WE will hear nothing further on Null and Void after a rare dose of common sense swept through Scottish football today as the SPFL outlined a path for the game in Scotland. And the clubs skilfully avoided the wrath of UEFA by playing the waiting game as far as the Premiership is concerned but making it clear that if times goes on and the games cannot be played then the current placings with stand as the final positions for this season.
Celtic are therefore the Champions-in-Waiting or the Provisional Champions in you prefer. The season is over for the other leagues from the Championship down as UEFA have zero interest in those.
And by setting out the situation regarding the Scottish Premiership, the SPFL will take the heat out of any fake outrage when the league is eventually called as being done and dusted for this season.
The SPFL clubs are to vote on a resolution recommending the termination of the current season for the Championship plus Leagues 1 and 2. You can read the lengthy press release on this on the official SPFL website.
“The resolution also recommends that matches in the Ladbrokes Premiership remain postponed for the time being, to give the best possible opportunity for the remaining 2019/20 fixtures to be played.
“However, if the SPFL Board determines that the remaining Premiership matches cannot be played, the Ladbrokes Premiership would also be terminated, with final season placings determined on the same basis.”
Null and Void, as The Celtic Star revealed, was NOT an option that was being considered as a realistic possibility given the horrendous financial implications for the game in Scotland. While it helped the Rangers set out their usual Celtic-bashing narrative that undermines five from Celtic nine-in-a-row for one reason or another, it was never a serious proposition and ironically one that not even the Rangers were proposing.
Grandstanding to their gullible bigots in the press is one thing, denying their club of hard cash as a consequence is entirely different, especially when money is is such short supply at Ibrox at the minute.
When will Celtic lose the admittedly rather catchy, Provisional Champions tag and be ‘crowned’ as Scottish Champions for the 9th season in a row? Probably when UEFA’s unrealistic demands on leagues across Europe to get their seasons finished are replaced with a more pragmatic solution for getting the game up and running again and start to recover from the massive financial jolt that the game has suffered as a result of this coronavirus pandemic.
Thirteen Points clear, 25 goals to the good and with a head-to-head advantage over the Rangers in the Scottish Premiership this season (Celtic 3 the Rangers 2), with the BBC’s super computer estimating that Celtic were 98.87% certain to win the league should the season be played to a conclusion – Celtic are worthy Provisional Champions today and worthy Champions for the ninth time in a row when the season end is formerly called.
A point we have repeated made on The Celtic Star over the last month, by calling the league, Celtic Supporters are denied the glory days when the title is won, plus the Trophy Day celebration – presumably we’ll get this on Flag Day when the new season kicks off. We also all paid for an entire season in advance via our season tickets but have not had all the games. This I something we need to support the club on and hopefully they will come forward with a package of measures that we have already outlined, ideas like shares instead of refunds (we’re all in it together), or maybe access to Celtic TV for a season or two. for ALL season ticket holders, or vouchers for the superstore etc.
We are still waiting on an announcement from the club regarding the first team players and senior management agreeing to a voluntary reduction in salary throughout this period of inaction caused by the coronavirus. If and when that happens then it’s a fair and reasonable argument to take to the Celtic Support to resist the temptation to ask for refunds or deductions from next season’s season ticket. Let’s be clear many supporters will be struggling financially as a direct result of the shut-down to general day-to-day life.
But today’s developments from the SPFL should be welcomed. Everyone now knows that it’s happening and plans will get underway for the new season to begin. Here we go for Ten-in-a-Row!
Support Celtic Youth Development
Help raise money for Celtic Youth Development by joining the £1 weekly lottery and you could win up to £25,000 – just click on any one of the photographs below to join. Lots of our readers have already done so and they’re now doing their bit to help fund Celtic Youth Development that can deliver the stars of tomorrow and beyond. And you might even win a few bob too! And a special thank you to all The Celtic Star readers who have already signed up and are now supporting youth development to give us the Celtic Stars of the future…
Take The Celtic Star’s Photo Tour of Celtic Park and enjoy our stunning photos from inside Paradise RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.
