St Mirren say 'sporting integrity' means no to Rangers newco

Stewart Gilmour also spoke about the possibility of league reconstruction.© SNS Group

St Mirren have issued a statement confirming that they still intend to pursue "sporting integrity" when voting on newco Rangers.

The Paisley club had previously intimated that they would respect the wishes of their supporters, and would not be voting in favour of a newco gaining automatic entry to the SPL.

Club chairman Stewart Gilmour said that he has met Charles Green, Ally McCoist and other representatives of the Rangers newco, and repeated the club's stance.

The statement on the club website read: "I made it perfectly clear that our directors' view was that our club would not be voting for a newco entry to the SPL, directly to the officials of Rangers Newco.

"This meeting was held in confidential circumstances to allow both parties to enable the other to see there respective positions.

"A very positive meeting was held, however, the position of St Mirren has not changed and our stance of sporting integrity was maintained against the very pressing commercial arguments."

Gilmour also said that there would be no further transfer dealings this summer, until the financial reality of the Rangers situation was fully understood.

He continued: "It is possible that major cutbacks may have to be made within the company, this may well involve people in the club losing their employment, not a good situation, so please accept that the club will be unlikely to be signing any new players until this situation is clear.

"Naturally we hope that if our partners mentioned above do not invoke exit clauses in their contracts we would not have to go down this route."

While the club chairman is eager to resolve the financial aspect of the situation as soon as possible, he also stated that it could be a chance to force through changes for the good of the game.

He concluded: "As events unfold this may be an opportunity for real change in Scottish Football, St Mirren shall throw their weight totally behind a 16-team league structured in a similar way to the Belgium system with a large number of crossover games at the end of the season to determine relegation, European places and champions.

"This with a change in the distribution model would allow us to look after the interests of all full time teams in the country on a football and financial basis.

"With a ten-team league below this for aspiring SPL clubs and a pyramid system beneath that, this would allow all clubs to develop and find their place in Scottish Football."

You can read the club statement in full here

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