The Livingston Situation

My season bet is going to have a void selection on it if things aren't sorted up in Scotland.

I spent all of this Summer looking at news and stats from all the divisions I selected for this bet and one of the leagues I had looked at was the the Second Division in Scotland. One of the papers I read stated that Airdrie Unted was a confident pick to win that league.

So, I added them to my shortlist and moved on.

I filled in the betting slip on Wednesday (with the Premier League selection blank as you've probably read) and placed the bet on Thursday morning.

Whilst at the counter asking what the odds were for the specific teams, the cashier couldn't find Airdrie United on his system but he looked further, found their odds to win Scottish Division Two and I wrote it down on the betting slip.

I got home and wrote down the each-way rules of each league I had placed in the bet and couldn't find the Scottish teams. It was peculiar but I didn't think anything of it.

Then, on Friday I finally realised what was going on.

Livingston were relegated from the First Division due to them breaking some insolvency rule and were placed in Division Three. Because of this, Airdrie United and Cowdenbeath were promoted from their respective leagues.

Livingston have appealed this action and their case is going to be looked into this coming Thursday. I've spent the weekend reading all about this situation and I don't really know how this will end up.

In an attempt to cut a long story short - Livingston were in debt and one of the parties they owed money to called for payment. The club were then saved by a consortium of five people and were assured by the Scottish Football League that they would begin the season in the league they were in. A few days later, the SFL reneged on this promise and did what they did.

Livingston then made the appeal and announced they wouldn't play their Division Three fixture which is fair enough if you ask me. It would look like a contradiction to appeal the demotion and then play in the league they were moved to. As for the other teams promoted from their leagues - they played their games which were deemed 'provisional' until this matter is laid to rest.

Like I wrote earlier, I have read a lot about this situation and from what I have gathered this could end up with Livingston going out of business and - selfishly on my part - cause my bet to be messed up slightly.

If this appeal fails, Livingston can go even further by appealing with the Scottish FA as well as an arbitrary sporting board so this thing has the potential to go on for a while. If that is the case, I hope the Scottish League decide the best solution would be to put all the teams back into the leagues they were pencilled in from the start and then carry on as they were. That's the best way to be 'provisional'. Unfortunately, the SFL have been inept throughout this situation and I don't have the confidence in them to actually do anything that will favour football, the fans, the players.

And my bet.