The SPL board will rule a week tomorrow on the second attempt by the Fife club to keep their artificial surface after the Scottish Football Association forced the league to hold another hearing. Chairman John Yorkston is still hopeful that there will be a rethink. “The SFA have backed us and said our complaints were well-founded,” he said yesterday. “We didn’t get a fair hearing from the Premierleague, and we pointed out things that were incorrect. For instance, there was evidence discussed by the board at one meeting when we weren’t there, so we couldn’t challenge it. Ideally, we would like a year’s grace to let us get the new pitch up to the Fifa two-star standard. The SPL board should admit they got it wrong and back down.”
The SFA have instructed the Premierleague to give Dunfermline more information on how they reached their decision that the club must revert back to a grass pitch. The governing body have also suggested that Dunfermline be given until early September to judge if the artificial surface should be kept. However, all the indications are that with three-quarters of their clubs opposed to the plastic pitch, the four-man board will find against Dunfermline for a second time.
Time is running out for the Fifers to change the surface before the start of the league season on July 30, and ground sharing is now a possibility. Under the rules, they should have put in an application by March 31, but an SPL source said: “We would sanction sharing because we can show discretion in exceptional circumstances. We’re not going to leave them with nowhere to play.”
Dunfermline would most likely play ‘home’ games at Falkirk’s Westfield stadium if such a scenario unfolds. The two clubs’ home matches are on different dates in August and into September.
The SPL also denied they were dragging out the affair. “We received the detailed SFA objections at 10am on Friday, and we convened a board meeting by 2pm,” said an SPL source. “You can’t act much faster than that.”
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The artificial surface has also had a bearing on Derek Stillie’s future, with the goalkeeper citing it as one cause of his unhappiness at East End Park. “There are a number of reasons why I want to leave,” said Stillie, who has two years left on his contract, “but one consideration has been the ongoing saga of the pitch.” It was reported that Stillie is keen to move to England to allow him to complete his legal training, but the 31-year-old is focusing on his football career for now. He has been linked with a move to Dundee United and would welcome staying in Scotland.
Another unresolved matter, the appointment of a new Hearts manager, appears no nearer a resolution after Nevio Scala last night reiterated his interest in the post, but is adamant he will not take charge until he has learned better English.
The former Parma coach has had no further contact with the Tynecastle club since meeting chief executive Phil Anderton in London last Tuesday, which produced no concrete progress and increases the likelihood that Hearts’ pre-season training will be taken by captain Steven Pressley and coach John McGlynn.
“I want the time to learn the language really well before taking charge of the players, and I need to find out more about them and the rest of the Scottish game,” said Scala. “I think the next contact could be decisive. We could even be talking about a phone call when they say, ‘Thanks for the proposals, but we don’t want to go through with them’.”
Hearts are likely to have talks this week with former Derby County manager George Burley. Anderton met Burley’s agent in London last Tuesday.