The board of Stenhousemuir Football Club welcomes and supports the statement issued yesterday from six Premiership clubs citing serious concerns regarding the handling of the recent Independent Governance Report.

This report was initially deemed necessary following the SPFL’s apparent botched handling and subsequent dispute between the SPFL and one of our member clubs regarding the league’s main sponsorship partner.

Our Chairman, Iain McMenemy, raised this at the SPFL general meeting in July 2023 and received verbal assurances that this review and report would get to the bottom of what happened, how much it cost clubs financially, and, that this would all be handled independently and reported back to all clubs.

It appears that these assurances have not been met.

Iain McMenemy commented, “After being assured for almost two years that the SPFL were in the right in continuing this dispute with Rangers, we were surprised to receive, without warning, a copy of a news release that seemed to be an embarrassing climbdown.   The SPFL had to apologise to Rangers, pay compensation and legal costs, and admit that they got this wrong.

“Quite rightly, we wanted to know why we had gone down this now discredited route, how much this had cost the league, and in turn how much less would be paid out to clubs because of this?  Knowing this was essential to ensure that we don’t make these mistakes again in the future.  This was the basis and catalyst for the Independence Governance Report.

“Far from drawing a line under this issue, the entire handling of this review and report raises fresh questions and concerns regarding the judgement of those running our game.

“It’s time for complete transparency with all member clubs who are the shareholders of the SPFL.  We welcome this intervention from six of our largest clubs and will support them in any endeavour to achieve transparency, clarity, and accountability as a matter of urgency.”

-ENDS-