Livingston double relegation shuffles the SFL

It just gets worse and worse for Livingston Football Club. On the edge of administration for months, the cash-strapped club can’t pay its staff, its players, or its rent. The rest of the First Division was understandably worried about Livvie keeping its commitment to play all of its league fixtures, and now, the SFL has double-relegated Livingston from the First Division to the Third. The team that finished third in the SPL in 2002 is now in the fourth tier of Scottish football.

As sad a day as this is for Livingston and the fans, the leagues must go on, and Livvie’s heartbreak means that there are two openings for promotion. Cowdenbeath will rise from the Third Division to the Second, and Livingston’s First Division spot will be taken by Airdrie United, who will get a chance to renew their old rivalry with Partick Thistle.

It’s never good to see a side punished for matters that have nothing to do with football. Relegation should be the cost of losing on the pitch, and I hate to see the players and fans pay such a high price for problems that should really be shouldered by the front office. That said, as a Caley Thistle fan, I too had doubts about going to their ground when there were still questions about safety certificates and whether they could pay their bills. I wish them all the luck in the world in surviving, because that’s the mode they’re in now – survival. It’s all too common of a story in Scottish football lately, that of a team that rises to the highest levels quickly, only to fall just as fast. It happened to Gretna, and I sincerely hope that Livingston can find a way to get their feet sooner rather than later.

Category: Scottish League

Tags: Airdrie United, Cowdenbeath, Finances, League rules, Livingston, Relegation, Scottish League, SFL, The economic shitstorm

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