Scottish First Division Club Livingston Chair Calls 12-12-18 Reconstruction Plan 'Nonsense'

Scottish First Division Livingston Chair Gordon McDougall has described the 12-12-18 league reconstruction proposal as “nonsense” and predicted it will "fail to be approved by clubs in time for next season," according to Stephen Halliday of the SCOTSMAN. The Scottish Premier League "hatched the controversial plan," which would see the top two divisions split into three groups of eight clubs halfway through a campaign, with backing from senior management at both the Scottish FA and Scottish Football League. In order to be put in place for next season, it "needs to be backed by 11 of the 12 current SPL clubs" and then by 75% of the 29 SFL clubs with voting rights. The SPL clubs are due to convene on April 15 to cast their votes, with some of them -- notably Ross County and St. Mirren -- "still far from certain" to support 12-12-18. The concept of splitting into three divisions of eight clubs halfway through a season was previously implemented in Switzerland but "proved unpopular and was scrapped" in '03 (SCOTSMAN, 3/26).