their face.
“They may well now have parked all of the commercial partners.
“The advice we were given from the SFL was to allow them to deal with this.
Gilmour will start implementing savage cost-cutting measures across the board at the Buddies but he is disgusted that innocent parties will be paying the price for crimes of others.
He said: “Everyone will immediately stop signing players.
“If the commercial income figures are as bad a people are projecting them to be then we will clearly have to make some serious cuts.
“It’s going to be the people who have played no part in this whatsoever and have done nothing wrong who are going to end up suffering.
“That is going to be the same at every club. That’s the really horrific aspect of this situation.
“Maybe some of the bigger clubs will have a benefactor who can write them a cheque for a million pounds to get them through this crisis. We don’t have that.
“We will have to make as many cuts as we can. But we will also be looking at our income streams to see where else we can get money from.”
SFL clubs voted overwhelmingly not to grant Green’s newco a place in the First Division.
But Gilmour is struggling to get his head around the logic of a decision which may have been clouded by bitterness at having the Rangers problem dumped on them by the top-flight clubs.
He said: “I fear some of the lower-league clubs have made a vote of revenge against the entire SPL.
“Maybe there will be some people who woke up yesterday morning and said, ‘What have we done?’
“But I wasn’t at the meeting and I don’t know what went on.
“The decision surprised me. If the SPL don’t have any money then the SFL clubs won’t get any cash through the settlement agreement.
“The SFL receive £2m each year from the SPL so how is that meant to be paid if there isn’t any money?
“I am concerned the SFL have cut off the financial tap from where the money flows. It’s true the SPL get the biggest share of the money but there is still £2m going down into the lower leagues.
“If that is no longer there then what next for these clubs?
“If football in Scotland becomes like the Welsh League then half of the people currently working in it won’t have a job.”
St Mirren were one of 10 top-flight clubs who voted against letting the newco into the SPL but Gilmour insists they were left with no choice.
He said: “We must not forget that Rangers had to be punished. Let’s not kid ourselves, that had to happen.
“The way they ran their club before was unacceptable and if nothing else has been learned from this then we should certainly take that on board.
“The problem now is that clubs which have been run well have now been affected through no fault of their own. They are also suffering.”
Speculation is growing that an SPL 2 will be set up to find a solution to the crisis but Gilmour is adamant that must only be a last resort.
He said: “Creating an SPL2 and having Rangers in that division isn’t one of my favoured options. I have been a supporter of SPL 2 but not just to accommodate one team.
“As directors of football clubs we need to look at everything but I hope there are other options. The government needs to have a look at this. This is now a society issue and it’s time for government to take a close look and get involved.
“I’m not saying our clubs haven’t been run properly but we have become too dependent on our commercial partners. It’s such a difficult time for Scottish football and we need to look at the best way forward to get through this.”